Ford takes first 1-2 finish
Ford takes first 1-2 finish
The Chip Ganassi Ford GT squad is on a roll. They won at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, won at Le Mans and now have taken their first 1-2 finish at Watkins Glen today.
Richard Westbook and Ryan Briscoe took the victory over Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller – the team’s first 1-2 finish in either the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship or the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Pole winner Westbrook was dominant from start and despite Briscoe missing practice and qualifying due to the birth of his second child on Friday, the Australian was also on the pace throughout the six hour journey.
The BMW squad led by Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner challenged strongly but Hand was able to make an outside move around Auberlen late in the race to push them back to third spot.
The Corvette C7.R of Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin “punched above their weight” to finish fourth. Both the Corvette and the Porsche squads struggled today, their fastest race laps nearly 1.5 seconds slower than the winning Fords.
Westbrook’s victory is his third in a row at Watkins Glen – having won here the past two years in prototypes with Visit Florida Racing.
“It’s just a good pairing for us at the moment. Confidence is so high, so its nice to go to work at the Ford Camp,” Westbrook said.
“It’s been a great 30 days. We had a tough out with the BMW for most of the race. But right at the end we had just that little bit to be stronger. I’m happy for my mate Ryan and happy that he made it. And I’m happy he has a trophy to take back to his girls.”
Briscoe arrived at Watkins Glen on Thursday evening only to receive an urgent call from his wife on Friday morning that their baby daughter was set to arrive three weeks early!
“Its all worked out well. I got a brand new daughter back in Connecticut now,” Briscoe said.
“It’s been kind of crazy, it was strange yesterday not being here in the track. I was on the phone a lot with our engineer and Richard and following on timing and scoring.
“Richard was on fire, he lead both practice sessions and put it on pole. I was actually really nervous last night. I didn’t want to step in and let everyone down. I was so thrilled to be here but now I can wait to leave to go back and see my girls.”
Around the outside! It’s now a Ford GT 1-2 in GTLM. #Sahlens6HRS pic.twitter.com/q24GK7pi6q
— FS1 (@FS1) July 3, 2016
#FordIMSA Champagne shower at #Sahlens6HRS #IMSA #FordGT pic.twitter.com/DlVQh2Z2It
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) July 3, 2016
#FordIMSA Post-race celebration begins at #Sahlens6HRS #FordGT #67FordGT pic.twitter.com/UdnBqkun8C
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) July 3, 2016
//imsatiming.com/Results/2016/WeatherTech%20Championship/06-Watkins%20Glen/WeatherTech%20Championship%20WGI%20Race%20Unofficial.pdf
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