Ford Media Center

Tomorrow’s World Endurance Race at Spa Expected to be a Close Fight for Ford

  • #66 and #67 Ford GT line up in second and third place
  • Bumper-to-bumper action expected for tomorrow’s six-hour race

SPA, Belgium, May 5, 2017 – The Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs will line up on the first and second rows of the grid for the start of tomorrow’s WEC 6 Hours of Spa.  It was the #66 Ford GT of Olivier Pla (FRA), Stefan Mücke (GER) and Billy Johnson (US) that took second place during Friday’s 20-minute qualifying session, with the #67 GT of Andy Priaulx (GB), Harry Tincknell (GB) and Pipo Derani (BRA) finishing close behind in third place.

“We have good positions for the start of the race,” said WEC Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell. “Obviously we would have liked to have pole position but it wasn’t to be today. The guys did a perfect job and didn’t take too much out of the tyres, which is really important here. We’re looking forward to a good race tomorrow.”

Qualifying duties for the #66 Ford GT went to Olivier Pla and Stefan Mücke. It was Pla who went out first and set a great banker lap time before Mücke also completed a strong run, securing second place.

“It’s important for us to have a clean weekend as Silverstone was a tough result for us,” said Pla. “The car is feeling very well balanced so we feel confident for the race. Let’s see what happens but so far, so good. The #67 is right there with us so I think we will be running bumper-to-bumper again so I think it will be a lot of fun.”

Andy Priaulx was out first in the Silverstone-winning #67 Ford GT and, like Pla, he quickly put in a strong time before handing over to Harry Tincknell to finish the job off and grab third place on the grid.

“I was really happy with my lap. It was clean and the fact we did it in one lap means we save our tyres for the race. Harry then also had a clean lap so that has really kept our tyre mileage low. The car was really well balanced and we have a good set up for the race so we’re happy with today’s result.”

The WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps gets underway tomorrow, Saturday, May 6 at 14:30 CET.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 201,000 employees and 62 plants worldwide, the company’s core business includes designing, manufacturing, marketing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks and SUVs, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. To expand its business model, Ford is aggressively pursuing emerging opportunities with investments in electrification, autonomy and mobility. Ford provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company.  For more information regarding Ford and its products and services, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.

 

Ford of Europe is responsible for producing, selling and servicing Ford brand vehicles in 50 individual markets and employs approximately 52,000 employees at its wholly owned facilities and approximately 68,000 people when joint ventures and unconsolidated businesses are included. In addition to Ford Motor Credit Company, Ford Europe operations include Ford Customer Service Division and 24 manufacturing facilities (16 wholly owned or consolidated joint venture facilities and 8 unconsolidated joint venture facilities). The first Ford cars were shipped to Europe in 1903 – the same year Ford Motor Company was founded. European production started in 1911.

 

About Chip Ganassi Racing Teams

Chip Ganassi has been a fixture in the auto racing industry for over 25 years and is considered one of the most successful as well as innovative owners the sport has anywhere in the world. Today his teams include four cars in the Verizon IndyCar Series, two cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, two cars in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, two factory Ford GT’s in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, two factory Ford GT’s in the FIA World Endurance Championship and two Supercars in Red Bull Global Rallycross. Overall his teams have 18 championships and over 170 victories, including four Indianapolis 500s, a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400, a Le Mans 24 Hours, six Rolex 24 At Daytonas and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Ganassi boasts state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis and Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Penn.  For more information log onto: www.chipganassiracing.com

 

Contact:

Lindsay Morle

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing (FIA WEC)

+44 7971 481078

lindsay@fordchipganassiracing.com

 

Lachelle Laney

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing (IMSA WTSCC)

+1 630 780 7006

lseymour@campbellmarketing.com  

 

Kelby Krauss

Chip Ganassi Racing

+1 317 945 3019

kkrauss@ganassi.com

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