LONG BEACH, CA, April 16, 2018 – Ford Chip Ganassi Racing battled to a double-podium finish on the streets of Long Beach at the BUBBA® burger Grand Prix this past Saturday.
The No. 67 and No. 66 Ford GTs finished p2-3 with drivers Ryan Briscoe and Dirk Müller in the drivers’ seats.
“It was just crazy,” Richard Westbrook, co-driver of the No. 67 said. “I hope everyone enjoyed watching it. As a driver, it was really difficult out there. It was such a shallow line and if you put one wheel six inches off your normal line, you were in bad shape. Lots of people hit the wall out there. There was just no grip off line. I think the conditions on the track helped us out a bit. We didn’t have the fastest car and we just kept our heads down, had a good pit stop and good strategy. We always fight to win but I’m delighted to get second.”
It was Westbrook and Briscoe’s second-consecutive second-place finish at the event.
In a dramatic last lap qualifying effort Friday, Joey Hand co-driver of the No.66 clocked a 1:16.869 lap, a new track record, to top the GTLM standings.
“I think the whole weekend went pretty good,” said Hand, who earned the pole on his last lap in qualifying. “To win the pole like that, that was one of my favorite qualifying sessions ever. We were quick. The (No. 66) crew did a great job tuning the car. We got hit from behind on lap one and that hurt us throughout the race, but we still had a pretty quick car. All in all, I think it was a good day for us. It was a good points day. We just have to keep collecting points. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series rewards consistency and that’s what we have to keep doing. Mid-Ohio (the next race on the schedule) is a track we really like and Dirk and I have done well there before, so we’ll move on and try to just keep collecting points.”
Briscoe/Westbrook continue to lead the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans standings with 95 points and FCGR teammates Hand/Müller are in third with 84 points. Ford (97 points) leads all manufactures by 4 points.
The Ford GTs and Ford Mustang GT4 head to Mid-Ohio on May 4-6, for the first running of Mid-Ohio SportsCar Showdown.
14 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 324 WINS – 287 POLES!
*Photos courtesy of Ford Performance