FORD TEAMS SWEPT WATKINS GLEN!

WATKINS GLEN, NY – July 2, 2018 – It was an all Ford weekend in Watkins Glen, New York. The Ford Chip Ganassi Racing (FCGR) team of Dirk Müller and Joey Hand won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series, Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, while the Ford Mustang GT4 found Victory Lane in the Continental Tire 240.

“Joey drove absolutely stellar at the end,” said Dirk Müller. “O’Gara (Mike O’Gara, Team Manager) made the perfect call. We leap-frogged everybody. There was a lot of pressure. It sounds easy, but it wasn’t. I gave it my all.”
“Congratulations to Joey, Dirk, Chip and Ford Performance,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Endurance races are always challenging, especially this one, returning from Le Mans. Our team in partnership with Ford Performance did a great job, making sure the cars had what they needed from an engine perspective and managing the six-hour race with excessive temperatures. I’m proud of the entire team and happy to see Ford back in Victory Lane.”
With temperatures on the track reaching well over 100 degrees, the twin turbo Ford EcoBoost V6 engines showed great pace and performance by qualifying 1-2 on Saturday. It was the No. 67, driven by Richard Westbrook, that captured the pole, running a 1:41.961 lap time and recording Roush Yates Engines’ 300thall-time pole. Teammate Joey Hand piloted the No. 66 to P2 to make it an all Ford front row.
During a late race caution the No. 66 was able to take a shortened pitstop due in part to running a fuel saving strategy. Then a heads-up call by Mike O’Gara, Team Manager, directing Müller to make a fast out lap from the pits, while the leaders went into the pits, allowed the No. 66 to inherit the lead on lap 166.

Müller never looked back, building a 1.592 second lead over the P2 Corvette, to lead the last 25 laps of the race and win the GTLM class.

Only one point separates the two FCGR teams in the Driver and Team Points Standings, No. 66 (147 points) in first place and No. 67 (146 points) in second. In addition, Ford retains its lead in the Manufacturer Points Standings by four points over Porsche.

The No. 66 and Ford also now lead the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup Series, which is a combination of the four longest races on the IMSA schedule; Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta.
In the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race at Watkins Glen International on Saturday, it was a Ford Mustang GT4 in Victory Lane. The No. 8, Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 with drivers Chad McCumbee and Pat Gallagher made it to the top of the podium for the first time in the 2018 season, making it a combined third Ford Mustang GT4 win this year.
After starting on the front row at P2, next to the pole-winner No. 80 Mustang GT4, the No. 8 fought hard throughout the race with clean pit stops and good tire strategy to lead a race total 59 laps and take the checkered flag.

“Two podiums in a row, a second and a first, is great,” Gallagher said. “Multimatic has been giving us great cars to get some results, so we’ll keep it rolling. I really wanted to win at Mid-Ohio because it’s my home track, but Watkins Glen is one of my favorites also.”

The No. 80 dominated early on in the race, before getting turned into a tire wall halfway through the race. Brett Sandberg and co-driver Martin Barkey finished P15.
Ford NASCAR development driver Ty Majeski returned to IMSA competition with co-driver Scott Maxwell in the No. 15 Multimatic GT4 and finished P9.

Ford now leads the Manufacturer points standing by seven points over BMW in the IMSA Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge, GS class.

The Ford teams move onto Canada this weekend to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Reference the full 2018 schedule on Roush Yates Engines.

14 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 334 WINS – 301 POLES!
*Images courtesy of Ford Performance

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