After considerable growing pains, the 2016 Ford GT has finally secured a first-place victory at this weekend\u2019s Continental Monterey Grand Prix, powered by Mazda.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting for this win for a long time,\u201d Dave Pericak, global director of Ford Performance said in a statement. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working up to this point to showcase the car\u2019s durability and I think this is what the team needed to go to Le Mans.\u201d<\/p>\n
In previous races, the Ford Performance team has battled a transmission that wouldn\u2019t shift out of sixth gear, a faulty kill switch, and even some problems with the GT\u2019s traction control. But once those issues were addressed, the Ford GT finally had its chance to shine.<\/p>\n
One of Ford\u2019s biggest advantages over their competition was the fuel economy of their 3.5L EcoBoost engine. During the two-and-a-half-hour race, the GT only had to stop and refuel once, while its competitors had to stop and refill two or three times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s great that it came as a fuel economy win.\u201d Said Pericak, \u201cIt\u2019s great for Ford EcoBoost\u201d<\/p>\n
Racing against Porsches, Ferraris, BMWs, Mazdas, and Chevy Corvettes, Ford\u2019s win at Laguna Seca is a sweet, but small taste of what\u2019s to come at 24 Hours of Le Mans. We just hope the Ford team won\u2019t run into any nagging technical issues during the big race.<\/p>\n
Next, the Ford GT will enter the Six Hours of Spa in Belgium (May 7th<\/sup>, 2016). This is their last World Endurance Championship race before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which will take place between June 18th<\/sup> and 19th<\/sup>. We can\u2019t wait to see what the Ford GT can do in one of the toughest races of all time.<\/p>\n