After considerable growing pains, the 2016 Ford GT has finally secured a first-place victory at this weekend’s Continental Monterey Grand Prix, powered by Mazda.
“We’ve been waiting for this win for a long time,” Dave Pericak, global director of Ford Performance said in a statement. “We’ve been working up to this point to showcase the car’s durability and I think this is what the team needed to go to Le Mans.”
In previous races, the Ford Performance team has battled a transmission that wouldn’t shift out of sixth gear, a faulty kill switch, and even some problems with the GT’s traction control. But once those issues were addressed, the Ford GT finally had its chance to shine.
One of Ford’s 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.
“I think it’s great that it came as a fuel economy win.” Said Pericak, “It’s great for Ford EcoBoost”
Racing against Porsches, Ferraris, BMWs, Mazdas, and Chevy Corvettes, Ford’s win at Laguna Seca is a sweet, but small taste of what’s to come at 24 Hours of Le Mans. We just hope the Ford team won’t run into any nagging technical issues during the big race.
Next, the Ford GT will enter the Six Hours of Spa in Belgium (May 7th, 2016). This is their last World Endurance Championship race before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which will take place between June 18th and 19th. We can’t wait to see what the Ford GT can do in one of the toughest races of all time.
Think you can handle the power of a Ford GT? Send in your application today for a chance to buy your very own. Applications started on April 13th and will close May 12th, so don’t wait if you think you’ve got what it takes.
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