Coming off of class victories at both the most recent IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class event and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing is looking to continue that momentum when it returns to Watkins Glen International for Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Round 3 of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup (FS1, live, Sunday at 10 a.m. ET).
Ford celebrated the 50th anniversary of its 1966 triumph at Le Mans by winning the GTE Pro class with drivers Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller, who will share the No. 66 Ford GT at The Glen. Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe won the most recent GTLM race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – the first victory for the new Ford – and will pair at The Glen in the No. 67 Ford GT. Westbrook is riding a two-year streak at WGI, previously winning overall for Visit Florida Racing in a Corvette Daytona Prototype in 2014 and 2015.
Ford also has a winning legacy in the event on the 3.4-mile road circuit. A Ford GT40 won the first Six Hours of The Glen back in 1968, with Jackie Ickx and Lucien Bianchi teaming for John Wyer.
“We’ve got pretty good momentum,” Hand said. “We had the quickest car at [Mazda Raceway] Laguna [Seca], but we just ran short on fuel and our sister car made it. We went to Le Mans having high hopes, and we had good pace there and we did the race with no mistakes. We did what Chip always says, ‘Do the obvious things right.’
“We kept ourselves clean and had a huge win. For me personally, Watkins Glen is one of my favorite tracks. Now they repaved it. We tested there before we went to Le Mans, and it was super fast, super smooth and even more fun to drive. With all that stuff, I think we’ve got a pretty good recipe for a shot at another win there.”
Risi Competizione and Corvette Racing also will be competing at The Glen in the same cars they ran at Le Mans. Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander, second in class at Le Mans, will co-drive the No. 62 Risi Ferrari 488 GTE. Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin come to The Glen leading the GTLM standings by 12 points, winning at Daytona and Sebring in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R. Teammates Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen were second at Daytona in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R.
Porsche North America will field a two-car entry, the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR for Nick Tandy and reigning WeatherTech Championship GTLM champion Patrick Pilet, and the No. 912 for Earl Bamber and Frederic Makowiecki.
BMW Team RLL will have the No. 25 BMW IHG Rewards Club BMW M6 GTLM for Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner, and the No. 100 IHG Rewards Club entry for John Edwards and Lucas Luhr. The No. 25 car will have a patriotic livery to celebrate the Fourth of July, paying tribute to the stars and stripes paint scheme on the BMW M3 GTR that Auberlen, Boris Said and Hans Stuck drove to victory in the 2001 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Completing the GTLM entry is the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GTE for Alessandro Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra, who finished second to Westbrook and Briscoe at Mazda Raceway in May.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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