IMSA: Ford GT customer programs in 2018?

Tuesday, 27 September 2016

Marshall Pruett (words & images)

Ford's raging success on its return to domestic and international sportscar competition in 2016 has resulted in the two-year GT program being extended for an additional two years through 2019 and, if the rumors are true, its factory program could be widened to include customer cars after the first contract is finished.

Competing in dual IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship programs has given the Blue Oval a pair of cars in IMSA's GT Le Mans class and the WEC's GTE-Pro category, and the brand has maintained it would focus solely on a factory effort during the 2016-2017 span.
Combined, the four-car assault dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June with a victory and third-place finish on the 50th anniversary of its La Sarthe debut, and it's believed that win was responsible for triggering a clause that added two more years to the project.

Ford confirmed the extension shortly after Sebastien Bourdais, Joey Hand, and Dirk Muller won Le Mans in the No. 68 GT, and with rumors continuing to circulate regarding works-affiliated customer cars being made available to run alongside its factory programs in 2018, Ford product development EVP and CTO Raj Nair indicated it was a possibility.
"We have confirmed four years of the factory program," Nair told RACER. "We are pretty focused on just getting ready for next year. I think that will be just something we will evaluate but nothing for next year for sure."
It has also been suggested Ford could use its P2-derived 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 engine and commission custom bodywork for a Daytona Prototype international program at some point in the future. Nair acknowledged conversations on the topic have been held, but he says no action has been taken.
"We are always talking to IMSA about a [DPi] structure that would interest us, but right now we are focused on the GT program," he added.
The Ford Chip Ganassi Racing GT effort went into the penultimate round at Circuit of The Americas with a solid shot of winning the GTLM championship, yet departed Texas with a dent in its title aspirations after contact sidelined the No. 67 GT driven by Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook.
Holding a distant second in points, Ford and its No. 67 entry head to Road Atlanta for the 10-hour Petit Le Mans finale as longshots in the Drivers' and Manufacturers' championship, but Nair isn't discouraged by the recent change of fortune.


"I think if you had told us at the beginning of the year we would be coming into Road Atlanta with a Le Mans win under our belt and a shot at winning the championship, I think we would be extremely pleased," he said. "But obviously coming off the race [at COTA] we thought we had a good shot, had a car with some good speed, and just some bad racing luck. We're going to work hard and there's still a slim shot at Road Atlanta but we are going to do our best."