SportsCars

Ford GT Makes History, Shank Team Laguna Seca

Overall winners Negri and Pew
Overall winners Negri and Pew
LAT for IMSA

MONTEREY, Calif. – Ford broke through with a first-time win for the Ford GT at the Continental Monterey Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Sunday, but Ford wasn’t the car and the manufacturer most were expecting to own the day.

Practice and qualifying strongly suggested Mazda would finally break through with its first series win in Prototype, but that didn’t happen – it was a savvy drive by Ozz Negri and gentleman driver John Pew in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Honda-powered Ligier JS P2 that made it to the checkered flag a whopping 30.099 seconds over the second-place car, the No. 90 Visit Florida Chevrolet Daytona Prototype of Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens, in the car that won last year’s race in Monterey.

Third was Eric Curran in the No. 31 Whelen Action Express Corvette DP he shares with Dane Cameron. Curran was just 0.855 seconds behind the No. 90.

It was the first win for the No. 60 team since the 2012 Rolex 24 At Daytona. “It’s been a long time," Pew said. “I feel like a curse has been lifted."

It was supposed to be Mazda’s day at its home track. The two Mazda Prototypes qualified on the front row and led easily early in the race, with the No. 55 of Tristian Nunez and Jonathan Bomarito staying just ahead of the No. 70 of Tom Long and Joel Miller. The two Mazdas stretched out a full-straightaway lead over third place several times, but it all went wrong when the Prototypes made their first pit stop.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]The stop for the 70 was just slow, and for the 55 even worse, as the fuel nozzle wouldn’t seat properly. After that, everything went wrong – the No. 70 stopped on track with oil pressure problems, and Bomarito spun the No. 55 when trying to make a pass. The No. 70 ended up finishing last, while the No. 55 was fourth.

In the GT Le Mans class – the Prototypes and GTLM cars were split into one race, the Prototype Challenge and GT Daytona cars into another due to pit lane capacity – the No. 67 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT took the win with drivers Ryan Briscoe and at the end, Richard Westbrook.

Westbrook made it a stunning 52 laps on his last tank of fuel, nursing the car to the checkered flag on fumes. But saying it was entirely a fuel mileage victory isn’t fair – Ryan Briscoe’s best lap was only a split-second behind the fastest car, the second-place No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari of Daniel Serra and Alessandro Pier Guidi, which qualified on the pole, and the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

That Corvette of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner finished fourth, just behind the No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR of Earl Bamber and Frederic Makowiecki.

In GTLM action Ferrari leads the two Ford GTs and Corvettes
In GTLM action Ferrari leads the two Ford GTs and Corvettes. The Ford GT of Briscoe and Westbrook prevailed

Westbrook was as surprised as anyone that he was able to squeeze that much out of his car. “They tell you a [lap] number and you think, ‘You’re kidding, you’ve been drinking too much,’" but then Westbrook went out and did it.

“It just seemed to be our day," Westbrook said, but they still had to overcome a problem — the car was stuck in first gear during a pit stop “and that cost us five or six seconds, which is five or six places."

His sister car, the No. 66 Ford GT of Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller, came in for a quick splash of fuel at the end, dropping them to sixth in class, twelfth overall. They had no choice, said Ford chief engineer Mark Rushbrook – the No. 66 was on a different pit strategy, and didn’t have quite enough fuel at the end to stretch it like the No. 67 did.

The hardest-working car and drivers were Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens in the No. 90 Visit Florida car, which ran poorly all weekend and started the race last due to being too late to the starting grid, meaning they had to start from pit lane and also suffered a drive-through penalty.

“We’re glad we got back on the podium," Dalziel said, “but this car won here last year and we have some work to do on this package."

“It was quite an eventful race," Goosens said. “I kept an eye on the mirror" for the fast-approaching No. 31 at the end, but Goosens concentrated on making no mistakes, and that was the key for the strong finish.

Next up for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: The Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Presented by the Metro Chevrolet Dealers in Detroit on June 3-4.

MONTEREY, Calif.– Results from Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda race at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course, with starting position (in parentheses), finishing position, drivers, car, laps completed and average speed.

  1. (8) John Pew, Oswaldo Negri, Ligier JS P2 Honda, 80 laps, 89.382 mph
  2. (7) Ryan Dalziel, Marc Goossens, Corvette DP, 80, 89.010
  3. (3) Dane Cameron, Eric Curran, Corvette DP, 80, 89.000
  4. (1) Tristan Nunez, Jonathan Bomarito, Mazda, 80, 88.607
  5. (6) Sean Rayhall, Katherine Legge, DWC13 Elan, 80, 88.539
  6. x-(10) Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook, Ford GT, 79, 87.473
  7. (9) Daniel Serra, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Ferrari 488 GTE, 79, 87.322
  8. (4) Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor, Corvette DP, 78, 87.111
  9. (16) Earl Bamber, Frederic Makowiecki, Porsche 911 RSR, 78, 87.082
  10. (14) Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 78, 86.976
  11. (13) Toni Vilander, Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari 488 GTE, 78, 86.956
  12. (11) Dirk Mueller, Joey Hand, Ford GT, 78, 86.935
  13. (12) Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin, Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 78, 86.921
  14. (17) Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet, Porsche 911 RSR, 78, 86.895
  15. (15) Dirk Werner, Bill Auberlen, BMW M6 GTLM, 78, 86.735
  16. (18) Lucas Luhr, John Edwards, BMW M6 GTLM, 78, 86.720
  17. (5) Christian Fittipaldi, Joao Barbosa, Corvette DP, 76, 84.537
  18. (2) Tom Long, Joel Miller, Mazda, 34, 83.515

x-GT Le Mans class winner

RACE STATISTICS

Time of race: 02:00:11.145

Margin of victory: 30.099 seconds

Race Distance: 179.040 miles

PR1/Mathiasen, Alex Job Teams Convert Poles to Victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Drivers Tom Kimber-Smith and Robert Alon executed when it counted, logging a textbook-perfect race in their No. 52 Chevrolet-powered ORECA FLM09 Prototype Challenge car to score a narrow 1.736-second victory over the No. 8 Starworks car of Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande in the Continental Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda, held Sunday afternoon at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

In the GT Daytona class, the No. 23 Alex Job Racing/Team Seattle Porsche 911 RSR of Alex Riberas and Mario Farnbacher dominated practice, qualifying and then the race, finishing 3.632 seconds over the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 of Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan. Finishing third was the No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Brandon Davis and James Davison.

“Clearly Porsche has a very good car that suits Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca," said Alex Riberas, who is from Spain. “This is my first time here, and I have to say now it is one of my favorite tracks." Teammate Farnbacher also had the fastest lap in the GTD class in the race, a 1.26.124.

The race was the second half of a double-header – the pit lane at Mazda Raceway is considered too short for all four of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship classes, so the Prototype Challenge and GT Daytona cars were paired for one race, and the Prototype and GT Le Mans class ran together in an earlier race. The No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Honda-Ligier took the Prototype victory in that race, and the new No. 67 Ford GT took its first win in GTLM today.

Kimber-Smith said the PC win came down to saving fuel, part of a one-pit-stop strategy in the two-hour race. “It’s hard to save fuel when someone is trying to chase you down," he said, but van der Zande, in second, also was conserving fuel on a one-stop plan. “It looks like we’re going to have a good year," Kimber-Smith said.

The most compelling drive of the afternoon was by the No. 54 CORE Autosport car of Colin Braun and Jon Bennett. The car had to start last from pit lane, and then had to serve a drive-through penalty, putting it not only well behind all the PC cars, but the GT Daytona cars. Near the end Braun, laying down the fastest lap of the race at 1:20.380, was nearly a second a lap faster than the leader.

Next up for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: The Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Presented by Metro Chevy Dealers in downtown Detroit.

MONTEREY, Calif.– Results from Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda Prototype Challenge/GT Daytona race at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course, with starting position (in parentheses), finishing position, drivers, car, laps completed and average speed.

  1. (1) Robert Alon, Tom Kimber-Smith, ORECA FLM09 Chevrolet, 82 laps, 91.364 mph
  2. (3) Alex Popow, Renger van der Zande, ORECA FLM09 Chevrolet, 82, 91.342
  3. (5) Jonathan Bennett, Colin Braun, ORECA FLM09 Chevrolet, 82, 91.169
  4. (2) James French, Kyle Marcelli, ORECA FLM09 Chevrolet, 82, 91.091
  5. (6) Misha Goikhberg, Stephen Simpson, ORECA FLM09 Chevrolet, 82, 91.061
  6. (4) Matthew McMurry, Johnny Mowlem, ORECA FLM09 Chevrolet, 81, 90.155
  7. (11) Mark Kvamme, Ashley Freiberg, ORECA FLM09 Chevrolet, 80, 88.497
  8. z-(7) Alex Riberas, Mario Farnbacher, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 79, 87.884
  9. (8) Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan, Ferrari F488 GT3, 79, 87.840
  10. (12) Brandon Davis, James Davison, Aston Martin GT3, 79, 87.549
  11. (13) Andrew Davis, Robin Liddell, Audi R8 LMS GT3, 79, 87.548
  12. (14) Bret Curtis, Jens Klingmann, BMW M6 GT3, 79, 87.532
  13. (19) Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Dodge Viper GT3-R, 79, 87.468
  14. (16) Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers, Lamborghini Huracán GT3, 79, 87.455
  15. (24) Cooper MacNeil, Leh Keen, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 79, 87.444
  16. (18) Matt Bell, Lawson Aschenbach, Audi R8 LMS GT3, 79, 87.438
  17. (15) Corey Lewis, Spencer Pumpelly, Lamborghini Huracán GT3, 79, 87.296
  18. (9) Patrick Lindsey, Jörg Bergmeister, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 79, 87.283
  19. (20) Michael Marsal, Markus Palttala, BMW M6 GT3, 78, 86.596
  20. (21) John Potter, Andy Lally, Audi R8 LMS GT3, 78, 86.474
  21. (23) Dan Knox, Mike Skeen, Dodge Viper GT3-R, 78, 86.367
  22. (22) Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell, Lamborghini Huracán GT3, 77, 87.271
  23. (10) Lawrence DeGeorge, Cedric Sbirrazzuoli, Lamborghini Huracán GT3, 65, 72.415
  24. (17) Timothy Pappas, Nicky Catsburg, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 55, 60.747

z-GT Daytona class winner

RACE STATISTICS

Time of race: 02:00:31.047

Margin of victory: 1.736 seconds

Race Distance: 183.516 miles

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]