Wynn’s Victorious with No. 85 Keating Motorsports Ford GT (2nd Update)

Bill Ford Jr. was on-hand to see two of his Ford GTs disqualified for cheating

UPDATE Ford Motor Company executive chairman Bill Ford Jr. has issued a statement on the exclusion of the No. 85 Keating Motorsports Ford GT, stating that it was “disappointing" to see their GTE-Am class victory taken away by the “thinnest possible margin."

“We at Ford are very proud of Ben Keating and the Keating Motorsports team for all they accomplished at Le Mans," said Ford.

“I was at the race and saw first-hand their professionalism and was thrilled by their win in the GT Am class.

“Ben and his team overcame some tough moments and delivered an incredible result.

“To have that taken away from them based on the thinnest possible margin of error is disappointing, but they can leave Le Mans with their heads held high."

Ford ended its four-year factory run at Le Mans with fourth, fifth and sixth place finishes in the GTE-Pro class, following the No. 68 Ford GT’s disqualification, also for exceeding fuel capacity.

Keating, meanwhile, has vowed to return to Le Mans next year to prove that its result, which he believes was not influenced by the fuel system infractions, “wasn’t a fluke."

No. 85 Wynn's/Keating Motorsports Ford GT has been disqualified

06/17/19 Ben Keating says he will not appeal the FIA’s decision that has led to the disqualification of his GTE-Am class-winning Ford GT from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, having taken responsibility for not leaving enough “margin for error" in the fuel systems.

The No. 85 Ford GT, which was driven to victory by the Texan and co-drivers Jeroen Bleekemolen and Felipe Fraga, was found to have exceeded the maximum fuel capacity by 0.1 liter and not meet the minimum refueling time by 0.6 seconds in post-race scrutineering on Monday.

It resulted in the car being excluded from the race, promoting the No. 56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR to the class victory.

Keating Motorsports Driver, Team Principal and No. 85 Ford GT Car Owner:

“As disappointed as all of us are at Keating Motorsports, we have elected to accept the ACO’s decision regarding the disqualification of the No. 85 Keating Motorsports Ford GT from first place in the GTE-Am class in this past weekend’s 87th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Our intention every year at Le Mans, and in every race in which we participate each season, is to compete within the parameters of the rules and with an overall spirit of sportsmanship and professionalism.

“The Keating Motorsports team verified repeatedly before the start of this year’s race that the fuel cell on the No. 85 was at 96 liters in maximum capacity. The fact is that our fuel cell capacity and fuel fill time were both at the proper limits at the beginning of the race.

"However, the new rubber bladder inside the cell expanded by 0.4 of a liter during the race, and our new fuel rig got more efficient by 0.6 seconds after being used a bunch of times over the course of the race's 24 hours. It is a tough situation, but we failed to build in any margin for error. We were at the limit because we didn’t feel like we had any margin to give.

“Any minute gains from these changes were not factors in what was an otherwise outstanding race for the Keating Motorsports team, our drivers and enthusiastic and supportive sponsor partners. We are proud of our overall performance in the race and believe we clearly showed for nearly the entire 24 hours that we were the team to beat.

“Le Mans is a 24 Hour race that can sometimes be decided by less than a second or a few millimeters. We failed to account for any margin of error this year but won’t make the same mistakes again. We hope to compete in future editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for many years to come."

06/17/19 The No. 85 Wynn's/Keating Motorsports Ford GT team and co-drivers Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Felipe Fraga played their race strategy to perfection in this weekend's 87th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans where all three drivers led the race in what appeared to be a dominating performance for the GTE-Am class victory.

The win with Keating Motorsports came in Wynn's debut as a major team sponsor at Le Mans and is an instant highlight of the company's year-long celebration of its 80th Anniversary in 2019.

Established in California in 1939, and now part of the ITW Professional Automotive Products family, the Wynn's automotive technology products line continues today to offer an array of products designed to effectively treat and improve a car's engine.

Keating, the principal of Keating Motorsports and the first customer owner of a Ford GT, won at Le Mans in his fifth attempt in the world-famous French endurance race. A narrow loss and eventual third-place GTE-Am finish in 2018 played a key role in this year's victory.

"I credit the experience last year with teaching me what I believe the proper strategy is for Le Mans," Keating said. "I felt like we could have won last year, and we didn't, so I made a list of all the things I wished I had done differently. We had a plan coming into Le Mans this year and that's exactly what we did. It was just a great race."

The team's strategy called for professional drivers Bleekemolen and Fraga to swap driving shifts for more than the first half of the race. Keating put in nearly the entirety of his required driving time in the final quarter of the race. Bleekemolen is a gold-rated driver, Fraga is silver and Keating, like most "am" drivers, is ranked bronze.

"It appeared like a dominating performance because all the other teams ran their bronze drivers in some form or fashion within the first 15 hours of the race," Keating said. "Our plan was to put our fast guys in back-to-back-to-back-to-back all night long from the beginning of the race. Our hope was that we would build a big enough lead to take advantage in safety car situations, which we did. It did look pretty promising when the sun came up at 6 a.m. but the bronze driver still had to do six hours of driving!"

Bleekemolen started the race and improved from ninth on the grid to second before pitting. He handed off to Fraga who moved the No. 85 into a lead he and his teammates would basically never lose just under three and a half hours into the race.

When Keating was up, he drove three-straight stints at the wheel of the Wynn's Ford GT Sunday morning, keeping the No. 85 in the lead until handing off to Bleekemolen for the final run to the finish.

"Ben had an unbelievable last stint," Bleekemolen said. "At first, he had to save fuel, but at the end the team said he could go, and he posted his fastest laps of the race. That was key to staying ahead, because in the end I came out of the pits three seconds ahead of second place. From there, the quickest was going to win, and we were already ahead and faster. It was really cool."

Bleekemolen won for the second time in his 14 starts at Le Mans but for the first time since 2008 in the LMP2 class.

"Le Mans has changed a lot in the last 10 or 11 years," Bleekemolen said. "Today, you have to fight from the start to the end against the best GT drivers in the world. It is so hard now, it's not a 24-hour endurance race, it is a 24-hour sprint race. You really have to push, so this win stands out even more than my first one as being really special."

Fraga, a first-year teammate with Keating and Bleekemolen in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the United States, came home a winner in his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut.

"It has been amazing," Fraga said. "This was the most prepared I have been for a race. You can really see that when you do work so hard it does pay off. I have been working hard back home so I am really happy with this result. We almost won in my first race with the Wynn's team at Daytona, and then they asked me if I wanted to go to Le Mans. I really want to thank the team for giving me the chance and Jeroen for introducing me to them."

Wynn's had a strong corporate presence at Le Mans from both the U.S. and Europe.

"It was really cool," Keating said. "Wynn's is a retail brand here in Europe, so fans know it, and there is a really great history with the brand. We had all the French and European Wynn's people here with our U.S. colleagues at Le Mans and it was just great."

In addition to the Wynn's relationship, Keating is a third-generation Ford dealer who owns and operates Tomball Ford, Port Lavaca Ford and College Station Ford within his Texas-based Keating Auto Group in the U.S. Learn more at www.KeatingAuto.com.

Next up for Wynn's and Keating, Bleekemolen and Fraga is the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International in New York State, June 27 – 30. The drivers and the Wynn's/Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports No. 33 Mercedes-AMG GT3 team come into that race leading the team and driver championship standings halfway through the 2019 Michelin Endurance Cup.

About Wynn's: Throughout its legendary history, Wynn's, now worldwide, has remained at the forefront of technology. Wynn's heritage of automotive excellence dates back to 1939 and that leadership continues today with an array of products designed to effectively treat and improve your car's engine. Wynn's represents a reliable brand that generations of car owners have come to know and trust, and we'll work hard to keep earning your loyalty, one bottle at a time. Learn more at www.WynnsUSA.com.