zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
The New Ford GT Scores Its First Win As Bald Eagles Shed Tears Of Joy
The New Ford GT Scores Its First Win As Bald Eagles Shed Tears Of Joy-March 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:32

Let us forever celebrate May Day as the day the Ford GT officially came back with its first victory at this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship race at Laguna Seca—with a Ferrari 488 GTE coming in second, no less. Prepare your face, Le Mans: America’s newest and most radical supercar finally won.

The Ford GT race cars have struggled with some teething issues since their debut. One got stuck in sixth gear at , and the other car at Daytona had brake, traction control and kill switch issues.

One of the cars in their World Endurance Championship effort had a gear selection issue where they only had third and fourth gear for qualifying at the 6 Hours of Silverstone. More recently, one of the IMSA Ford GTs was flaming on road dead at .

That first race at Daytona proved one thing, though: when the Ford GTs work, they’re quick. This weekend, the GTs proved that they can still be quick while being miserly on fuel.

Fuel mileage was critical for the relatively short two-hour races at Laguna Seca. The Ford GTs qualified second and third, but wouldn’t finish that high if they had to spend all their time in the pits.

The last 1 hour, 17 minute stint by Richard Westbrook in the race-winning No. 67 was done on one tank of fuel, according to . Laguna Seca’s fuel-hungry uphill sections made this tough and he had to drive back from an unexpectedly long pit stop when the car wouldn’t go into neutral. The car dropped six positions during the long stop, but Westbrook was able to make them up and get back to the front.

Westbrook explained the madness of such a feat to Sportscar365:

The team immediately gave me a fuel number and I said, “Oh my God they’re nuts!” But we did it.

It was just a real race of trying to keep some sort of pace in the car and get the fuel number, which was really difficult in the beginning.

Managing to stay in front of the rest of the field while hoping the “eco” part of EcoBoost wasn’t just marketing nonsense is no small feat.

While the GT still encountered one issue with the car not getting into neutral, this was at least a problem the No. 67 could drive away from and make up, so I say it counts as an improvement. The No. 66 would have had a shot at the podium next to the No. 67, only a late-race splash-and-dash of fuel for No. 66 dropped it back to a sixth place finish.

Second place in the class went to the brand-new Ferrari car, the No. 68 488 GTE of Scuderia Corsa. Rounding out the podium was the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR, who thankfully did not pull any this weekend.

Does this mean the Ford GTs are ready for Le Mans, though? It’s a promising sign that the GTs’ weekend went relatively trouble-free, but yesterday’s Continental Monterey Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (whew, #brands) was only one twelfth of the duration of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

This weekend’s WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps should be a slightly better indicator as to whether these cars are really ready for the biggest show in racing.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Lewis Hamilton Will Chase His Fifth F1 World Championship From Pole in the U.S. Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton Will Chase His Fifth F1 World Championship From Pole in the U.S. Grand Prix
may be making its one stop of the year in America this weekend, but there’s another red, white and blue flag that’s important to this particular : the one British F1 star could wave to celebrate his on Sunday. He’ll start first in pursuit of that title. Hamilton scored his...
Mar 31, 2026
Lynk & Co Makes a Surprising Entry Into Motorsports With Cyan Racing Partnership and a 500 HP Concept Car
Lynk & Co Makes a Surprising Entry Into Motorsports With Cyan Racing Partnership and a 500 HP Concept Car
Cyan Racing, once called Polestar before Volvo bought the name and performance division, is an independent racing team that campaigned Volvos to Touring Car racing victories, most recently winning the 2017 World Touring Car Cup. with Volvo’s weird new little brother, to run a Lynk & Co 03 sedan in...
Mar 31, 2026
Yes, It Is Actually Possible to Get Banned from the Nürburgring for Having a Really Loud Car
Yes, It Is Actually Possible to Get Banned from the Nürburgring for Having a Really Loud Car
Honestly, the Nürburgring feels kind of like one of those tracks where literally anything goes. You can bring just about anything out there for a track day and mess around, spray paint the track if you think you can get away with it—you name it. Aside from outright reckless behavior,...
Mar 31, 2026
Here Is Your Big-Ass U.S. Grand Prix Saturday Gallery
Here Is Your Big-Ass U.S. Grand Prix Saturday Gallery
got practically drowned, leaving many teams hiding in their garages for most of the time available. On Saturday, the onslaught of rain bombarding Central Texas over the past month or so finally decided to give us all a break, and allowed Circuit of The Americas to experience all the fast...
Mar 31, 2026
The Real Battle in the U.S. Grand Prix Will Be Max Verstappen Versus the Kerbs
The Real Battle in the U.S. Grand Prix Will Be Max Verstappen Versus the Kerbs
The driver championship is essentially decided, with leader only needing score eight points more than to clinch his fifth title. So, no, that’s not the close, exciting battle battle at this weekend’s . The real battle is versus the kerbs. Not only will the kerbs be a reminder of the...
Mar 31, 2026
Weekend Motorsport Roundup; October 20-21, 2018
Weekend Motorsport Roundup; October 20-21, 2018
Welcome to the Jalopnik Weekend Motorsports Roundup, where we let you know what’s going on in the world of racing, where you can see it, and where you can talk about it all in one convenient place. Where else would you want to spend your weekend? I was going to...
Mar 31, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved