The #66 and #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs will start tomorrow’s ‘6 Hours of Mexico’ in sixth and seventh places respectively after a troubled qualifying session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
The combination of a low grip track and a car that is best suited to fast, flowing circuits put paid to Ford’s attack in the 20-minute session on Friday afternoon. During the free practice sessions the Ford GTs have struggled to light up the tyres, unable to get heat into the rubber without having to compromise heavily on downforce. As each car only gets a few laps in qualifying there is no time to build up the heat so the drivers have to go all out in less than ideal conditions.
The aggregate fastest lap times of Stefan Mücke (GER) and Oliver Pla (FRA) took the #66 Ford GT to sixth place.
“That was a tough session for us,” said Mücke. “We expected better and hoped to be nearer the front, even though we knew we had no chance against the Aston Martins. The track has changed a lot since this morning’s practice session, which explains why we have struggled. Having said that I’m confident that we will be able to fight for a better position in the race.”
The #67 Ford GT of Marino Franchitti (GB), Andy Priaulx (GB), and Harry Tincknell (GB) had a troubled session. Priaulx went out first but had to deal with the door of the Ford GT opening every time he went around a corner and had to pit so the team could solve the issue.
“The problem with the door meant that I had even less time to do a lap,” said Priaulx. “I managed to get one quick one in but on the next lap, as I came into the stadium section, I lost the rear unexpectedly. I had no trouble there throughout the practice sessions so I can only imagine there was some oil down from the historic race that happened this morning. I gave everything I had. We’re in a difficult position for tomorrow but we have a good car. I’m expecting lots of antics in the race so we need to stay out of trouble and bring the car home.”
Harry Tincknell then jumped into the #67 Ford GT for his run but his time was also compromised and the #67 took seventh place in class.
“The opening door on #67 was a shame but it was human error, rather than an issue with the door itself so it won’t be a recurring problem,” said WEC Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell. “Andy (Priaulx) tried his best but he was under massive pressure to get a good lap first time out. Harry (Tincknell) didn’t have a chance after that with a lightly damaged car. Stefan (Mücke) made a small mistake on his best lap but really the best case today would have been to get amongst the Ferraris as the Astons are out of sight. The track is slower now than it was this morning so if the conditions are good tomorrow we’ll have a good, consistent race car and we will do our best.”
The 6 Hours of Mexico will get underway tomorrow, September 3rd, at 13:30hrs local time and a sell-out crowd is expected for the first WEC round in Mexico City.