The No. 68 Ford GT has won the GTE Pro class in the 84th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The win comes exactly 50 years after the Ford GT took a historic 1-2-3 overall finish in the 34th edition of the endurance race in 1966.
Pole-sitter Dirk Mueller, who shares the No. 68 car with Joey Hand and Sebastien Bourdais, had over a minute lead on the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE of Giancarlo Fisichella when he took the checkered flag. The Ferrari had battled with the Ford for much of the race, however the GT showed stronger pace in the race’s closing stages.
Race stewards called the No. 82 Ferrari into the pits to serve a penalty with 15 minutes to go for ongoing issues with its leader lights. The team elected to leave the car out, however, which may result in a disqualification.
The No. 69 Ford GT, piloted by Scott Dixon, Richard Wesbrook and Ryan Briscoe, claimed the final podium position. The No. 66 Ford GT had a rougher go of things, losing significant amounts of time in the night due to an issue with the car’s light board.
The No. 67 Ford GT had the roughest Le Mans outing of all the Blue Oval entries. The car, driven by Harry Tincknell, Andy Priaulx and Marino Franchitti, failed to make the race start with gearbox issues and underwent repairs on several occasions. It finished ninth in GTE Pro.
“We put it all on the line as drivers today and the car just kept on trucking,” Hand said post-race.
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