The Story Of The Ford GT’s Return: Documentary Part 5

In case you missed it, just ahead of the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans race earlier in June, Ford Performance released Chapter 5 of a multi-part documentary series centered on the Ford GT and its long-awaited return to both road and track.

This chapter goes over the myriad hardships and triumphs that the Ford GT racing program has encountered so far in its debut racing season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (SCC) and FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Chip Ganassi Racing is heading up both efforts, with two Ford GT competition cars in each series and full factory support.

Until the new car clinched victory at Le Mans on June 19^th, the Ford GT was without any wins in the 2016 WEC season, and looked perhaps destined to carry on in that way. The team had scored its first victory in the SCC series at the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix, but the GT Le Mans class in this series is generally less-competitive than the comparable GTE Pro class in WEC.

Of course, living in the present, we now know that the Ford GT is in fact capable of meeting the challenge presented by the FIA series, as the No. 68 car snatched first at the Le Mans 24 Hours earlier in the month.

Here is a full list of the Ford GT’s racing results in both series so far this year:

• IMSA Rolex 24 at Daytona, January 30^th-31^st: 7^th and 9^th
• IMSA Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, March 19^th: 5^th and 8^th
• IMSA Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach, April 16^th: 4^th and 8^th
• WEC 6 Hours of Silverstone, April 17^th: 4^th and 5^th
• IMSA Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix, May 1^st: 1^st and 6^th
• WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, May 7^th: 2^nd and 6^th
• WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans, June 18^th-19^th: 1^st, 3^rd, 4^th, and 9^th