The No. 66 Ford GT of Stefan Mücke and Olivier Pla finished fourth in the FIA WEC 6 Hours of Nurburgring Sunday, while the No. 67 GT sister car of Marino Franchitti, Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell came home seventh. The race was won by AF Corse, who took a 1-2 finish with their two Ferrari 488 GTEs.
The No. 66 GT took the lead on the first lap but fell down to third after contact with the No. 97 Aston Martin. Tincknell in the No. 67 car, meanwhile, battled with the eventual race-winning No. 51 Ferrari of Gianmaria Bruni for fourth, eventually finding his way around the Italian to take position.
Mucke pitted the No. 66 car after about an hour of racing, handing driving duties over to Olivier Pla. The No. 67 entry, now in second, pitted one lap later, with Tincknell passing it off to Andy Priaulx.
Passing the baton to Priaulx turned out to be more dramatic than anyone expected, however. A faulty refueling valve caused fuel to spill on the car, igniting a flash fire and forcing the team to scramble to put it out. The team looked the car over for damage and 20 minutes later sent it back on track.
“We had a few issues with the car after the fire,” said Priaulx. “The turbo was damaged so we were down on power and that later turned into a misfire. I had a puncture too during my run. It was a tough stint and a tough weekend for the #67 car.”
Pla in the No. 66 car turned in a strong stint, running third and holding off a hard-charging AF Corse Ferrari. The GT held the podium spot after Pla handed driving duties back to Mucke, however they were served a drive through penalty after Mucke removed his belts before the car had stopped as he attempted to pass it back off to Pla. The penalty relegated them to fourth, with the No. 95 Aston Martin claiming third instead.
“It was a hard race for us today,” added Mücke. “We fought hard and it’s a shame we had the drive through. Let’s look forward now to Mexico and hope we can get a good result there.”
FIA World Endurance Championship heads to Mexico City next for the 6 Hours of Mexico on September 3rd. Click here for full results from the 2016 6 Hours of Nurburgring.
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