Twice as Nice
The Ford GT and Shelby GT350R-C win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
By Steve Turner
Photos courtesy of Ford Motor Company
Last weekend in Canada was a great one for the Ford Performance’s IMSA road racing efforts. Both the Multimatic Motorsports Shelby GT350-RC and the Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT came away with victories in their respective classes. For the GT, it was the supercar’s second win in two weeks and third victory in a row.
The Shelby GT350R-C started the racing weekend off on the right foot in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. With cars’ Multimatic Motorsports’ homebase close by in Toronto, Canada, it was no surprise that driver Scott Maxwell put the GT350R-C on the pole for the second race in a row at this familiar track. He and teammate Billy Johnson carried that momentum into the race.
“It took fast pit stops, strategy and Scott’s stint, my stint, traffic management, all of those things had to come together for this win,” Billy said. “That just goes to show what Multimatic and Ford Performance is all about.”
That return to the top of the podium at the Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix also allowed the duo to retain the Shelby GT350R-C’s hold on the CTSCC point lead.
“Honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about the points today,” Scott added. “I just wanted to win. I wasn’t interested in second or worrying about the points cushion. It was really nice to do that in front of my hometown crowd and at my home track. It’s pretty special.”
It wasn’t a bad day for the Number 76 Shelby GT350R-C driven by Paul Holton and Pierre Kleinubing either. The drivers of the privateer GT350R-C put the colorful Shelby on the third step of the podium.
“We had a pretty good strategy, I think we just gambled a little too much on only taking two tires on the last stop,” Pierre said. “Maybe otherwise we’d have had the pace to finish second and it would’ve been a great 1-2 for Ford, but we’ll take the podium and build on it. It’s our first year with the car. We have a lot to learn but we’re getting better every week and that’s what counts.”
Though it didn’t start as smoothly for the Ford GT, its drivers also delivered a victory at the Canadian race in the Weathertech Sports Car Championship GTLM class. After qualifying in the third position, drivers Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe had some issues to sort out with the Number 67 racer.
“We had some issues in practice. We haven’t been super happy with the balance, so we tried a few things and it was getting better and better. We felt like we were on a strategy that was good for the race, but not so good for qualifying, so we’re really encouraged with p3, taking that strategy in mind. I said before, if we could get p3, it would feel like a pole and it definitely feels like a pole. I’m really happy for all the guys.”
Though it didn’t dominate out of the gate like it has, the Ford GT and its drivers showed versatility in making it all come together on race day.
“We had a good car. We didn’t have the fastest car,” Richard, who qualified and started the No. 67 at p3, said. “I think when you can come away with the victory when you’re not the fastest car, it just shows you the strength and depth we have at Ford Chip Ganassi Racing.”
It did require a bit of gamesmanship for the Chip Ganassi Racing team to score its second victory in two weeks. When other teams pitted for tires and fuel, the Number 67 GT just pitted for fuel and relied on its Michelin tires.
“I don’t think we were the quickest car out there this weekend, but it was great to get the win on strategy and consistency,” Ryan added. “When we pitted off-strategy before that, with an hour, 20 minutes to go, we thought we’d go all the way to the end on those tires. We were out of the window on fuel, but we thought if we caught some yellows and save fuel we’d be able to make it. We got that short yellow, but that wasn’t going to put us in the window on fuel. Everyone else pitted under green after that. We saw we had the opportunity to take a splash of fuel to be safe and come out with the lead still, with a little bit of a gap. The call the team made was fantastic. I was just trying to hang on and it worked out.”
The Ford GT and Shelby GT350R-C teams will return to the track at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, on July 22-23 for the North East Grand Prix where they hope to continue this streak.
Billy Johnson and Scott Maxwell put the Multimatic Motorsports Shelby GT350R-C back atop the podium on Scott’s home track, Canadian Motorsports Park.
Thanks to a clever pit strategy and sticky tires, the Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT scored its second IMSA victory in two weeks time.
