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Ford Feels the Heat at the Nürburgring

Ford Feels the Heat at the Nürburgring

Date: 2016-07-29
The Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team had a tough weekend at the Nürburgring and ultimately had to settle for fourth place for the #66 Ford GT of Stefan Mücke and Olivier Pla and seventh for the #67 car of Marino Franchitti, Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell.

"Today wasn't our day," said Ford Performance global director, Dave Pericak. "We had good speed in our cars but due to various circumstances it didn't work out for us. We look forward now to the next five races where we expect to be in a position to contend and win races."

The race started smoothly for both of the Ford GTs with Mücke taking the lead on lap one but it wasn't long before he received a firm 'tap' from one of the Aston Martins and dropped to third place. Throughout the opening stint Mücke had a hard-charging Gianmaria Bruni in the #51 Ferrari on his tail. Bruni himself soon came under intense pressure from Tincknell in the #67 Ford GT, who made a great move on the Italian and took the position.

After an hour of close racing Mücke pitted to hand over the #66 Ford GT to Olivier Pla and on the next lap Tincknell pitted from second place so Andy Priaulx could take his turn in the #67 car.

As Priaulx hopped onboard the #67 Ford GT the action heated up a lot more than anyone expected. Whilst refuelling the car, a problem with a fuel valve caused a spillage, which then ignited a flash fire. This was quickly extinguished and the team set upon the car to check for damage and just over 20 minutes later the #67 Ford GT was back in the race.

Stefan Mücke and Olivier Pla were having a strong run in the #66 Ford GT, despite the early race contact.

In the closing stages of the race the #66 Ford GT was running well in third place, ready to take an assured podium finish, when they were handed a drive through penalty - Stefan Mücke was adjudged to have released his belts before the car stopped during an earlier pit stop - which dropped them to fourth place.

Round 5 of the FIA World Endurance Championship takes place in Mexico City on 3 September.