Ford Racing News


RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
Ralphie, I thought of you today. The GT40 seminar panel (Brian Redmond, David Hobbs, Bob Bondurant, Dan Gurney, John Horsman & Lee Holman) was incredible ~ Edsel Ford attended as well! 2 hours passed like minutes, with the stories from these fellows. Guys you know and some you could certainly relate to.

I was not aware of the extreme level of competition (as well as coerced coordination) between the Shelby and Holman Moody GT40 Teams. I had erroneously been operating under the assumption that the Ford Effort was targeted entirely at Ferrari. As an example, it was shared by a couple of the panelists that Ford had directed the two Teams to swap chassis between races in order to leverage up 'lessons learned' in vehicle development. Interesting that the two Teams also competed for financial support from Ford, with Shelby receiving funding from Marketing (read: Iacocca) and Holman Moody from the once powerfull Engine Foundry Group. Amazing stuff!

One fellow (John Horsman) sure had an interesting perspective ~ The former Team Manager for the 'old' Mark II chassis that won LeMans twice (Nice resume)! A quiet man with top organizational, engineering and personnel admin skills.

Through all the stories, and notwithstanding the intra-squad competition, the message was clear;

HF2 wasn't going to settle for anything less than total victory. :thumbsup

There was a 3rd team too. Alan Mann out of England was also under the Ford program. Ford was coming at Ferrari from all sides, with an unlimited budget! All the teams competed against each other, but were under instructions not to dice too hard lest they lose their cars to one another. This didn't always work.

I'll see Bob Bondurant at the end of the month, as he is being honored at the "Legends of Riverside" getogether, along with Dan and a few others.

http://legendsofriverside.com/
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, May 17, 2013, Vol. 6, Issue 20

Ford GT Takes Wins At Spa In ADAC GT Masters

Lambda Performance secured a historic victory in the first of last weekend’s two ADAC GT Masters races at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. It was the first success for a Ford GT in the history of the series with the victory coming at the hands of local driver Nico Verdonck and his team-mate Frank Kechele.

Lambda performance was founded two years ago with the aim, to continue the legend of the Ford GT. With the historic victory at Spa in the first ADAC GT Masters race last weekend this mission has been accomplished.

At the start of the race, Verdonck quickly pulled away from the rest of the field by about three seconds. All too common at Spa, it began to rain. This forced the team to decide whether to make an additional pit stop for rain tires, or leave the car on its original slicks, which would make staying at the front a much riskier proposition. The local driver knows Spa its special characteristics like no other, so the team chose the riskier strategy.

"In some sections the route was still completely dry," Nico explains. "But in the third sector there was so much water on the track and I had to be extremely careful with my Ford GT."

After a spectacular stint in the wet, Verdonck pulled his Ford GT into the pits, ready to hand the car over to his co-driver, Frank Kechele. Following a fantastic pit stop by the crew, Kechele returned to the track with an 18 second advantage!

"The team practiced pit-stops yesterday evening and again this morning,” remarked Kechele. “It has definitely paid off!"

Several of the team’s competitors succumbed to the race’s difficult conditions, but Kechele never faltered. The team did receive quite a scare, however, with ten minutes remaining when the Ford GT hit a wet spot on the drying track in the spinning at "Curbe Paul Frere". Fortunately, the car was not damaged and Kechele was able to continue onto the finish, winning the race by a margin of seven seconds!

Now that the team has achieved their first goal of taking their Ford GT GT3 to the top step of the podium, they will look to continue that success at the series’ next round at the Sachsenring in Germany June 7-9.

View attachment 29096
 
Last edited:

Cobrar

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jun 24, 2006
4,017
Metro Detroit


Several of the team’s competitors succumbed to the race’s difficult conditions, but Kechele never faltered. The team did receive quite a scare, however, with ten minutes remaining when the Ford GT hit a wet spot on the drying track in the spinning at "Curbe Paul Frere". Fortunately, the car was not damaged and Kechele was able to continue onto the finish, winning the race by a margin of seven seconds!

View attachment 29096


WOW, that's impressive. Kinda' reminds me of Danny Sullivan at Indy - Spin to Win!
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, June 21, 2013, Vol. 6, Issue 25

VIDEO: Looking Back On Ford's 'All-American' Le Mans Victory

[video=youtube;xc9iBgAfJrg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc9iBgAfJrg&feature=player_embedded[/video]

http://racing.ford.com/history/news...s-all-american-le-mans-victory-1293054772662/
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, June 21, 2013, Vol. 6, Issue 27

History - Ford Powers Shelby's Cobra Daytona Coupes To America's Only World Championship In1965.

Whether he was behind the wheel driving the wheels off whatever race car he was piloting or designing some of the fastest cars ever made by human hands, Shelby had one goal and one goal only -- win.

That trait was never more evident in 1963...

http://racing.ford.com/history/news...only-world-championship-in1965-1293054619461/
 

twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,053
Las Vegas, NV
If you've never seen a Daytona Coupe in person you'll never understand it.

 

Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,832
Largo, Florida
One of my favorite pictures of my son is of him sitting in CSX2601, the Coupe that secured the championship for Shelby with a win at Reims in 1965.

DSC_0060.jpg

Peter Brock was at Sebring in 2009 promoting the car before its record-setting sale.

DSC_0079.jpg

Those Daytona Coupes are full of American Awesomeness.
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, July 26, 2013, Vol. 6, Issue 30

Journalist, PR guy, Author & Blogger Marty Schorr Loves Living His Automotive Dream in a Ford GT

Noted muscle car journalist and author Martyn L. Schorr has enjoyed a storied auto enthusiast career. He piloted CARS Magazine through the ‘60's, marketed Detroit muscle cars, managed performance publications, developed OEM product launches and PR programs – and today still does marketing communications work plus auto blogging as editor of CarGuyChronicles.com. But this car-loving Sarasota (FL) Café Racer tells us his recently acquired Ford GT has magically rekindled his long-lost connection with Ford:

"I love the GT more than I even anticipated. While I have no connection to Ford in recent years, I was a believer back in the early-mid 1960s. Went to Monte Carlo in Jan. 1963 for rides in a Falcon Rallye car and to drive the 1963½ line of HP cars; went to Dearborn Proving Grounds to drive the Falcon Rallye car; built a street rod using a Ford-donated small-block w/tri-power and Cobra parts that took First in Class at the NY Hot Rod & Custom Show for two years. Well . . . I'm a believer again."

To find out how a Ford GT became Marty's dream car and what he's doing with that trophy in the 1967 photo above with Ford Racing's Jacque Passino, click here.

http://racing.ford.com/enthusiasts/...pear-in-our-ford-fan-spotlight-1293055418507/

View attachment 29921
 

MartynL

GT Owner
Feb 19, 2012
184
Sarasota, FL
Totally forgot about this interview with John Clor shortly after buying my GT. Photos taken before getting AKA GT40 tag. Feelings about my GT the same, still in lust with it!
 

Xcentric

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 9, 2012
5,213
Myakka City, Florida
Winning!
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, October 4, 2013, Vol. 6, Issue 40

View attachment 31379
Lambda Ford GT Doubles Up At Hockenheim
OCT. 03, 2013

Lambda Performance dominated the final weekend of the 2013 ADACT GT Masters season, winning both races with their Ford GT. The wins were the team’s second and third of the year and the perfect end to their first season in the premier German GT championship.

Race One could not have gone better for Lambda Performance. Frank Kechele started the Ford GT on pole position and was able to drive away from the competition with ease. Consistently setting fast laps throughout his stint in the car, Kechele faced no major challenges and avoided being wrapped up in several racing accidents that happened behind him. Following the team’s pit stop and driver change, Kechele’s brother-in-law, Dominik Schwager, took the car to the finish and claimed the win by seven seconds over their closest rival.

A third-place starting position for Race Two proved more challenging for Lambda Performance and their Ford GT, but Schwager took advantage of a mistake by a Mercedes in front of him and was able to hand the car over to teammate Kechele in second-place. Kechele then took full advantage of his car’s dominating performance, driving the Ford GT to the lead and keeping it there for the team’s second win of the weekend.

"It was a perfect finish to a variable season, Kechele said of the two victories. “We've had our ups and downs this year, and we certainly had to work a lot harder for today's win than for yesterday's. Dominik built up a comfortable lead on the first few laps. We weren't the fastest today, but we were the most consistent."

Teammate Schwager offered even more insight to the team’s success at the season finale.

"I felt on the first few laps that we weren't able to attack to the same extent as yesterday, but then I found that we were able to exert more pressure after all,” Schwager said. “The Mercedes driver ahead of me made a couple of mistakes, and then I noticed that he was having some problems. I feel sorry for him, but we all experience situations like that from time to time; it's happened to me often enough! To have posted back-to-back wins on the final weekend is simply amazing. It was a nice way to round off what has otherwise been a rather mediocre season."

http://racing.ford.com/road-racing/...rd-gt-doubles-up-at-hockenheim-1293055654486/
 
Last edited:
Race wins in Hockenheim last weekend in GT3

View attachment 31379
Lambda Ford GT Doubles Up At Hockenheim
OCT. 03, 2013

Lambda Performance dominated the final weekend of the 2013 ADACT GT Masters season, winning both races with their Ford GT. The wins were the team’s second and third of the year and the perfect end to their first season in the premier German GT championship.

Race One could not have gone better for Lambda Performance. Frank Kechele started the Ford GT on pole position and was able to drive away from the competition with ease. Consistently setting fast laps throughout his stint in the car, Kechele faced no major challenges and avoided being wrapped up in several racing accidents that happened behind him. Following the team’s pit stop and driver change, Kechele’s brother-in-law, Dominik Schwager, took the car to the finish and claimed the win by seven seconds over their closest rival.

A third-place starting position for Race Two proved more challenging for Lambda Performance and their Ford GT, but Schwager took advantage of a mistake by a Mercedes in front of him and was able to hand the car over to teammate Kechele in second-place. Kechele then took full advantage of his car’s dominating performance, driving the Ford GT to the lead and keeping it there for the team’s second win of the weekend.

"It was a perfect finish to a variable season, Kechele said of the two victories. “We've had our ups and downs this year, and we certainly had to work a lot harder for today's win than for yesterday's. Dominik built up a comfortable lead on the first few laps. We weren't the fastest today, but we were the most consistent."

Teammate Schwager offered even more insight to the team’s success at the season finale.

"I felt on the first few laps that we weren't able to attack to the same extent as yesterday, but then I found that we were able to exert more pressure after all,” Schwager said. “The Mercedes driver ahead of me made a couple of mistakes, and then I noticed that he was having some problems. I feel sorry for him, but we all experience situations like that from time to time; it's happened to me often enough! To have posted back-to-back wins on the final weekend is simply amazing. It was a nice way to round off what has otherwise been a rather mediocre season."

http://racing.ford.com/road-racing/...rd-gt-doubles-up-at-hockenheim-1293055654486/

I have been watching that on german television, fantastic !
But there was another very good result in the german VLN Championchip, at the all famous Nuerburgringnordschleife past saturday sept. 28th.
Juergen Alzen/Arthur Deutgen have finished on a 4th place in a 4 hour race, racing a late Matech-chassis.
There is the very last race of the season now oct. 12th.
There is a live stream to be seen, and if someone wants to have the info, i can give it here in the GT forum.
FelixIbizaSwitzerland
 

Blue Moose

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Apr 12, 2006
1,139
Chandler,Arizona.
That's some serious competition, Congrats!
http://www.adac-gt-masters.de/uk/autos-2013/
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, March 13, 2014, Vol. 7, Issue 11

Looking Back on Ford Racing History at the 12 Hours of Sebring -

View attachment 33207

http://racing.ford.com/series/road-...g--seeking-to-add-to-ford-s-great-histor.html

PRUETT RETURNS TO SEBRING, SEEKS TO ADD TO FORD'S GREAT HISTORY

SHARE THIS
By Team Ford Racing Correspondent

Tucked in an otherwise unheralded and relatively remote area in the middle of South Florida, Sebring International Raceway has produced a powerful allure to the racing world since 1952. The famed road course has drawn hall-of-fame names like A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Juan Manuel Fangio, Lyn St. James and a hall-of-fame sure thing, Ford EcoBoost driver Scott Pruett.

In 1986, Pruett picked up his first win for Ford in the famed 12 Hours of Sebring, teaming with Olympian Decathlon champion Bruce Jenner..

“That was pretty neat,” Pruett recently recalled.

“I was still pretty wet behind the ears as far as this level of racing was concerned, and here I was with an Olympic champion and driving a Ford Mustang for Jack Roush. Of course, like me, Jack was relatively new to sports car racing, too, but he came to it after already creating some waves in drag racing. Me? I was just glad to be here; still am (because) Sebring is full of tradition.”

The “tradition” about which Pruett spoke goes back to a time when Ford and Ferrari fought like cats and dogs to win racing honors especially, as history would later reveal, when late Ford Motor Company Chairman Henry Ford II would be jilted at the corporate wedding chapel, so to speak, after Enzo Ferrari at the last second walked away from a deal that would’ve made the financially ailing Italian automobile maker a part of Ford.

Already having long competed and won in the world of NASCAR, Mr. Ford, who believed racing not only showcased the carmaker’s product but helped to develop innovations for that product, too, then took up Ferrari’s downed gauntlet and born was the Ford GT 40 sports car program -- its sole purpose to compete on the international racing stage, one which Europeans had long owned, especially on American soil at Daytona and Sebring.

If Ferrari was to be headed, it may as well be accomplished first on American soil.

Enlisting the support of Ford engine proponents Carroll Shelby -- to whom sports car racing was life’s blood -- and a pair of good ol’ boys named John Holman and Ralph Moody, whose Ford engines were making magical things happen in both NASCAR and the NHRA, Ford Racing started battling the Europeans on home turf.

As is the case today, two Florida races annually dominated the 1960’s early international sports car racing calendar: The Daytona Continental, now the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and The Sebring 12 hours, now the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida.

Lighting a fuse that would lead to an explosion of memorable sports car racing moments, Texan Lloyd Ruby and co-driver Ken Miles of England won at Daytona in 1965 in a Ford GT40.

In 1966, the Ford GT40 MkII again posted a 1-2-3 finish, “certain winners” Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant in their dark blue Shelby American No. 2 Ford GT40 MkII having dominated the race. Yet, in the final hour and with the Goodyear blimp’s famous lights broadcasting Gurney and Grant as winners, a comfortable cushion over the second-place Ford GT40 MkII X-1 roadster of Miles and Ruby entirely evaporated.

For the first and last time driving in a race an open-top GT40 MkII X-1 roadster, in the race’s final seconds Miles motored past a race-car-pushing Gurney -- who was out of fuel -- for the race win.

In 1967 Mario Andretti and Bruce McLaren introduced the Ford GT40 Mk IV to the competitive world. To this day, the car retains the 12 Hours of Sebring’s greatest winning margin of victory (MOV): 12 laps.

After a series of events forced Ford Motor Company, among other manufacturers, from racing John Wyer and one of his famed Gulf Oil-sponsored, powder-blue Ford GT 40s closed the decade with a final Ford overall win at Sebring -- one that would rank as the carmaker’s final competitive domestic sports car race of any sort for years to come.

Returning in 1985 with a focus on the domestic car market, Jack Roush took the point for Ford, fielding just one car in Sebring’s 1985 12-hour race -- the No. 65 Ford Mustang driven by American Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Canadian John Jones -- and won the GTO class after finishing 6th overall -- 12 laps ahead of its closest GTO-class rival, a Pontiac Firebird.

Demonstrating its domestic sports passenger cars were worldly competitors, Ford and Roush returned to Sebring in 1986, winning that year’s 12-hour race with Pruett and Jenner at the helm of a Mustang, then would again win the GTO classes in 1989 and 1990 with Lincoln-Mercury Cougar XR-7s driven by Wally Dallenbach, Jr. and Dorsey Schroeder in ’89 and Robby Gordon, Lyn St. James and Calvin Fish in ’90.

Although Ford or its Lincoln-Mercury division would in the following years compete at Sebring in the form of engines that powered privately entered prototypes, it wouldn’t be until this year -- 24 years later -- that Ford Racing returned to the famed 3.74-mile, 16-turn facility.

Holding true to the vision of Henry Ford II, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates’ No. 01 TelCel Ford EcoBoost Riley Daytona Prototype driven by Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, along with Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian’s No. 60 Ford EcoBoost Riley DP, driven by John Pew, Ozz Negri and Justin Wilson, come to Sebring with a desire to win, but not just on the track.

Using an engine built with a majority of parts (70 percent) taken straight from the same manufacturing facilities as the parts found in Ford automobiles throughout the U.S., the two teams, backed by Roush Yates Engines and Ford Racing engineers, transfer what is learned in competition to the production cars -- whether strengthening longevity or increasing fuel mileage.

Today’s electronic monitoring of the twin-turbocharged 3.5 liter Ford EcoBoost engine allows engineers to peek inside the engine as it operates, the provided data pointing to not just the engine’s strong points, but what can be made still stronger; the data pointing not just to that which allows the Ford EcoBoost engine to go farther on a gallon of fuel, but to that which will help it go still farther on that same gallon.

While Ford Racing and its partners ardently wish to win at Sebring or wherever it may compete, in the end it’s the consumer who benefits and, in the eyes of Ford, wins as a result.

Exactly as Henry Ford II would have it.
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, April 10, 2014, Vol. 7, Issue 15

2014 12 Hours of Sebring winner Scott Pruett visits Henry Ford Museum to make a donation, and see the last Ford-powered car to win Sebring - the 1969 race-winning GT40 #1075.

[video=youtube;ajUUx1MSgKk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajUUx1MSgKk[/video]
 

Cobrar

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jun 24, 2006
4,017
Metro Detroit
With any luck, our 1967 Mark IV and this car will be together in-house, when you visit in May.
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, April 10, 2014, Vol. 7, Issue 20

In this issue, in an effort to promote "Authenticity Packages" and Mustang shows, one of our favorite cars was pictured - Rich Brooks's #60 (The GT Guy)

View attachment 33955

Congratulations, Rich :thumbsup :thumbsup
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, April 10, 2014, Vol. 7, Issue 29, Page 1 of 2

Ford's Racing Pedigree Wins with Race Fans and New Car Buyers

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kbrauer...igree-wins-with-race-fans-and-new-car-buyers/

Ford Motor (F -0.11%) Company started business in 1903, but its genesis took place two years earlier, when founder Henry Ford defeated Alexander Winton in a highly publicized 10-lap race at the Detroit Driving Club in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Before the race Winton was favored to win because of his established reputation as a successful automaker and premier race driver. After the race Henry Ford basked not only in the thrill of victory but in his newly-established reputation as a producer of race-winning automobiles. You can hear all the details, directly from Henry Ford’s great-grandson Edsel Ford II, at Ford.com, but the outcome of that win led to the financial backing Henry needed to launch his second car company in 1903 (his first, the Detroit Automobile Company, went bankrupt months before he beat Alexander Winton).

View attachment 34529
Henry Ford racing, and beating, Alexander Winton in 1901.

It makes sense for a company founded on racing to pay homage to the sport, and Ford is arguably the most successful automaker in the field of professional racing. It’s the only single automaker that can claim victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, Grand Prix of Monaco, NHRA U.S. Nationals, Baja 1000 and X Games Rallycross. Between 1963 and 1966 Ford won the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, three of racing’s biggest events, yet three events that utilize vastly different vehicles. This was during Ford’s “Total Performance” era, a period when Henry Ford II wanted to change the company’s image from one of dependable-but-dull into one of built-for-speed-and-victory (which his successfully accomplished).

View attachment 34531
Le Mans-winning Ford GT40

So what does racing from two bygone eras have to do with Ford’s success as an automaker in 2014? Plenty, according to Jim Farley, Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing and Service and head of the Lincoln brand. “According to R.L. Polk, 1 out of 4 performance variants of new cars sold in the U.S. has a Ford badge on it. So we have 25 percent of the performance car market share, almost double our general market share,” says Farley of Ford’s performance models. Examples of these models would include the Fiesta ST, Focus ST, Taurus SHO, Mustang Shelby GT500 and F-150 SVT Raptor. “We sell 60,000 of these performance vehicles a year. When we add it up and look at the revenue, it’s a multi-billion dollar business for us, just on the new vehicle sales side.” Farley displays his genuine interest in performance cars by owning and driving a Ford Cobra.

View attachment 34532
Jim Farley, Ford’s Executive Vice President, driving his personal Ford Cobra

Farley says the same technology that’s allowing Ford to build performance machines for the street and track is also contributing the company’s fuel economy gains through technologies like EcoBoost, Ford’s small, turbocharged engines that aspire to provide fuel efficiency and performance. The smallest of these engines, a 1.0-liter, 3-cylinder engine in Ford’s Fiesta, delivers 31 city, 43 highway and 36 combined mpg while feeling quick and torquey — despite it’s diminutive size. This engine was just named to Ward’s 10 Best Engines list for 2014, the first 3-cylinder engine to ever win the accolade. And the similarity between Ford’s production and racing engines is closer than you might think. For instance, the 3.5-liter EcoBoost in the Taurus SHO uses the same block, heads, crank, rods, pistons, valve dimensions and compression ratio as the racing engine used in Ford Racing’s IMSA/TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series. Ford used this engine to land an overall win at the 24 (sic) Hours of Sebring in March, its first win at this race since 1969.

View attachment 34533
Scott Pruett won this year’s 12 Hours of Sebring race in a 3.5-liter EcoBoost-powered car.

But does the “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” mantra still hold up after all these years? It was the reason automakers jumped into series like NASCAR and NHRA during the 1960s, but are modern car buyers still buying cars because they win? According to Ford’s research, 40 percent of new vehicle intenders in Ford’s major global markets (North America, Europe and Asia) have an interest in Motorsports. The research also shows NASCAR as the most followed form of motorsports in the U.S., with 80 percent of new vehicle intenders saying they have an interest in the sport. The perception by Ford race fans of key vehicle attributes, such as “fun to drive”, “good gas mileage”, “high quality” and “excellent safety” are more than 50 percent higher compared to non-race fans. And race fans, regardless of brand affiliation, have a 17 percent higher favorable opinion of the Ford brand than non-race fans.

View attachment 34534
Ford Cobras on the lawn at Pebble Beach

 
Last edited:

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, April 10, 2014, Vol. 7, Issue 29, Page 2 of 2

Now consider the 75 million people who follow NASCAR and it becomes clear why Ford would open a new Ford Technical Support Center in Concord, North Carolina. This facility is a short drive from Charlotte Motor Speedway, Penske Racing and Roush Fenway Racing, that latter two race facilities serving as key partners in Ford’s racing efforts. The new technical center, located in the heart of NASCAR’s racing world, will support not only racing functions but also serve as a development and R&D hub for technologies applicable to future Ford production cars. While visiting this impressive technical center in May I was fortunate enough to ride with Greg Biffle, in his Ford Fusion NASCAR, around Charlotte Motor Speedway. Strapped into Biffle’s race car, hitting speeds over 180 mph on the straights and massive lateral Gs through the corners, made this ride among the most intense automotive experiences I've had (see video).

[video=youtube;pDya8q7PhMM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDya8q7PhMM[/video]

As Raj Nair, Ford’s Group Vice President, Global Product Development, said at the opening of Ford’s Technical Support Center, “We’re a company that makes cars, and this is a sport that races cars. How could we not be involved? There’s no other sport that supports the product as much as auto racing supports the automotive industry. That’s why we’re involved. That’s why performance plays such an important part of our brand. This commitment to performance goes way beyond ST vehicles and the Focus RS and Shelby GT500. We tie it into the DNA of every vehicle we do because we want ‘fun to drive’ to be part of our brand messaging.”

View attachment 34535
2005 Ford GT remains Ford’s most aggressive performance car for the street.
 
Last edited:

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
In "Fast News from Ford Racing, April 10, 2014, Vol. 7, Issue 34

Ford Fair 2014 at Silverstone -

[video=youtube;o88PZ8nyKU8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o88PZ8nyKU8[/video]

I know there's a RED GT in there somewhere ---

View attachment 34975