bifs66 Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 The Mustang GT350R-Cs finished 1-2 in the Continental Tire IMSA race at Daytona today. It's a good start for the Ford effort at the weekend's Rolex 24. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Great! I assume they'll get another 50 lb penalty next week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLPRacing Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Spoiler alert! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe3w Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 (edited) Weight and or more air restriction for sure on the Shelby's. To bad the Ford GT's aren't doing as well in GTLM. Looks like they have some work to do if they want to be competitive at Le Mans. Edited January 31, 2016 by coupe3w Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Weight and or more air restriction for sure on the Shelby's. To bad the Ford GT's aren't doing as well in GTLM. Looks like they have some work to do if they want to be competitive at Le Mans. They had mechanical issues very early on, like, within the first hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Better to get the kinks worked out now than at LeMans. One of them turned the fastest lap in GT-LM in the first 6 hours - they're fast. And I might be biased but I think they're the best looking GTs out there hands down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe3w Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Unfortunately it's not a beauty contest LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bifs66 Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 (edited) There's a lot of disappointment out there over the Ford GT's overall performance at the Rolex 24. Maybe it's a case of expectations versus reality. I listened to the IMSA broadcast; and the announcers hinted at a tad bit of arrogance in Ford's approach to the race. They kinda underestimated the competition; and undervalued the difference between actual racing and testing. Regardless, with Ganassi and the Ford brass looking down at the wounded GTs in the garage, there's sure to be a serious effort to fix the issues. On the positive side, they showed a lot of speed, looked great, and will probably not incur any further restrictions. Edited January 31, 2016 by bifs66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe3w Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 They are teething problems, both with the cars and the teams. They will get it sorted, but the competition is very strong. Ferrari did well for a new car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 They tested at Sebring which by all accounts is much harder on the car. Some things you just won't find until you're in a real race. The real question is whether they continue to have problems or if they get them fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe3w Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 It depends if Ford is willing to spend the money necessary to fix the problems, and win Le Mans like Henry Ford did back in the 60's to beat Enzo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Why would they go this far and cheap out now. That makes no sense. And it doesn't necessarily cost a lot to fix some problems or processes. Btw a former coworker hangs out with the corvette team and said they actually helped the ford team. Nice to hear. Of course I'm sure the fact they were dozens of laps down made a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe3w Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 “We certainly had our share of reliability issues, and that is not uncommon in a brand new car’s debut,” said Raj Nair, executive vice president, global product development, and chief technical officer, Ford Motor Company. “As we have said, the first time these two particular cars hit the road was literally at the Roar (Before the Rolex 24) test here a couple weeks ago. Aspects of our total testing program had gone very well, so I think we’re a little surprised at some of the reliability issues we have had. As we get into diagnosing the issues, some of them are very specific to what is going on in a race…coming in for a tire change and the wheel hitting a brake line and breaking it. Running three hours under our caution engine calibration (when the car is under yellow flag), and then finding out that is actually causing a problem. We’re still diagnosing some of the stuff that was happening. Maybe even the aspect of the way the in-car TV cameras were wired, which we obviously don’t run during testing, and that may have impacted some of our power feeds and noise in the system. Those kinds of things you aren’t going to find except in a race environment. “The good thing about it all, and the thing we are pleased about, is the car is showing some pace, it is showing some opportunity, and overall we are happy that we have a fast car and we need to work on reliability. That’s a lot better than having a slow car that’s reliable, but you don’t know how to get speed out of it. Overall, this is racing and this is what can happen in racing. If we don’t win every race, we are disappointed, but at the same time we know how to fix our issues and we’ll be better the next time we come out.” “I don’t think anyone should think of this race as a failure,” said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. “It’s not the Cinderella story we were hoping for, but this is racing. I’d rather work the bugs out now, then later. Our team has been doing an amazing job of staying laser-focused during this race, and not getting discouraged. I can’t even believe how hard they were working. We will re-group, we will fix it, and then we will go out at Sebring and show what we can do. That’s what this is all about. “I think one of the great things is…that at its core…this is a race machine. Our drivers have confirmed it. Our results when we have been on track have confirmed it. Our engineering analysis has confirmed it. These nagging things are frustrating as hell, but at the end of the day, we have an amazing machine and that is a victory in itself. We will get it durable, and then we will race the hell out of it.” Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/imsa/gearbox-issues-dog-ford-gt-debut-rolex-24-daytona#ixzz3yvutl96K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe3w Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Anyone know if Ford going to have only 2 GT's at Le Mans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMSA-XJR9 Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Should have 4 I believe . . . http://www.autoblog.com/2016/01/05/ganassi-ford-gt-le-mans-drivers/ The announcement of this accomplished lineup follows the roster revealed over a month ago for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. If everything goes according to plan, the American lineup will join the European one at Le Mansfor a four-car entry in the LM GTE class. Ford's return to the Circuit de La Sarthe half a century after its landmark win there in 1967. Good race . . . wish the GTs and Ford DPs would have had better results. Stinks that DPs are done (I don't think they are racing at Sebring), always nice to have more Blue Ovals in the lineup. And I'm still curious about a potential bump to GT3 specs for the GT350Rs . . . . but just wishful thinking at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe3w Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Doesn't Ford have their own test track they can use to work the bugs out? Or I know they could easily rent a track somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Doesn't Ford have their own test track they can use to work the bugs out? Or I know they could easily rent a track somewhere. They tested at Sebring as well as many other tracks. But it's hard to simulate race conditions no matter what you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traxiii Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Just got back from my first Rolex 24 and I can say that the Ford GT would win any beauty contest, hands down. They look amazing, even more so in person. If you haven't been to an IMSA race and done the Grid Walk prior to the race, you are really missing out, especially at Daytona. We went up the tri-oval and signed the wall for good luck, but it didn't work. The GTs seem to have the legs on the high banks but looked to get out braked into turn one quite a lot. They have a most interesting sound when downshifting, sort of a Pah, Pah, Pah, that mimics the Ganassi Prototypes running the same engines, which makes sense, but seems much different than at Laguna Seca last year. If you get a chance to go to a race, do it! IMSA knows how to put on a fun race and being able to see the cars and drivers on the grid and in the garage is very cool. Only the NHRA pits are better, but that has more to do with Nitro and warming the cars up 3 feet from your face, Awesome! Hoping for some better luck at Sebring, though one of the GTs lead a couple laps early, so the speed is definitely there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe3w Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Just got back from my first Rolex 24 and I can say that the Ford GT would win any beauty contest, hands down. They look amazing, even more so in person. If you haven't been to an IMSA race and done the Grid Walk prior to the race, you are really missing out, especially at Daytona. We went up the tri-oval and signed the wall for good luck, but it didn't work. The GTs seem to have the legs on the high banks but looked to get out braked into turn one quite a lot. They have a most interesting sound when downshifting, sort of a Pah, Pah, Pah, that mimics the Ganassi Prototypes running the same engines, which makes sense, but seems much different than at Laguna Seca last year. If you get a chance to go to a race, do it! IMSA knows how to put on a fun race and being able to see the cars and drivers on the grid and in the garage is very cool. Only the NHRA pits are better, but that has more to do with Nitro and warming the cars up 3 feet from your face, Awesome! Hoping for some better luck at Sebring, though one of the GTs lead a couple laps early, so the speed is definitely there. So do you think it's braking going into the corner or not enough torque coming out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traxiii Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 They looked to be getting out braked slightly to me, but their straight line speeds (trap speeds) were probably tops in class. It could be the drivers, and the lack of time/laps in the car, or just not needing or wanting to push it. I noticed it in the first hour, before all the problems started. They were definitely more than holding their own on the track, only really losing time in the pit and garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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