Next to rally, endurance racing is the most grueling test for any race team- be it the drivers, the engineers, or the cars themselves. It’s especially tricky when it comes to a car that has never been put through the paces of racing before, let alone road development- and the Ford GT is just that.
Unlike a sprint race where components are only required to last for an hour or so, endurance racing forces these components to work at their limit for 12 to 24 hours- which quickly reveals any inherent flaws in their design.
While all four of the Ford GTs made it to the finish line intact. Results weren’t as fantastic as Ford would have hoped, but the engineers were happy that they had plenty of valuable data collected from the race. The No. 66 and No. 67 car were plagued with gearbox issues early in the race that set them back by a number of laps. They finished in 31st and 40th place respectively.
Brake failure for the No. 2 car sent it into the tire wall, but it managed to get across the finish line in 13th place overall, or 7th in class. The No. 1 car was holding on the lead lap until it had to pit for a number of laps due to an unscheduled check up- but it still managed to take 5th place overall.
