So Close For Le Mans Mustangs In Texas
Ford Mustang Comes So Close To Texas WEC GT3LM Win. But No Cigar.
The Le Mans Ford Mustangs put on a memorable performance at home at the weekend’s Lone Star World Endurance Championship 6 Hours in Austin, Texas. Only a cruel roll of the dice would prevent what surely seemed a likely victory, just a few laps from the checker.
Ben Barker, Ben Tuck and Bernardo Sousa ultimately came home seventh in LMGT3 in the number 77 Ford Mustang GT3 LM, with Giammarco Levorato, Stefano Gattuso and Dennis Olsen’s 88 car ninth. It could well have been very different, but as they often say, that’s just racing!
Mustangs Locked Out Texas Front Row
The weekend started of the front foot when Levorato stormed to pole position in the 88 alongside Ben Tuck, who turned a lap just 0.018s shy of Levorato’s benchmark aboard the 77. The race took a while to start with the first hour behind the safety car on a soaking track, and then a red flag to stop the action when the rain became torrential.
The green flag finally flew in trying wet conditions just into the third hour. With near zero visibility and aquaplaning all the way, conditions finally improved as the final hour approached. The Proton Competition-run Mustangs remained in the hunt, leading and running in the top three throughout.
The 77 led GT3LM from the title leading Porsche and the 88, when then the team made a call not to change to fresh tires for the final stint as the three leaders stayed on used rubber. That ultimately proved the wrong decision. A train of cars running on fresh tires closed rapidly until they were all over the back of the by then hampered leading trio.
The Fords Made the Texas Running for Hours
The 77 tried in vain to keep Davide Rigon’s Ferrari 296 GT3 behind before the two touched to allow the Ferrari to make off and take the flag. Rigon was however ultimately penalized for his rough move on the Mustang, leaving the Sato Gelael Leung 720S GT3 EVO to take McLaren’s first WEC win from Valentino Rossi’s BMW and the Ferrari.
The Mustangs then slipped to a heartening but ultimately disappointing seventh and ninth, still sandwiching the Porsche. Ultimately, Ford missed out on what could very well have been a stunning maiden win on home soil.
But this Texas showing and a fine second at Spa a few races back, the Le Mans Ford Mustang GT3 LMs cannot be too far from that elusive maiden success…
Images: Proton Competition/FIA WEC
You must be logged in to post a comment.