Hunter-Reay leads Long Beach practice two

By Apr 19, 2013, 6:32 PM EDT
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Ryan Hunter-Reay led an incident-marred second practice session at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach at 1:09.4224.

“We’re executing a little better,” said the Andretti Autosport driver and defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion. “We’ll take the balance of what we learned today and apply it to tomorrow. We know what we’re working with.”

Mike Conway was second once again for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, with Will Power, Tristan Vautier and Helio Castroneves in the top five.

Conway, who like Hunter-Reay is a former Long Beach race winner (2011), hasn’t appeared to miss a beat for his first race back in IndyCar since Baltimore last year.

“There were cobwebs, but I felt good coming into the weekend,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about this since February.”

James Jakes, Alex Tagliani, Dario Franchitti, Takuma Sato and James Hinchcliffe completed the top 10.

Four red flags peppered the 45-minute session for the IZOD IndyCar Series. Sebastian Saavedra, Justin Wilson, Simona de Silvestro, Scott Dixon and E.J. Viso all had unscheduled appointments with the concrete barriers.

Saavedra led off the session when nosing into the Turn 1 wall. Later, Wilson went into the tires at Turn 8 and de Silvestro, who ran a wider exit of the 90-degree right hander, crashed right into him with nowhere to go.

Turn 9 was the trouble spot for both Dixon and Viso. Dixon hit the wall exiting the corner and damaged his left rear suspension, while Viso nosed into the tire barriers going into the corner.

Combined times from Practice 1 and 2 are below:

Rank  Car Driver            Team                C/E/T Time 

1.     1    Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti               D/C/F 1:09.4224
2.     17   Mike Conway          RLL                    D/H/F 1:09.4603
3.     12   Will Power           Penske                 D/C/F 1:09.5166
4.     55   Tristan Vautier      Schmidt Peterson       D/H/F 1:09.5657
5.     3    Helio Castroneves    Penske                 D/C/F 1:09.6008
6.     16   James Jakes          RLL                    D/H/F 1:09.7664
7.     98   Alex Tagliani        Barracuda/BHA          D/H/F 1:09.7829
8.     10   Dario Franchitti     Target Chip Ganassi    D/H/F 1:09.7891
9.     27   James Hinchcliffe    Andretti               D/C/F 1:09.8157*
10.    14   Takuma Sato          Foyt                   D/H/F 1:09.9197
11.    78   Simona de Silvestro  KV                     D/C/F 1:10.0767*
12.    19   Justin Wilson        Coyne                  D/H/F 1:10.1028*
13.    9    Scott Dixon          Target Chip Ganassi    D/H/F 1:10.1479*
14.    15   Graham Rahal         RLL                    D/H/F 1:10.1906*
15.    67   Josef Newgarden      Fisher Hartman         D/H/F 1:10.2081*
16.    77   Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt Hamilton       D/H/F 1:10.2472
17.    25   Marco Andretti       Andretti               D/C/F 1:10.3292
18.    7    Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon                 D/C/F 1:10.3736
19.    4    JR Hildebrand        Panther                D/C/F 1:10.4001*
20.    11   Tony Kanaan          KV                     D/C/F 1:10.4956
21.    2    AJ Allmendinger    Penske                 D/C/F 1:10.5424
22.    5    EJ Viso              Venezuela/Andretti/HVM D/C/F 1:10.8132
23.    83   Charlie Kimball      Novo Nordisk Ganassi   D/H/F 1:10.8156*
24.    18   Ana Beatriz          Coyne                  D/H/F 1:11.0011*
25.    22   Oriol Servia         Panther DRR            D/C/F 1:11.0586*
26.    6    Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon                 D/C/F 1:11.0693*
27.    20   Ed Carpenter         Carpenter              D/C/F 1:11.6747

*Fastest time set in Practice 1 instead of Practice 2

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).