Chip Ganassi Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais and Scuderia Corsa’s Townsend Bell - Bell is also an NBCSN IndyCar analyst - have won their respective classes (GTE-Pro and GTE-Am) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which had a crazy finish for the overall win.
This makes it two of the four IndyCar drivers who competed at the 100th Indianapolis 500 entered at Le Mans who’ve won the race, as well as the Ganassi team, in its maiden bow at Le Mans with the new Ford GTs.
Bourdais co-drove with Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller, and has claimed an emotional first win in his hometown of Le Mans.
“This is right up there with all of them. The race I always want to win is the next one. This will go in the books though,” team principal Chip Ganassi told Radio Le Mans’ Shea Adam.
The #68FordGT wins GTE Pro at @24hoursoflemans! #TeamGanassi #FordLeMans 🎉🏁 #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/r8OpNCIg83
— CGR SportsCar (@CGRsportscar) June 19, 2016
The win by the No. 68 #FordGT is the 1st for @Ford at #LeMans24 since '80, and @MichelinUSA's 14th-consec in GTE Pro pic.twitter.com/5cKgxiOyIL
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) June 19, 2016
Triumphant @BourdaisOnTrack celebrates @FordPerformance victory at #LeMans24! @CGRsportscar pic.twitter.com/f16OZCPVpI
— Peter Leung (@BaronVonClutch) June 19, 2016
Additionally, Scott Dixon has finished third in GTE-Pro in his Ford, a separate car he co-drove with Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe.
That could have become a higher position if Risi Competizione was assessed a later post-race penalty after being ordered to pit from second place in class owing to a leader light issue. But it did not appear to be the case.
Meanwhile, Bell and co-drivers Bill Sweedler and Jeff Segal have gone two better in the No. 62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari F458 Italia than they did last year, when they came third as Le Mans rookies for Giacomo Mattioli’s Los Angeles-based squad.
Ummm. Yeah. So we just won LeMans. Kinda mega! pic.twitter.com/AAxYb1CfiA
— Townsend Bell (@townsendbell) June 19, 2016
Wow!!! While waiting for our podium in front of 263,500 @24hoursoflemans spectators! #BestFansEver 🏆🍾🍾🍾😱 pic.twitter.com/GIv4XMwM3I
— ScuderiaCorsa (@Scuderia_Corsa) June 19, 2016
“Amazing. What a terrific race, my teammates, and this guy... it’s amazing,” Townsend Bell told Justin Bell of FOX Sports. “The car was a rocketship out there. Not only did we win, we won with a margin.”
Sweedler added to Justin Bell, “The only way this would have been better if my teammate would have won the Indianapolis 500.”
There’s a lot of team and congratulatory tweets out there. Here’s a small sampling:
Congrats @GanassiChip, @IndyMHull @FordPerformance @JoeyHandRacing @muellerdirk @BourdaisOnTrack. Making history.
— Tony Kanaan (@TonyKanaan) June 19, 2016
Proud of the whole @FordPerformance team, 50 years on @muellerdirk @JoeyHandRacing @BourdaisOnTrack have won @24hoursoflemans for @Ford!
— Marino Franchitti (@MFranchitti) June 19, 2016
Awesome job everyone @CGRsportscar winning #LeMans24 on first attempt!! Congrats @JoeyHandRacing @muellerdirk @BourdaisOnTrack!! #FordGT
— Ryan Briscoe (@Ryan_Briscoe) June 19, 2016
So stoked for @CGRsportscar winning #LeMans24! Way to go @GanassiChip @JoeyHandRacing @muellerdirk @BourdaisOnTrack!! #FordGT
— Charlie Kimball (@charliekimball) June 19, 2016
Congratulations to @GanassiChip and @CGRTeams on winning #LeMans24. What an amazing accomplishment!
— Jamie McMurray (@jamiemcmurray) June 19, 2016