Sebastien Bourdais’ former engineer heading to Arrow McLaren SP

By Dec 16, 2019, 3:11 PM EST
INDYCAR Photo
INDYCAR Photo
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The demise of Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser and Sullivan continued Monday with the announcement its famed engineer, Craig Hampson, was joining Arrow McLaren SP. Hampson will become Race and R&D Engineer at the team that combines McLaren and Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

Hampson is most famous as the engineer at Newman Haas Lanigan Racing when Sebastien Bourdais was the driver from 2003 to 2007. From 2004 to 2007, the Hampson and Bourdais combination won four-straight Champ Car Series championships.

The two were reunited at Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser and Sullivan in 2017 and were an instant success, winning the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. With Hampson’s engineering and Bourdais’ rejuvenated racing skill, the operation was able to enjoy the lead in the IndyCar standings entering the month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Bourdais engineered a rocket ship for Bourdais in Indianapolis 500 qualifications that year and the driver was running the fastest speeds of the day before he lost control of the car entering Turn 2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Onboard data showed Bourdais had the car at 97 percent throttle when it slammed into the wall at 227 miles per hour.

Bourdais suffered fractures to his legs and pelvis that required surgery at IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. One week later, he was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to join the team as a spectator at the 101st Indianapolis 500.

Bourdais returned to the final three races of the 2017 and again, the Hampson-led team with Bourdais behind the wheel won the Firestone Grand Prix for the season year in a row in 2018.

The two remained a vital part of the No. 18 Honda at DCR with Vasser and Sullivan until team owner Coyne suffered a major budgetary hit in early November. Without the additional money required to run a competitive two-car NTT IndyCar Series team, Coyne released Bourdais on November 22.

Hampson remained, fueling speculation that he could help lure James Hinchcliffe, another popular driver out of a ride, to Coyne’s operation.

On Monday, however, it was announced Hampson will join the Arrow McLaren SP team and work with its two young drivers and the past two Indy Lights Series champions Patricio O’Ward and Oliver Askew.

“I am very excited to be joining the highly capable group of talented team members that Arrow McLaren SP has already assembled,” Hampson said Monday “There are people there who I have worked with in the past, plus others who I have previously regarded as formidable competition. I am eager to integrate into the projects, preparation, and momentum that they already have underway for the 2020 season.

“This will be a year of growth and learning, but I’m confident that this team has the expertise, commercial backing, access to technology, and willful ambition that makes it possible to plot a course where in due time we will regularly challenge for race wins, Indy 500 victories, and season championships.”

Hampson comes to Arrow McLaren SP with more than 25 years of frontline experience in the sport with leading teams. During his race engineering career to date, he has more than 30 wins, four Champ Car titles and two Indy 500 victories to his name.

“Recruiting someone of Craig’s experience and expertise is an important step for the team as we build towards the next level of competitiveness,” said Taylor Kiel, managing director, Arrow McLaren SP. “He is not only an accomplished and well-respected engineer but a strong technical leader who will be a key member of our established team.”

Two of the top engineers at Dale Coyne Racing have left the team since the end of the season. Michael Cannon, who was key in the development of rookie Santino Ferrucci, left to join Chip Ganassi Racing in October. Hampson’s departure on Monday is another troubling sign for the NTT IndyCar Series operation that became a very competitive team in recent seasons.

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500 

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).