Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani deliver first win of season at Glen; IMSA results, points

By Jul 2, 2021, 10:00 PM EDT
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IMSA points, results Watkins Glen WeatherTech 240: The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Action Express DPi Cadillac made its first visit to victory lane in 2021, winning Friday at Watkins Glen International as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship wrapped up two races in six days at the road course.

Pipo Derani started fourth and took the lead on Lap 25 with an off-sequence strategy. He pitted eight laps later and handed over the wheel to fellow Brazilian Felipe Nasr on Lap 33.

Four laps later, the race was stopped for 46 minutes because of lightning in the area. After more pit stops, Nasr cycled into the lead for the restart and stayed ahead to win by 1.473 seconds over the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande. The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor was third.

“We just didn’t have enough fuel capacity to make it if it went green all the way,” Nasr said. “So, we opted to do an alternative [strategy]. The crew did an amazing job to put the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac in victory lane. It was beautiful. It was a long time coming.”

With a victory, three podiums and two pole positions, Derani and Nasr rank third in the standins, 114 points behind Albuquerque and taylor.

“It’s a relief,” Derani said. “I think we’ve shown since the beginning of the year that we have the car and the team to win. But things didn’t go our way at Daytona and Sebring. We gambled a little bit on the strategy, and it paid off as we expected. What a drive in the end by Felipe.”

OTHER CLASS WINNERS

LMP2: With No. 52 drivers Mikkel Jensen and Ben Keating, PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports scored its 23rd career victory and second this season.

LMP3: The No. 74 completed a sweep of back-to-back races at Watkins Glen with Gar Robinson and Felipe Fraga.

GTLM: The No. 3 Corvette won its second consecutive at Watkins Glen with Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.

GTD: With co-drivers Jack Hawksworth and Aaron Telitz, the No. 14 Lexus of Vasser-Sullivan broke through for its first victory this season and seventh overall.

RESULTS: Click here for the final overall finishing order and here for the class breakdown.

POINTS: Click here for the unofficial standings after Watkins Glen l Sprint Cup standings

STATS PACKAGE FOR THE WEATHERTECH 240 AT WATKINS GLEN:

Fastest laps by driver

Fastest laps by driver after race (over the weekend)

Fastest laps by driver and class after race

Fastest lap sequence

Leader sequence

Lap chart

Race analysis by lap

Stint analysis

Best sector times

Race distance and speed average

Time cards

Pit stop time cards

ROUND 1: Points and results from the Rolex 24 at Daytona

ROUND 2: Points and results from the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring

ROUND 3: Points and results from Mid-Ohio

ROUND 4: Points and results from Detroit

ROUND 5: Points and results from the Sahlen’s Six Hours at The Glen

NEXT: The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will head to Lime Rock Park for the Northeast Grand Prix, a two-hour, 40-minute race for GT cars on July 17 (3 p.m. ET).

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).