TINCKNELL CLINGS ON TO CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AFTER TOUGH RACE IN TEXAS ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Harry finishes 7th at the 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas, cutting down the #67 car’s lead in the FIA World Endurance Championship that he shares with team mate Andy Priaulx.
Harry Tincknell and his Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team endured their toughest race of the season to date at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, finishing in 7th place at the end of 6 hours of racing. The weekend had started very promising with an excellent display by Tincknell and Priaulx to qualify the car on the front row of the grid in 2nd place. Priaulx took the start in searing conditions as track temperatures exceeded 40 degrees as the Texan sun bore down on the circuit. However, the promising grid position started to unravel from the very first corner as a hit from behind delayed the Guernseyman and the Ford GT fell down to 8thplace by the end of lap one. As the race settled down, Priaulx moved up to 7thafter switching positions with team mate Olivier Pla in the sister car, but it was clear that the Ford’s didn’t have the race pace required to stay with the lead pack. Tincknell was handed the car at the one hour mark and attempted to double stint on the hard compound Michelin tyre. While the harder compound offered more durability, a lack of overall grip hindered Tincknell’s progress and as he maintained the 7th place over nearly two hours of driving before handing back to Priaulx. A sticking wheel nut during the pit stop further delayed the car but some of the loss was negated due to a safety car period for a barrier repair after a crash from a Porsche 911. Changes of strategy from the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing engineers produced a more positive performance during the second half the race as Priaulx and Tincknell traded one hour stints behind the wheel until the checkered flag fell at 6pm local time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to move further up the field as the #67 car crossed the finished line in 7th place with the sister #66 car behind in 8th.
Harry Tincknell (GB):
“It was a really tough day at the office for everyone at Ford Chip Ganassi Racing and obviously we are disappointed to only come away with 7th and 8th places at Ford’s home race here in America. It certainly wasn’t through lack of trying and I am proud of everyone in the team for fighting on to maintain our Championship lead in the hardest of conditions. With ambient temperatures above 35 degrees, I need to say a massive thank you to the Ford human performance team for preparing and looking after the whole crew during a weekend of high heat and humidity”. “We need to go back to the drawing board and analyse exactly what went wrong and what we can improve before the Asian leg of the Championship. We had a great car for qualifying, coming very close to pole position and we know from last year that the car is strong at the upcoming tracks. It’s been a fantastic year so far, hopefully we’ve got all our bad luck out the way and can go and attack the last three races and bring home the World title”.
Harry Tincknell leads the FIA World Endurance Championship by 6 points. The next race is the 6 Hours of Fuji, Japan on the 15th October.
