TINCKNELL THIRD IN THE WORLD WITH BAHRAIN PODIUM
Harry and team mate Andy Priaulx finish 3rd in the FIA World Endurance GT Driver’s Championship with 142.5 points
Harry Tincknell ended his FIA World Endurance Championship campaign with a hard fought 3rd place at the season finale in Bahrain. With 15 points on offer for the podium position, Harry and team mate Andy Priaulx sealed 3rd place overall in the driver’s championship.
The 26 year old teamed up with the Guernseyman to qualify the #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing car in 3rd place on the grid for the 6 Hours of Bahrain. With a 7.5 point deficit going into the race, only a win would realistically be enough take the championship and Harry immediately went on the attack when the race started at 4pm local time.
A stunning ‘around the outside’ manoeuvre on the #95 Aston Martin at the first corner moved the Devonian up to 2nd place and Tincknell immediately started to attack the leading Ferrari. Despite not having the pace of the lead car over the first 40 minutes, Harry began to close in on the leader before handing over to Priaulx on the hour mark. In a race where tyre wear and strategy were key, Priaulx briefly led courtesy of another superb outside overtake as the Ford GT once again was aggressive with its tyre strategy. However, the relenting pace of the Ferrari’s during the middle phase of the race took its toll, and Tincknell would jump back in the car at the start of the third hour in 3rd place. Despite strong and consistent laps, Tincknell couldn’t do anything about the two Ferraris in the lead. After two more full stints from Harry and Priaulx, it looked like Ford were set for 3rd place with just under two hours of the race to go. But a delay in the 4th pit stop cost the car 30 seconds and they slipped back to 4thbehind the #91 Porsche of Frederic Makowiecki. With the pit stop issue resolved, Tincknell immediately set about closing the gap when he rejoined the track. During his final hour of driving for the season, Harry set the #67’s fastest laps of the race as he clawed back lost time and crucially conserved the tyres for the final stint for Priaulx. A flawless final pit stop from the Ford crew, where two fresher tyres were fitted to the left side of the car made for a thrilling run to the line. The Porsche started to become a sitting duck as its tyres gave up and lost grip, with Priaulx up to 3 seconds a lap faster. He sealed the overtake with 20 minutes to go and took the chequered flag to secure the final spot on the podium.
Harry Tincknell (GB): “I’m so proud of the whole team for the results we’ve been able to achieve together this season. Of course, we wanted to go out and win the championship today but we knew beforehand it was going to be a long shot and realistically with the pace we had in the car we would need a failure from the Ferrari. The thing I am proudest of though is our fighting spirit, we never gave up and I was attacking from the very first corner”,
“It’s certainly a season to be proud of for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing. Andy and I have led the championship from the first race, finished 2nd at Le Mans and our win in Shanghai was probably our greatest effort as a team to date. Of course we need to look back on what we can do better and we dropped some points in Fuji and Spa, it shows you have to be perfect to win a World Championship. But I’ve learnt an incredible amount this season and I go into the winter knowing I am in the form of my life and can’t wait to get going again next year. There is a lot to look forward to!”
Harry ends the FIA World Endurance Championship standings in 3rd place with two wins, four podiums and eight top five finishes from nine races. Ford Chip Ganassi Racing finish 2nd overall in the Team's Championship.
