Ford GT Program Reunites Championship Winning Pairing of Hand, Muller

Moments before the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale, Joey Hand drove the new Ford GT race car underneath a giant American flag during pre-race ceremonies at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was a memorable event, a taste of the American manufacturer’s return to major international sports car competition before its debut at the 2016 Rolex 24 At Daytona with an updated version of the iconic Ford GT40.

One day earlier in a press conference at the Speedway, Hand was announced as one of the four lead drivers for the two-car Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team that will compete in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Hand will be joined by Dirk Muller in the No. 66 Ford GT, joining new teammates Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe in the No. 67 entry.Hand and Muller already have enjoyed success as co-drivers. They shared the 2011 ALMS GT driver’s championship, winning Sebring, Long Beach and Lime Rock plus three additional podiums as part of a breakout year for Hand. He also made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011, finishing third in GTE-Pro with Muller and Andy Priaulx. To begin the year, Hand won overall in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in a one-off drive for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.In 2012, Hand became the first American to complete fulltime in the German DTM, where he raced for three years.  He then raced for BMW Team RLL in the 2014 season-ending Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda, an unexpected pit road encounter with Ganassi changed his career path. The Sacramento native joined Ganassi fulltime and raced a Ford EcoBoost/Riley Daytona Prototype in 2015, winning with veteran driver Scott Pruett at Circuit of The Americas. The year also served as groundwork for Ford’s exciting return to GT competition in 2016. How did you get together with Chip Ganassi Racing and the Ford GT program?“For me, it was a little different than the other drivers who had been testing with the team. A year ago, Chip came to me at Petit Le Mans and said, ‘Hey Joey, why don’t you come drive for me.’ Long story short, I said ‘Absolutely.’ I’ve always wanted to drive for Chip. I knew the program since I raced there and won with them before. He told me that Ford is going to be on board and they want to do special things. I started to learn more about the Ford GT throughout the year. We were running the 3.5L EcoBoost in the DP car in preparation for the GT car. For me, it was an easy switch. They said they were going to do a GT car, and I was automatically part of the program.”What are your thoughts about the Ford driver lineup and co-driving with Dirk? “The tough part has been keeping our mouths shut about the all the other guys who will be driving with the team. It’s exciting that it’s all out. It’s exciting to have my old pal Dirk Muller back. We’re going to be paired up, we’ve won a lot of races together. It’s nice to be with somebody you know. In sports car racing, it’s all about that give and take. You have to compromise a little bit. Dirk and I know what we want from the car, and I think it will be fun. At the same time, I’m getting to know Westie (Richard Westbrook_ and Ryan Briscoe, both good guys. We just spent a few days fishing in the [Florida] Keys. Overall it’s going to be fun.”How big a departure is this car from the DP you have been driving?“Powertrain-wise, it’s close. To be honest, the way you sit in the car and look through the windscreen and fender fares on the front seem like the DP. You’re sitting in a very similar position. It’s not a huge difference. Obviously, the GT doesn’t have as much downforce, but it’s really not too far off. Everybody asks how it handles as for a GT car with mid-engine, but you don’t even notice it. This car just feels like a race car. It doesn’t do anything weird, and from a driver’s perspective, you like that. I’ve tested it five times, and you can tune it. We’re not sure how fast it is, but I do know we can work with it.”How does this compare with other factory programs you’ve been a part of?“When Chip came to me and said that Ford was going to be on board and we were going to do cool stuff, I didn’t really understand the level of commitment. Ford’s level of commitment is higher than I’ve ever seen, and I’ve driven for other manufacturers before. This is a really big deal to Ford, right at the very top – I was just hanging out with Edsel Ford and Henry Ford. The guy with his name on the building is 100-percent on board and loves this program. He loves this car, and thinks it’s a great idea. Ford’s all on board, from top to bottom. When you put that with Chip Ganassi Racing – which we all know can already do amazing things by themselves. Chip gets all the right people in line.”Is it realistic to think that the new team will be competitive right off in the Rolex 24 At Daytona?“That’s a tough one to call. I would like to think so. Sure, we need to make the car quick, but at Daytona, the most important thing is making the car go for 24 hours. We’ve done 12 hour tests at Sebring, and we ran a lot of laps during the recent test at Daytona [International Speedway], with no problems, so right now we’re on a good pace as far as not having issues. We’ve been running not to go fast, but to see what will fail, try to see what will break. We’re testing to run miles. But with the people we’ve got on this team, I think it’s realistic that we will go to Daytona and be competitive. These guys are good.”Photo Credit: Ford Performance