Michelin GT Challenge at VIR
VIRginia International Raceway
Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016
Qualifying

FORD GT STARTING POSITIONS
P3 66 Ford GT (*Joey Hand/Dirk Müller)
P8 67 Ford GT (*Richard Westbrook/Ryan Briscoe)
*Driver qualified

Notes: The track surface at VIRginia International Raceway was recently repaved. The temperatures have been some of the hottest the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors have faced this season.

No. 66 Ford GT
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing

JOEY HAND: 'This new track surface here at VIR is really good. Everybody questioned what was going to happen before we got here. You never really know when you come to a track with fresh pavement, but it's taking down rubber really well. It's really quick, even with the heat we have this weekend. There's a ton of grip. It looks like it's going to be a pretty racy place.

'For us, we kind of hit the set-up pretty decent when we got here. We've been pretty comfortable in the car. I said at Road America that the car set-up there was my favorite since I've driven this GT, and this is my second favorite. It's not quite as good as Road America, but it's pretty strong. Dirk (Müller) and I have been comfortable with the car every session. We're in the mix. The Chevys are pretty strong this weekend, but our thing is about racing. That's why we come out here and especially why I come out here. We plan on fighting them until the end. We have a good race car, but I think we have a good racing car and my job is going to be to start this thing and keep it in the mix and let Dirk go take a swing at it.'

No. 67 Ford GT
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing

RICHARD WESTBROOK: 'It's never great to qualify eighth, but we've seen how quick the Corvettes are all weekend. We're trailing one of the Corvettes in the (IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) points so it's not how we want to start tomorrow, but it's racing and this is part of it. We tried something in qualifying to try to leap frog them, but it didn't work out. We'll dust ourselves off and come back stronger tomorrow.'

Ford Motor Company published this content on 27 August 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
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