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Ford’s Bourdais wary of Corvette challenge at Daytona

Sebastien Bourdais believes Ford GTs can win both 24-hour sportscar classics this year, but expects Corvette to be a prime opponent this weekend at Daytona, and Porsche to reveal its full potential at Le Mans.

#66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, Sébastien Bourdais

#66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, Sébastien Bourdais

Art Fleischmann

#66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Ford Performance Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Ford Performance Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Ford Performance Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Ford Performance Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Ford Performance Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Ford Performance Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, Sébastien Bourdais
#66 Ford Performance Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, Sébastien Bourdais

Bourdais, who was on the winning crew in the GTE Pro class at last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, believes the Chip Ganassi Racing-run Ford GT quartet is in for a tougher fight in this weekend’s 55th Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.

He told Motorsport.com: “I don’t feel like the car is as strong potentially in Daytona as it was in Le Mans. To me, the Ford GT is the perfect car for Le Mans, no matter how the Balance of Performance pegs it down. It will always have a good top speed compared to the competition because it has such a small frontal area. OK, they may as well take the turbochargers off if the regulations keep knocking the boost down, but that’s the way it is.

“But at Daytona the straights are not that long and acceleration from low speed corners is very important there – you’re looking at a drag race and I don’t feel we’re in the best shape for that right now.

“Having said that, can we go and win at Daytona? Yeah, absolutely. By the end of last [IMSA] season with all the BoP adjustments, it was pretty darn close between the Corvettes, us, the BMWs and the Ferraris. And nothing’s really changed since then.

“So I think Corvette will be very strong at Daytona, they have a very strong package here. They were very strong last year and were running 1min43sec laps at the end of the race, and if anyone is trying to tell me that’s because the track was so good by the end of the race, that’s just BS.”

Expect 911 RSRs to shine at Le Mans

Bourdais said that although he sees potential in the all-new mid-engined Porsche 911 RSR, he’s not expecting that to be shown to its fullest extent at Daytona.

“The only uncertainty, I would say, is the new Porsche, but to be honest, if they’re smart and have something in reserve, they’ll keep it for Le Mans. That’s where they’ll show their hand. I don’t know they’ve got some extra potential, but that’s the point – I don’t think anyone will know until we get there.

“Maybe I’m wrong though; maybe they’ll blow everyone away at Daytona and then suffer a BoP adjustment for Le Mans… but I doubt that.

"So we will see. I think it will be a typical Daytona race in GTs, a hard fight and hopefully we come out on top.

Class interaction is “tricky”

Although reliability in a 24-hour race is paramount, Bourdais believes that if all cars were to run trouble-free, that the varied performances from the different classes of cars would be the difference between winning and losing.

“It’s the interaction between the classes that is so tricky in IMSA,” he said. “The GT3-spec cars [in GTD class] are quicker than us on the straight, but slower in the corners, but they can brake as deep or deeper going into the corner because they have ABS. Then the PC cars are really slow in the corners because they don’t have that much downforce any more, but they’re quick on the straights. And so are the LMP2 cars at Daytona – we’re actually faster than them in medium-speed corners, braking is fairly even, but then they take off on the straights like we don’t exist!

“Put a gentleman driver in a PC car, for example, and all of a sudden he can make you lose two or three seconds a lap for a whole stint! He’ll keep on passing you on the straights, but then you’re all over him in the corners. If you can get him just before Turn 1, then you might pull out enough of a margin so he can’t repass you on the straights, and you can gradually shake him off. But if you hit more traffic ahead, this PC will go flying past you on the straights again!

“So it’s a really weird class interaction – and of course, it varies further depending on if it’s the professional or the amateur at the wheel of the other car when you catch it.

“Sometimes you can do a race analysis, a stint pace review, and one guy has one stint that is just horrendous! Absolutely slow as hell. And you’ll ask what the heck happened? But then you’ll see number of cars he passed and how much time he lost behind cars on a given lap.

“If we all ran reliable, and if the BoP has done its job and made us all fairly equal, that class interaction and whether you catch a break or catch traffic, could be the deciding factor on going to Victory Lane or finishing second or third.”

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