Keating: No Plans for Additional Ford GT Outings

Photo: Christopher Lee/Ford

Ben Keating has ruled out additional competitive outings with his Ford GT, with no current plans in the works for the first customer of the Multimatic-built GTE contender.

Keating, who had been considering a 2020 European Le Mans Series campaign spearheaded by Multimatic Motorsports, has opted to compete in the 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship in a Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR instead.

The Texan revealed that his Ford, which was stripped of the GTE-Am class victory at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans due to two fuel-related technical infractions, will, however see some track time in the coming months.

“I’m going to take it out somewhere within the next six months, mainly because it’s so complicated to run,” Keating told Sportscar365.

“I want to know that 20 years from now that I can run it myself and I have everything I need.

“I’m going to take out the GTE Ford, the GTE Viper, the GT3 Viper and the AMG GT3 and run them all, just to know that I have everything I need to run them when I want.

“Of course if I decide to race the Ford again at some point, that will require a whole lot more stuff. But there’s no plans right now.”

A total of four Ford GTs are understood to have been sold to customers, with the identities of the three other owners not yet having been disclosed by the Blue Oval.

One, however, is understood to be a Texas-based businessman who could take part in selected Asian Le Mans Series races with the car, with another understood to be evaluating an ELMS effort for next year.

The status of potential IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship outings by Chip Ganassi Racing at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring remains unclear.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John