No. 68 Ford Disqualified for Fuel Capacity Infringement

Photo: Bruno Vandevelde/Endurane Info

The No. 68 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT has been disqualified from the 24 Hours of Le Mans due to having exceeded the permitted fuel capacity.

The Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Sebastien Bourdais-driven entry had initially finished fourth in the GTE-Pro class, although was found in post-race scrutineering to have had a fuel capacity of 97.83 liters.

The Ford’s maximum capacity, as detailed in the Balance of Performance, was 97 liters.

According to the FIA Stewards Report, the team explained they were unable to do a calibration check of the fuel tank following the BoP change made on June 10 that saw all GTE-Pro cars gain 1 liter of additional fuel.

It’s believed the Indianapolis-based squad had shipped the cars over with the understanding of running with a 96-liter fuel tank, as laid out in the initial BoP.

The stewards found it as a breach of Article 20 of the LMGTE technical regulations and Article 7.4.3 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Supplementary Regulations and has resulted in the forfeiture of any prizes and trophies.

It has promoted the Multimatic-run No. 67 Ford of Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito to fourth in class, ahead of the newly fifth place-finishing No. 69 Ford, the sister car to the disqualified No. 68.

The Fords were competing in their final race at Le Mans as a factory team.

Sportscar365 understands that one other car could be thrown out of the race, also potentially on a fuel infringement. 

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