Ford’s EcoBoost Sets New Records In Daytona Prototype Speed Runs At Daytona International Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (10 October 2013) – From making the team’s first ever start in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2004 to scoring the pole in 2008 to winning the race in 2012, Michael Shank Racing has had some big days at Daytona International Speedway.
The team added a significant new chapter to that history on Wednesday as Colin Braun piloted the Ford-powered EcoBoost/Riley combination to the fastest lap ever recorded on the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway oval on Wednesday afternoon with a speed of 222.971 mph (40.364 seconds).
Braun also went on to set a pair of international records, subject to homologation from the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), with new world speed records for 10 kilometers from a standing start and 10 miles from a standing start. Braun’s 10-kilometer speed was 202.438 mph and the 10-mile speed was 210.018 mph.
Braun’s single-lap speed topped Bill Elliott’s record of 210.364 mph set during qualifying for the Daytona 500 in 1987. The 10-kilometer and 10-mile world records were held by Hans Liebold, who drove a Mercedes-Benz Turbo to a 10-kilometer speed of 199.101 mph and a 10-mile speed of 208.316 mph from a standing start in Nardo, Italy on May 5, 1979.
“It’s certainly really special to hold the record here at Daytona,” Braun said. “This is the place where I got my first professional sports car win in the GRAND-AM Rolex Series with a Ford-powered DP car. It’s always been a historic place for a lot of people. This is hallowed ground here at Daytona, so it’s really special to hold the record at this place. To get to do it with a group of guys like Mike Shank and with the new EcoBoost Ford motor, it’s a special day, for sure.”
The record speed runs come on the heels of last week’s announcement that Michael Shank Racing became the first team to utilize Ford’s new 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V6 EcoBoost engine in its Daytona Prototype heading into the 2014 debut of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. It was the culmination of a process that began several months ago for Shank.
“I can’t believe, in my whole racing career, that I’d have an opportunity to do something like this,” Shank said. “I never thought we could. If you think about how fast we went around here in a Daytona Prototype car it is a little bit surreal. This thing is extremely fast and I’m extremely proud of it. I think it bodes well for the future of sports car racing in the U.S. Daytona Prototypes are not slow cars. They are very, very capable cars and I think we proved that here today.”
The record runs had a captive audience, including GRAND-AM founder Jim France, who along with executives and guests from Ford Racing and Continental Tire, was on hand for the record-setting day at the World Center of Racing.
“It was a very special, exciting day to be able to set the track record with a Daytona Prototype,” France said. “I think it was very appropriate and very exciting. For Ford with their new EcoBoost engine, for Mike Shank and everybody involved at Ford Motor Company and their engineers and everybody who worked on the project, it’s wonderful to come to a great conclusion like this.”
The new EcoBoost V6 engine represents a renewed commitment from Ford to North American sports car racing and the TUDOR Championship in particular. Ford Racing Director Jamie Allison was on hand throughout the speed runs at Daytona and was thrilled with the performance of his company’s new powerplant.
“It’s a very proud day for all of us at Ford,” said Allison. “To take a Ford EcoBoost engine that is basically production technology, and to beat speed records that have been on the books for decades really says something for our new engine. It’s a great way to kick off a new era of EcoBoost and sports car racing for Ford. Now we’ll start getting it ready to make its competition debut in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship in January.”
The inaugural TUDOR Championship opens with the 52nd Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 25-26, 2014.
