Catchfence

Daytona, Fla. – Jan. 27, 2012–  The Ford Focus ST-R made its competition debut in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 2012 season-opener at Daytona International Speedway on Friday. Its debut was cut short, after it was involved in an accident on lap 39.

Jamie Allison — Director of Ford Racing – On track incidents are things you don’t plan for, but are normal occurrences in racing. Unfortunately for the Focus ST-R, we got caught up in one today, but that does not tack away from the continued development we look forward to on the ST-R. We’ll have two Focus ST-R on track as we move forward, carrying the flag for the performance offering of Focus. Special thanks to Multimatic Motorsports, led by Larry Holt and Sean Mason as well as our drivers Gunnar and James, for a strong debut cut short by the on-track incident.”

Gunnar Jeannette – Co-Driver, No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Focus ST-R – “For a first weekend, I’m pretty pleased. Obviously, it’s hard to say that after an incident that takes you out of the race and hurts the car as bad as it does. But we’ve got a lot of potential. We know the areas we need to work on. We’re going to go back, do some homework, probably spend a lot of time on this one and try to rebound with a win. Because nothing would make me feel better than to go from a race-ending wreck like this to its first victory.”

James Gue – Co-Driver, No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Focus ST-R – “It was a pretty good weekend overall. Obviously, this isn’t the way we want to end it. All things considered, with a brand-new car, we’ve done a lot of testing with it. We’re making huge strides with the car. We still have a long way to go with it, but you know it’s obviously competitive right out of the box. We were seventh in qualifying, which is great. We ran in the top-five for the first hour of the race, but unfortunately we got tangled up. I’m pretty pleased with the weekend. You always want to do well and keep putting miles on the car and learn more about it.”

About Ford Racing – North America

Ford Racing – North America, based in Dearborn, Mich., is responsible for major racing operations in North America, including NASCAR (Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, Camping World Trucks), Grand American sports car racing, NHRA drag racing. In addition, Ford’s action motorsport programs involve Global RallyCross, Formula Drift, RallyCar and Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. The department also oversees the development and marketing of Ford Racing Engines and Performance Parts, the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts, and the marketing of the Ford Racing brand through initiatives such as Team Ford Racing. For more information regarding Ford Racing’s activities, please visit www.fordracing.com.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.

Source: PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release