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Multimatic GT350R-C Wins at COTA, On the Brink of Series Title with 5th Win of Season

Jarstang

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Incredible race by Multimatic No. 15 GT350R-C Maxwell/Johnson team at COTA last week. :clap2:

Also a strong performance by the C360R team with a P3 finish.


Multimatic GT350R-C Posts 5th Win of Season at COTA, On The Brink of Clinching Series Title

Multimatic GT350R-C Fifth Win at COTA-1.jpg


AUSTIN, Texas -- A nearly flawless drive by co-drivers Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson Jr. in their Multimatic Motorsports Ford Shelby GT350R-C led them to a very important IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge victory today at the Circuit of the Americas.

It was the fifth victory of the season for the GT350R-C duo and put them on the cusp of winning the series title. They are 31 points ahead of the second place CJ Wilson Racing Porsche effort, with a maximum 35 points available at any race. There is one race to go in the series, in two weeks at Road Atlanta.

Multimatic GT350R-C Fifth Win at COTA-2.jpg


Maxwell put the Shelby GT350R-C on the pole Thursday, and took the lead off the start, setting a strong pace early before turning it over to Johnson. The team only lost the lead during pit stops, but with 39 minutes left they were in a strong battle with the CJ Wilson Racing car. However, with 19 minutes left, the Porsche suffered a suspension issue, leaving Johnson with a more than 40-second lead, and he cruised to the win.

The second GT350R-C from the C360R team finished a strong third, after running in the top four all day.

* * * * *
Ford Performance Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Notes and Quotes
Circuit of the Americas 150

FORD SHELBY GT350R-C FINAL RACE RESULTS

P1 15 Multimatic Ford Shelby GT350R-C (*Billy Johnson/Scott Maxwell)
P3 76 AERO Advanced Paint Technology/Children’s Tumor Foundation (*Pierre Kleinubing/Paul Holton)
* -- Last driver in car

NOTE: Maxwell/Johnson scored their fifth victory of the season in a race they started from the pole position, only losing the lead during pit stops. The victory gives them a 31-point lead in the championship with one race to go at Road Atlanta in two weeks.


No. 15 Multimatic/Ford Shelby GT350R-C
Multimatic Motorsports


SCOTT MAXWELL: “It’s was pretty uneventful. The first hour is really just for setting up for the last hour and trying to relay as much information as I could to Billy and the team. Things like what the car was doing and how it was changing and any concerns. I was able to lead the entire stint but it did take a lot of restraint trying to keep the brakes and the rear tires under me. It’s so slippery for everybody out there so it’s just trying to minimize mistakes which is so easy to do and was fairly successful in doing that. Billy got in a car that was in pretty good shape, other than we had a minor gear box issue that we overcame pretty quickly.”

Multimatic GT350R-C Fifth Win at COTA-3.jpg


BILLY JOHNSON Jr: “Well, all I have to say is Scott is not taking enough credit for his performance, he definitely checked out and put some time between him and the 33 car. Every little bit counts to run these races. We haven’t had the outright pace and the speed pretty much all season. It’s drives like Scott’s in the first stint, it’s our awesome pit stops and pit strategies that bump us ahead. It’s a team effort and every person who has been a part of this program, whether they’re over the wall, or on the box, or back in the shop help make sure our car is reliable. It takes every single little bit of all that effort to put ourselves in a position to have wins like that. Scott and I do what we do and manage traffic pretty well, but I want to thank everyone who is a part of this program for all that they do because they’re the heroes behind this success.

SM: (ON LEADING THE CHAMPIONSHIP BY 31 POINTS WITH ONE RACE TO GO) “We will just keep our mindset the same as the previous nine races, we go to win. We’re not going to take any unnecessary chances, and I’m sure we’ll figure out how far into the race we have got to get before we know if it’s clinched or not clinched, so we will be careful until that point. If we’re fortunate enough to do it during the race, we will just go for it as usual. There’s no sense in changing things up now for the championship. We want to be aggressive but smart and today was a perfect example of that.”

No. 76 Ford Shelby GT350R-C
C360R Racing


PAUL HOLTON: “Well you know it’s an awesome race, Ford’s one and three on the podium. From the beginning, the plan was to give Scotty a big gap, and it ended up working out. We ran a great race, Pierre did awesome, everyone did awesome. Billy had a great race, it was so much fun. I’m really happy to be a part of the Ford family and I couldn’t be more blessed.”

Multimatic GT350R-C Fifth Win at COTA-4.jpg


PIERRE KLEINUBING: “We seemed to have the short run figured out pretty well, but on the long runs we can’t match the pace of Billy and some of the other guys. So we have to work at it one more time, and go at it again in Atlanta.”

http://performance.ford.com/series/...s-5th-win-of-season-at-cota--on-the-brin.html
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xt6wagon

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Why no carbon fiber wheels? It is factory after all.
Its a series with balance of performance to balance.. the Performance. More importantly the series is sponsored by Continential and they have to run the spec tires. In this case a 275 wide 18" tire. This required downgrading the brakes. They likely would have been required to run aluminum rims even if the huge number of CF rims were within the budget.

In the end the GT350 is 440ish HP on smaller tires and brakes than Factory. Beyond marketing the main reason to run the GT350 vs the GT is the factory aerodynamics, which is quite good.

Next year we should see some closer to stock GT350R based race cars as they move to GT4 regulations.
 

68fbjjz109

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Next year we should see some closer to stock GT350R based race cars as they move to GT4 regulations.
What does the competitive field look like for that? As much as I like to see the GT350 clean house. Some teams have left since last year.
 
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traxiii

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Its a series with balance of performance to balance.. the Performance. More importantly the series is sponsored by Continential and they have to run the spec tires. In this case a 275 wide 18" tire. This required downgrading the brakes. They likely would have been required to run aluminum rims even if the huge number of CF rims were within the budget.

In the end the GT350 is 440ish HP on smaller tires and brakes than Factory. Beyond marketing the main reason to run the GT350 vs the GT is the factory aerodynamics, which is quite good.

Next year we should see some closer to stock GT350R based race cars as they move to GT4 regulations.
I haven't heard they were going to homologate the GT350RC to GT4 specs, which would be great. It will probably be grandfathered and granted more power and such to keep up with the new GT4 cars the way I've heard things going around Ford/Multimatic.

It would be awesome if they went full GT4 so they could race around the world, not just in the Conti Series!
 

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Mountain376

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What does the competitive field look like for that? As much as I like to see the GT350 clean house. Some teams have left since last year.
It's really a Ford vs. Porsche race in CTSCC this season. Honestly... its about two cars: the #15 Multimatic GT350R-C and the #33 CJ Wilson Cayman GT4. The #12 Body Motion Cayman GT4 team would've had a good chance if they had Trent Hindman from the start of the season.

Billy Johnson is, really, a phenominal driver! He deserves a win. So does the Multimatic team. The GT350R-C has been a solid car all season. Actually, it wasnt all that bad in its inaugural season, last year. It's due-time for a Mustang win. Roush was so close in 2012.
 

thePill

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It's really a Ford vs. Porsche race in CTSCC this season. Honestly... its about two cars: the #15 Multimatic GT350R-C and the #33 CJ Wilson Cayman GT4. The #12 Body Motion Cayman GT4 team would've had a good chance if they had Trent Hindman from the start of the season.

Billy Johnson is, really, a phenominal driver! He deserves a win. So does the Multimatic team. The GT350R-C has been a solid car all season. Actually, it wasnt all that bad in its inaugural season, last year. It's due-time for a Mustang win. Roush was so close in 2012.
The GT350 sent many, many teams into exile. Even with a 44mm restrictor, there is a mechanical advantage an Flat Plane Crank has. It is similar advantage to that of a Boxster style engine... The driver doesn't need to shift as much.

Not many manufacturers can compete with a FPC V8. Ferrarri got its reputation as did many other exotics from its engine initially. It is an advantage in Motorsport that many just can't handle.

The presence of slower cars wouldn't change the outcome.
 

The Chairman

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And boy was it hot! Ambient was about 95 degrees all day with a heat index about 103. Tough day on people and equipment
 

thePill

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What it all comes down to is the GT350 and GT4 are simply the best two competitive sports cars/coupes in the world. The GS class has been pushed as far as it can go and the GT350, GT4 and M4 GTS was the pinnacle of a 350-400RWHP class. As far as thePill is concerned, the GT350 drove everything into extinction except the GT4. Arguably, these two are the very best in their respective MSRP class. Both of these cars were a collective and combined efforts in this particular class has led the customer to a fine tuned product that was developed season after season.

With GT4 on the rise, I think Chevy will send in a C7 Grand Sport or Z51 instead. I doubt there will be a 1LE in a GT350 class. It's that much faster...
 

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Mountain376

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And boy was it hot! Ambient was about 95 degrees all day with a heat index about 103. Tough day on people and equipment
Yeah... tell me about it. I was there all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday. All day. Damn, was it harsh.
 

Mountain376

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The GT350 sent many, many teams into exile. Even with a 44mm restrictor, there is a mechanical advantage an Flat Plane Crank has. It is similar advantage to that of a Boxster style engine... The driver doesn't need to shift as much.

Not many manufacturers can compete with a FPC V8. Ferrarri got its reputation as did many other exotics from its engine initially. It is an advantage in Motorsport that many just can't handle.

The presence of slower cars wouldn't change the outcome.
Believe what you want, but the GT350 is not the reason for the GS dwindle, if that's what you're trying to say.

I'm curious what Chevy will do with the 6th Gen....
 

traxiii

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There are a lot of GT4 cars that would qualify for next year. It will be interesting to see who shows up, and with what.
 

Mountain376

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There are a lot of GT4 cars that would qualify for next year. It will be interesting to see who shows up, and with what.
I think Compass 360 will likely ditch the GT350R-C. But yeah, the M4 GT4 could make a debut as provisional for testing in preparation for 2018.
 

Stuntman

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The GT350R-C has been a solid car all season. Actually, it wasnt all that bad in its inaugural season, last year. It's due-time for a Mustang win. Roush was so close in 2012.
They got slammed with weight and restrictor last year after their initial success, unlike the Z28 which rode most of the season unchanged and at an obvious advantage in their debut year -like the GT4 which has been the faster car on outright speed all season.

The GT350 sent many, many teams into exile. Even with a 44mm restrictor, there is a mechanical advantage an Flat Plane Crank has. It is similar advantage to that of a Boxster style engine... The driver doesn't need to shift as much.

Not many manufacturers can compete with a FPC V8. Ferrarri got its reputation as did many other exotics from its engine initially. It is an advantage in Motorsport that many just can't handle.

The presence of slower cars wouldn't change the outcome.
The GT350RC has run the same 58mm restrictor all year. :headbonk:

Ferrari got its reputation from FPC V8s? :lol: :lol: :lol:

The first Ferrari with a V8 was not until 1973 in the 308 GT4, 44 years after Scuderia Ferrari was created & 33 years after they created their first racecar (an I-8). They "built their reputation" on V12s, not V8s...
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