|
DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 8, 2008 – Two series, two continents, two titles. Ford Mustang fans around the world celebrated last weekend's accomplishments as America's original pony car wrapped up road racing championships in North America and Europe.
"Clearly this is a moment of pride and excitement," said Jamie Allison, manager of the Ford Performance Group. "This is validation for a great car that's been out since 2005 and continues to perform at the highest level in this elite series."
"Winning the championship was an amazing thing," said Foster. "It's something Hyper Sport hasn't done before, and team owner Patrick Dempsey and Rick Skelton, the partners in the team haven't either. I know Patrick, on the set of Grey's Anatomy, was watching online all day. Personally, it's the culmination of a lot of hard work by about 100 people sharing in this."
Foster and Maxwell weren't the only Mustang drivers to enjoy success during the season. The Mustang FR500C dominated as five other Mustang teams finished in the top eight spots in the standings. Bret Seafuse and James Gue finished second in the standings after a season that included five top-five finishes and eight top-10s.
In Europe, Eric de Doncker finished out the GT4 European Cup season and won his second consecutive series championship in his No. 1 Mustang FR500GT4 against competition from large sports car brands such as Aston Martin, Nissan, BMW and Porsche. The FR500GT4 is a FR500C with minor adjustments to meet the GT4 European Cup series specifications. De Doncker and his FR500GT4 have dominated the series' first two seasons tallying a total of eight wins and 24 podium appearances through 27 total races. Through 17 races this season alone, de Doncker made his way into Victory Lane four times and finished in the top three a total of 14 times.
"This season has been very good, with tough competition, but we've achieved our goal once more," said de Doncker. "I have to thank my team for all the hard work they did to get us here again.We've had an excellent car that was built to win.
"I'm happy for the team and for Ford as well."
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 229,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company's core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit www.ford.com.
