Big Vintage Racing Crash at Road Atlanta Crumples Ford GT

ALMS-era Ford GT wrecks big at Road Atlanta during vintage racing event.

Road Atlanta contains a number of unforgiving turns, but none can put a driver in bigger trouble than Turn 12. For Patrick Mullaney, that turn gave him a rude awakening during qualifying for Historic Sportscar Racing’s vintage-racing banner event, The Mitty. While taking the turn during qualifying, contact near the turn’s apex sent his Ford GT-R Mk.7 into the tire barrier at 90 miles per hour.

Things happen fast at Turn 12. Only about two seconds elapse between the initial bump and the GT’s nose smashing the pit-wall barrier. Mullaney writes in the video description that he suffered only some bruised ribs, but the Ford GT took it much worse. We hate to see that kind of crash, especially knowing it sprang from contact during qualifying. Since contact is strictly forbidden in vintage racing at all, we suspect this one didn’t sit well with HSR’s race stewards.

If you don’t know the GT-R Mk.7, privateers built these GT2-spec race car versions of the 2004 to 2006 Ford GT. While street-car production ended in ‘06, Robertson Racing campaigned their Fords in the American Le Mans Series through 2011. They built at least three cars and the GT-R Mk.7 appears to be the 2009 version of the car. While that era of the GT gets little love, the Ford did enjoy some success. Andrea and David Robertson, along with David Murry, put the 2011 version of the car on the GTE-AM class podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

That would be the final hurrah in professional racing for that generation of Ford GT, although the Robertsons and Mullaney obviously continue to put vintage-racing miles on the cars. We suspect this one, sporting a classic GT40 paint scheme, will return to action. It will need a bit of bodywork, however, and a substantial repair bill.