RE: 50 years of GT40 and 250 LM
Thursday 7th February 2013
Goodwood has announced that this year’s Revival will play host to the 50th Anniversary celebrations of two Le Mans rivals.
Whitsun Trophy to be the first all-GT40 eventFirst up, the Ford GT40, was famously commissioned by Henry Ford II in an effort to beat Enzo Ferrari after the latter refused to sell his company to Ford. It eventually achieved that aim, winning the 24-hour four years in a row, from 1966 to 1969. Erm... so how does that make it the GT40's 50th? Well, it was a development of Lola's Mk6 GT, which first raced in 1963. Which sort-of makes sense.
First time in 13 years the LM has raced at GoodwoodBut the GT40 isn’t the only iconic Le Mans winner that’ll be celebrating its 50th anniversary at the Revival; Ferrari’s delectable 250 LM, the car that took the chequered flag in 1965, will also be racing. While this time there won’t be a dedicated event, there will be a number of LMs taking part in the RAC Tourist Trophy Celebration race, which will put it in the mix with such competition as 250 GTOs, Maserati 151s, Aston Martin DB4s and lightweight Jaguar E-Types. It’ll be the first time in 13 years that any 250 LM has competed at Goodwood.
50 years of GT40 and 250 LM
Goodwood to celebrate two significant motorsport half centuries in typically spectacular fashion
Whitsun Trophy to be the first all-GT40 event
A tenuous excuse for celebration, then, but that's fine by us if it gives us the sight of a pack of GT40s dicing at high speed. It'll actually be the Whitsun Trophy race which will be given over to the GT40, traditionally one of the event's most exciting rounds; what's more, say Goodwood, it'll be the first time in history that a dedicated race specifically for the model will have been held.
First time in 13 years the LM has raced at Goodwood
All of which should make the already-excellent Revival even more of a treat than usual. Excited much?
Discussion
funnily enough i posted this in the great motorsport video thread last night, prepare to drool....
http://kidston.com/kidston-news-item/153/Ferrari-2...
http://kidston.com/kidston-news-item/153/Ferrari-2...
Few things... The 250 LM has run at Goodwood since 2000, I'm sure that I remember the David Piper car in 2010 (the only chance I've had to go).
It's just that it's run in the Whitsun Trophy, not in the TT. (as is said pretty clearly in the Goodwood release)
Also, it's a good job that Mr Piper tends to pedal it around himself (if he's running it this year), not sure how many drivers would take the chance in it...
It's just that it's run in the Whitsun Trophy, not in the TT. (as is said pretty clearly in the Goodwood release)
Also, it's a good job that Mr Piper tends to pedal it around himself (if he's running it this year), not sure how many drivers would take the chance in it...
IDrinkPetrol said:
Few things... The 250 LM has run at Goodwood since 2000, I'm sure that I remember the David Piper car in 2010 (the only chance I've had to go).
It's just that it's run in the Whitsun Trophy, not in the TT. (as is said pretty clearly in the Goodwood release)
Also, it's a good job that Mr Piper tends to pedal it around himself (if he's running it this year), not sure how many driverswouldcould afford to take the chance in it...
tad more accurate? It's just that it's run in the Whitsun Trophy, not in the TT. (as is said pretty clearly in the Goodwood release)
Also, it's a good job that Mr Piper tends to pedal it around himself (if he's running it this year), not sure how many drivers
IDrinkPetrol said:
Few things... The 250 LM has run at Goodwood since 2000, I'm sure that I remember the David Piper car in 2010 (the only chance I've had to go).
It's just that it's run in the Whitsun Trophy, not in the TT. (as is said pretty clearly in the Goodwood release)
Also, it's a good job that Mr Piper tends to pedal it around himself (if he's running it this year), not sure how many drivers would take the chance in it...
You mean . . . nowadays? :cough:It's just that it's run in the Whitsun Trophy, not in the TT. (as is said pretty clearly in the Goodwood release)
Also, it's a good job that Mr Piper tends to pedal it around himself (if he's running it this year), not sure how many drivers would take the chance in it...
I had a couple of drives in the Scuderia Veloce LM 250, when I was driving their Brabham Repco F1, in 1968.
The car was out of it's element here in Oz, apart from the Surfers Paradise 12 hour race, which it won a couple of times. I did one 15 mile & a 22 mile sprint race in it. It was a bit like a demonstration run, with a few very quick sprint race things long gone, & the rest equally far behind.
It sounded much better from outside, inside all you could hear was the valve gear. I couldn't enjoy driving it, as I was too scared of destroying a piece of history.
The car was out of it's element here in Oz, apart from the Surfers Paradise 12 hour race, which it won a couple of times. I did one 15 mile & a 22 mile sprint race in it. It was a bit like a demonstration run, with a few very quick sprint race things long gone, & the rest equally far behind.
It sounded much better from outside, inside all you could hear was the valve gear. I couldn't enjoy driving it, as I was too scared of destroying a piece of history.
Edited by Hasbeen on Friday 8th February 23:38
bubney72 said:
Always makes me laugh how Ford were seen as the underdogs to beat Ferrari at Le Mans. Ford with their huge financial resource against the tiny Ferrari company. And the GT40 had a 7 litre engine, versus the 3 litre and later 4 litre Ferrari's.
A 7-litre pushrod V8 from a production saloon car with a single 4-barrel carb in 1966 compared with an out and out racing 4 or 4.4 litre V-12 (not even the 250LM was 3 litres). And the winning Ford GTs in 1968/9 were mere 5 litre (but still pushrod) V-8s. IDrinkPetrol said:
Few things... The 250 LM has run at Goodwood since 2000, I'm sure that I remember the David Piper car in 2010 (the only chance I've had to go).
It's just that it's run in the Whitsun Trophy, not in the TT. (as is said pretty clearly in the Goodwood release)
Also, it's a good job that Mr Piper tends to pedal it around himself (if he's running it this year), not sure how many drivers would take the chance in it...
Yes, quite. It's just that it's run in the Whitsun Trophy, not in the TT. (as is said pretty clearly in the Goodwood release)
Also, it's a good job that Mr Piper tends to pedal it around himself (if he's running it this year), not sure how many drivers would take the chance in it...
A number of 250LMs have competed since 2000. I'll say something, the motor racing reporting on this site is frequently completely hopeless. I'm sorry, chaps, but to pass oneself off as an enthusiast for an event or a car without having any apparent knowledge or having done any research is pretty poor journalistic form.
Both cars were important to me as a teenager when I marshalled at hillclimbs in Yorkshire;I was usually on the start line and positioning Maggie Blankstone's GT40 and Jack Maurice's 250 LM (or was it 275 ?)at the start was a hell of an experience. If not quite as dramatic as bump starting F1 and F5000 cars. I am now almost deaf in my left ear- no idea why ...
chevronb37 said:
Yes, quite.
A number of 250LMs have competed since 2000. I'll say something, the motor racing reporting on this site is frequently completely hopeless. I'm sorry, chaps, but to pass oneself off as an enthusiast for an event or a car without having any apparent knowledge or having done any research is pretty poor journalistic form.
+1A number of 250LMs have competed since 2000. I'll say something, the motor racing reporting on this site is frequently completely hopeless. I'm sorry, chaps, but to pass oneself off as an enthusiast for an event or a car without having any apparent knowledge or having done any research is pretty poor journalistic form.
How about this one, Coppice? One from my father's archive. He grew up in Darlington and used to go to Croft from time-to-time. This is the 1968 Birthday Cup which featured Jeff Edmonds' 250LM. There are more photos and a few words here: http://www.motorcardiaries.co.uk/2011/birthday-cup...
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