RE: Ford GT to race Le Mans?

RE: Ford GT to race Le Mans?

Tuesday 9th June 2015

Ford GT to race Le Mans?

"Significant news" coming from Ford Performance on Friday ... just what could that be?



It doesn't take much much speculation to place a bet on what Ford Performance has planned for its announcement on Friday. If it does transpire that the Shelby GT350 is coming to the UK or the Focus RS is £25K then we will profusely apologise, while being very happy at the news. But all signs are pointing towards Ford confirming a Le Mans return with the GT.

Any excuse for a heritage pic!
Any excuse for a heritage pic!
Think about it. It's 24 Hours weekend. Next year will be 50 years since the GT40 first won. The road car's Ecoboost V6 has been proven at Daytona. Everything suggests Ford wants to make a triumphant return to La Sarthe next year and sweep away all before them.

At present all we know is that Bill Ford, CEO Mark Fields and Development Vice President Raj Nair will "be joined by special guests" for a live-streamed press conference at 14:00h on Friday afternoon.

The question now is whether the Ford LM car will be a fully fledged prototype going for outright victory against Audi, Toyota, Porsche and Nissan or a GT3 car that's closer to production. The former of course has the glory associated with a Le Mans triumph while the latter has the opportunity for the old Ford versus Ferrari rivalry to be reignited.

Who wouldn't want to see this race?
Who wouldn't want to see this race?
An official Ford return to sportscar racing is of course very big news, so it seemed like the ideal opportunity to delve into the YouTube archives for a period GT40 clip. This one suits perfectly. It's a 30-minute Ferodo film from the 1968 race, beginning with a superb onboard lap narrated by Stirling Moss. The video takes us through testing, qualifying and the race, the whole event looking desperately cool with a Matra, the Porsches and some gorgeous Alfas racing the Gulf GT40s too. How anything survived what appears a torrential downpour during the night is a miracle.

This was Ford's third consecutive win at Le Mans, with one more to follow in '69. It was a glorious era for Ford, a key part of its heritage that this new sports car venture will be keen to emulate. More information to follow on Friday...

Le Mans 1968 video here.

[GT40 images: LAT]

Author
Discussion

Munter

Original Poster:

31,319 posts

240 months

Tuesday 9th June 2015
quotequote all
Racing a modern Ford GT... cloud9 Last one I saw was here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_vL9a2MgpE

sumpoil

431 posts

163 months

Tuesday 9th June 2015
quotequote all
..... GT350 to the UK, hopefully wink ......

MikeT66

2,680 posts

123 months

Wednesday 10th June 2015
quotequote all
It would be fantastic to see the new GT at La Sarthe. However, not sure I can see it running against the modern LMP1 cars of Audi/Porsche/Toyota - they are nothing like road cars anymore, unlike when the original GT40 ran in the late 60's.

Given that, would Ford bother to run it in the 'lower' category of GT3? Not convinced by that, but fingers crossed they make the decision to return. In the global marketplace as it is right now, I think Ford need to raise their profile above the newer brands like Kia/Hyundai,etc. and getting back into motor sports, given Ford's heritage, is the way to do it.

Output Flange

16,793 posts

210 months

Wednesday 10th June 2015
quotequote all
Let's hope it's not a GT3 car, given they're not eligible to race at Le Mans...

Turbobanana

6,159 posts

200 months

Wednesday 10th June 2015
quotequote all
Thanks for posting this.

The 1968 edition of the Le Mans 24 hrs was run in September due to political unrest in France earlier in the year. In fact it was at the end of September, 28th & 29th to be exact.

Which means, all the footage filmed on the Saturday was taken on the day I was born.

dinkel

26,884 posts

257 months

Wednesday 10th June 2015
quotequote all

This is a special GT40. The roadster is campaigned on a frequent basis.


Shaun Lynn is an ace GT driver who is a podium regular.


Busy at La Source. Not a problem for the agile Ford.


MikeT66

2,680 posts

123 months

Wednesday 10th June 2015
quotequote all
dinkel said:

This is a special GT40. The roadster is campaigned on a frequent basis.


Shaun Lynn is an ace GT driver who is a podium regular.


Busy at La Source. Not a problem for the agile Ford.
Outstanding photos there, dinkel. thumbup

McSpugit

4 posts

106 months

Thursday 11th June 2015
quotequote all
sumpoil said:
..... GT350 to the UK, hopefully wink ......
+1

..... absolutely! Come on Ford, the GT to Le Mans would be good but the GT350 to the UK would be AWESOME! biggrin

Fetchez la vache

5,568 posts

213 months

Thursday 11th June 2015
quotequote all
Turbobanana said:
Which means, all the footage filmed on the Saturday was taken on the day I was born.
Now there's an idea for a new weekly feature, PH...
Automotive pictures or videos from the day I was born...

Not sure we can beat Ford GT at LM though scratchchin

Big Fat Fatty

3,303 posts

155 months

Thursday 11th June 2015
quotequote all
The '68 Le Mans wasn't Ford's third consecutive win, it was to be the first of three consecutive wins from '68 to '70, '68 and '69 being won by the same car. The Mk2 GT40 was the first to score a win, a 1,2,3 victory in '66 and then the rules were changed for '67 ruling out the 427cu V8 used the previous year.

I'd love to see Ford return to LM with the new GT, it looks like it belongs there already.

chevronb37

6,471 posts

185 months

Thursday 11th June 2015
quotequote all
Big Fat Fatty said:
The '68 Le Mans wasn't Ford's third consecutive win, it was to be the first of three consecutive wins from '68 to '70, '68 and '69 being won by the same car. The Mk2 GT40 was the first to score a win, a 1,2,3 victory in '66 and then the rules were changed for '67 ruling out the 427cu V8 used the previous year.

I'd love to see Ford return to LM with the new GT, it looks like it belongs there already.
I'm pretty sure that Porsche won in 1970 with the Team Salzburg 917...

Also - my recollection is that Ford won in 1967 with the Mk4, which was a derivative of the J-car and featured a 7l engine.

Big Fat Fatty

3,303 posts

155 months

Thursday 11th June 2015
quotequote all
Brain failure on my part, I could have sworn the mk4 ran in 1970 and there was a year gap between their first win in '66 and the two wins in '68 and '69 for some reason.

Sorry PH, I should never have doubted you.

MikeT66

2,680 posts

123 months

Thursday 11th June 2015
quotequote all
chevronb37 said:
Big Fat Fatty said:
The '68 Le Mans wasn't Ford's third consecutive win, it was to be the first of three consecutive wins from '68 to '70, '68 and '69 being won by the same car. The Mk2 GT40 was the first to score a win, a 1,2,3 victory in '66 and then the rules were changed for '67 ruling out the 427cu V8 used the previous year.

I'd love to see Ford return to LM with the new GT, it looks like it belongs there already.
I'm pretty sure that Porsche won in 1970 with the Team Salzburg 917...

Also - my recollection is that Ford won in 1967 with the Mk4, which was a derivative of the J-car and featured a 7l engine.
Chevronb37 is correct here. Ford won in 1966 (1-2-3, with McClaren edging out the rightful winners Ken Miles and Denny Hulme due to a [mis]calculation by Ford/Le Mans officials), again in 1967 with the MkIV (J-Car, which Ken Miles had a fatal crash in during development) and, under the legendary Gulf colours of JW Automotive, in 1968 and 1969 - which was the same car. Not sure how many other actual vehicles have won Le Mans twice.

dinkel

26,884 posts

257 months

Thursday 11th June 2015
quotequote all
MikeT66 said:
dinkel said:

Busy at La Source. Not a problem for the agile Ford.
Outstanding photos there, dinkel. thumbup
Cheers for that - I'll try and keep my PH profile updated with all my photo topics. Spa 6 boasts nuff GT40 as the top 10 is usually packed with Ford power.

coppice

8,561 posts

143 months

Thursday 11th June 2015
quotequote all
The new GT is grotesquely huge and not a patch aesthetically of the original - bit like a MINI compared to a 1275 Cooper S. GT40s are thankfully still a common enough sight in historic racing and a GT40 still holds the record for having overtaken me at the highest speed on the road. M1 North after Grand Prix - God , 1971- we were doing a brisk 75 in Dad's Triumph Vitesse and a yellow GT40 went by so quickly I considered getting out to see why we had apparently stopped. 160? More? God knows ...

zebedee

4,589 posts

277 months

Friday 12th June 2015
quotequote all
MikeT66 said:
It would be fantastic to see the new GT at La Sarthe. However, not sure I can see it running against the modern LMP1 cars of Audi/Porsche/Toyota - they are nothing like road cars anymore, unlike when the original GT40 ran in the late 60's.

Given that, would Ford bother to run it in the 'lower' category of GT3? Not convinced by that, but fingers crossed they make the decision to return. In the global marketplace as it is right now, I think Ford need to raise their profile above the newer brands like Kia/Hyundai,etc. and getting back into motor sports, given Ford's heritage, is the way to do it.
I think you miss the point. The article asks if Ford would come back to do battle for overall honours with a prototype (like Nissan's 'GTR' this year) or GT3. It won't be GT3 because you can't race them at Le Mans, but it means GTE. And they could well bother to run there, if they can take on Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin, not to mention Corvette, then I don't see why they wouldn't.

I hope they choose to do both!

zebedee

4,589 posts

277 months

Friday 12th June 2015
quotequote all
WEC and TUSCC campaign for the Ford GT:

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/06/12/ford-perf...

ajprice

27,315 posts

195 months

Friday 12th June 2015
quotequote all
zebedee said:
WEC and TUSCC campaign for the Ford GT:

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/06/12/ford-perf...
smile


Stig

11,817 posts

283 months

Friday 12th June 2015
quotequote all
zebedee said:
WEC and TUSCC campaign for the Ford GT:

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/06/12/ford-perf...
Great news!

zebedee

4,589 posts

277 months

Friday 12th June 2015
quotequote all
crazy looking car, I imagine it will be very slippery and presumably it will punch a smaller hole in the air (or rather one that seals up tighter/faster) so would give less of a tow to following cars? Could be quite a weapon at LM. If Nissan can sort their woes out (and don't get me wrong, I am impressed with where they are given where they have come from and what they are doing) then next year could be super-classic, this one looks epic enough!