GT40 celebrates classic Le Mans win

Published Jul 4, 2006

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Goodwood, England - Ford has entered several cars in the historic hill climb at the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first Ford GT40 victory at Le Mans.

A Ford GT has been entered in the Supercar category, to be driven by Ford of Britain chairman Roelant de Waard and Ford Team RS director Jost Capito.

Enthusiastic amateur racing driver De Waard said: "This is my first opportunity to attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed; the chance to drive the new GT up the hill, almost exactly 40 years after the original GT40 achieved that legendary Le Mans victory, is extremely exciting."

An original GT40, reconfigured by Ford to represent the 1966 Le Mans-winning machine, has also been entered.

It's been prepared as a tribute to the drivers and teams that took the GT40 to four successive Le Mans victories and will be seen in its black and silver livery for the first time at the Festival.

Ford scored an historic 1-2-3 at Le Mans in 1966 with the three GT40s crossing the finishing line in formation at the end of the race.

Two of the victorious drivers will be at the Festival to take it up the hill - Dan Gurney, who won in 1967 when he partnered AJ Foyt in a Mk. IV, and Jackie Oliver, who partnered Jacky Ickx for the GT40's fourth consecutive win in 1969.

The GT40 at Le Mans

As the hands on the famous clock at the end of the Le Mans pit wall crept towards 4pm on Sunday June 19 1966, three Ford GT40s swept through the circuit's final corner towards the finish, only metres apart.

And in the stand above the pits Henry Ford II savoured the most prestigious motor racing victory in the history of the company his grandfather had started 63 years earlier.

The mighty Ferrari team with its great Le Mans record had been comprehensively beaten.

Three years earlier, legend has it, Ford offered to buy Ferrari in order to be able to field a winning car at the classic 24-hour race but was summarily turned down by the high-handed Enzo Ferrari, who was known as "Il Commendatore" with good reason.

Ford's response was to set up a workshop in England and appoint British engineer Eric Broadley to design and build a GT car to take on Ferrari.

Former Aston Martin racing manager John Wyer was recruited to run the team, and Carroll Shelby, creator of the iconic AC Cobra, would race and promote the car.

By August 1963 shake-down tests had been held at Goodwood, Brands Hatch and Monza, and by October enough data had been gathered to build the new car.

Impressive top speed

Its first track test was at the Le Mans spring practice in April 1964, where the car's impressive top speed made it clear some form of spoiler would be necessary.

The GT40, complete with spoiler, made its race debut the following month at the Nürburgring in the hands of Graham Hill and Bruce McLaren. It retired early but the signs were promising.

The 1965 season saw Shelby running the racing and John Wyer building cars for private customers; it also saw the introduction of a seven-litre version known as the Mark 1. GT40s finished first and third at Daytona, with a Cobra second.

All the experience of the previous two seasons was embodied in the 1966 Mark II, and it paid off with first, second, third, and fifth at Daytona, first and second at Sebring and second at the Spa 1000km.

Le Mans 1966

Ford then entered three teams for Le Mans; Shelby's cars were driven by Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, and Ken Miles and Denis Hulme.

The Holman and Moody team included Mark Donohue and Paul Hawkins, Mario Andretti and Lucien Bianchi, and Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson, while a car for Graham Hill, Dick Thompson and Brian Muir ran under the Alan Mann banner.

Hill took an early lead; Miles had to make an early stop but was soon slashing seconds off the lap record in an effort to catch up, moving into the lead in the early evening.

After six hours and several pit stops, Ferrari moved into first and second spots, but not for long. Miles retook the lead before midnight and by half-way - 4am on Sunday - Ford occupied the first six places with most of the Ferraris having dropped out.

With seven hours to go Jerry the Gurney/Grant car began losing water and overheating; an hour later it was out of the race.

It was decided that McLaren would take the chequered flag and as the race drew to an end, he and Miles bunched up with Dick Hutcherson, who was several laps behind, to provide a dramatic and memorable finish.

In 1967 Dan Gurney made up for his 1966 disappointment by winning with AJ Foyt in the new Mk IV version and in 1968 Pedro Rodriguez and Lucien Bianchi won by five laps in the legendary GT40, chassis no 1075.

This car also won at Brands Hatch, Spa and Watkins Glen that year and it took Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver to another Le Mans win in 1969.

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