One of the most enduring tales of racing success came when Ford won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 with the GT40. It began in an impressively brash way, even for an American company: Ford simply threw its industrial might behind a burning desire to beat Enzo Ferrari in the world’s most important sports car race.
When the “Ford GT” program was first shown to the world in early 1963, the world was without YouTube, but there are some similarities between the classic era and the race to unfold this weekend, from Saturday June 18. Ford is doing what it can to prepare for success 50 years later, and its efforts are being chronicled in an excellent factory-supported film that the company is filming and editing as the season unfolds.
Here’s a short summary and embed on the road to Le Mans for the all-new Ford GT Le Mans race car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd-HyazYbCU
Episode 1 shows the process behind deciding to return to Le Mans, from the very top of the company, including members of the Ford family who’d been there firsthand—and they want to win again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fQYuBZ-2ug
Episode 2 discusses how the car itself came together, and why its twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 is already a front-runner in competition. Together with Canadian motorsports engineering firm Multimatic, Ford is hoping to do something else besides win Le Mans: it’s selling a new supercar, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4r5nJ-Qi-0
Episode 3 shows the car’s debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMFaxZFoMSA
Who’s going to race for the team at Le Mans? Episode 4 is a close look at why this race program matters to a lot of racers and enthusiasts.
Note: a side benefit of returning to Le Mans is that Ford is making it really easy to watch the 24 hour race live, with a YouTube stream and .PDF guide for those new to the race.
