[wecfia] A Legend Returns To Le Mans

I have had a long running love affair with Ford's GT cars because of their "in your face" country boy solution to an international incident by creating and nurturing this little beauty here, the GT40 built to teach Ferrari, Enzo a lesson about how we do bidness.

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The Ford GT40 was two things. It was a 1) purpose-built racecar, and, it was 2) an act of revenge directed at Enzo Ferrari. In 1963, negotiations between Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari collaborate ended abruptly at the eleventh hour (It was Enzo, not Hank). Furious after being snubbed by the Italian sports car manufacturer, Ford decided the best way to get revenge would be to hit Ferrari in several places that would really hurt. ie: In his pocketbook. On the racetrack. At Le Mans. Yes, the Le Mans that Ferrari had practically owned for years.

Mr. Ford recruited a country Wildman by the name of Carroll Shelby to take over the Ford racing program in 1965. He immediately began work on his Ferrari killer and had it ready by the 1966 season. No "growing season", no "shakedown races". He went straight to Le Mans with it. In it's FIRST 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 3 different GT40 Mk II's finished first, second, and third, pushing the previously dominant Ferrari sports cars off the podium altogether. The victory began a four-year winning streak for the Ford GT40s at Circuit de la Sarthe, taking the checkered flag from 1966 to 1969. Three iterations of the GT40 won over those four years – the Mk II in 1966, Mk IV in 1967 and Mk I in 1968 and 1969.

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So, I say all that to say this. There is a more than good possibility that the Mighty GT will be back, either in 2016 or 2017. With the reveal of the new GT at this year's Detroit Auto Show, speculation has been rampant, and Ford sources aren't denying anything. With its carbon-fiber chassis, 600-plus-horsepower EcoBoost engine and radical aerodynamic shape, any racing fan looking at the new supercar had to wonder whether Dearborn is planning on putting it on the race track.

Ford has a long and distinguished history in motor racing. It may be canceling its participation in Australian V8 Supercars, withdrawing its factory support from the World Rally Championship, and it's been years since it's competed in Formula One or Indy. But it still competes in the United SportsCar Championship, NASCAR, NHRA and a variety of motor racing disciplines.

The 2016 model year is no coincidence. It's the 50th anniversary of the landmark Le Mans win which the new Ford GT celebrates, but while the press materials made clear reference to that historical event, any mention of a return as was previously speculated was carefully omitted. Possibly due to the fact that the revised format for the GTE class, which the Ford would likely compete in, has not been announced yet. However, recent meetings between GTE constructors on 2016 rules have included representatives affiliated with Ford, as witnessed at Circuit of The Americas, and a launch of the Ford GT 24 Hours of Le Mans project would, necessarily, coincide with the introduction of the new Ford GT.

Longtime Ford racing partner Multimatic is said to have closely consulted with the ACO on the formation of those rules, however, and assuming they're finally formulated to Dearborn's liking, we could be looking at a GTE-spec Ford GT to return to La Sarthe next year for the big Five Oh. 24 Hours of Daytona winner Chip Ganassi Racing, racing Ford's Daytona Prototype entry, is reputedly in the running to field the car on Dearborn's behalf.

Should this happen, fingers crossed, it would be Ford's first foray back into endurance racing since some ill fated efforts in the 80's. The mid-2000's vintage GT's were race prepped by Swiss private company, Matech, but received no real factory support or success beyond the FIA GT3 European Championship. Getting into the Le Mans program would mean real inroads for Ford to be back in the mainstream, meaning series such as the FIA WEC or the USCC. Ford has no official word on the subject right now.

Ford has yet to confirm or deny any of its future sports-car racing plans, yet some recent indicators could point to an intriguing direction from the manufacturer.

Ford racing boss Jamie Allison was asked if a Ford GT LM24 project was indeed in the pipeline, and he offered the following response:

"Our focus right now is, obviously, finishing the season on a high note at Petit Le Mans," he said. "Our focus is also working with our partners. I do look forward into a future of some of the classes in the sport, including the P2 we just talked about. We really have our near-term lenses on our participating in the sport and that's really the scope that we are focused on."

"Anything beyond that would be strictly endeavoring into… just propagating something that is not within the scope of what we focus on. In our realm and in the world of sports-car racing, [we're] really focused on our EcoBoost-powered DP and focusing on the season here as it comes to an exciting end at Petit Le Mans."

In case you didn't notice, that is a standard politicocorporate non-answer meaning "Hells yeah, we're going to Le Mans. We just can't talk about it yet"

The following are renderings of a GTE class 2016 Ford GT courtesy of rc82Workchop.....Daddy want.

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