MotorMartin is extremely pleased to be able to announce that the organisers of the Le Mans 24 Hours, the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest), today confirmed that all four Ford GTs have received a place on the prestigious entry list for the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours. For those of us keen to see the famous blue oval back on the track and competing at the highest level, the return to Le Mans and the World’s most famous endurance race is exciting news indeed.
Ford, a company not adverse to celebrating their Motorsport heritage, have highlighted to MotorMartin that 2016 will be an incredible fifty years on from their famous 1-2-3 outright victory at Le Mans and that all four Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs will compete for GTE Pro class glory at the world’s greatest motor race, which takes place on June 18-19. And for that, MotorMartin can’t wait.
For have let it be known that Dave Pericak, Ford Performance global director, who attended this afternoon’s press conference in Paris said, “It was great to see all four Ford GTs up there on the Le Mans entry list today as Newcomers are by no means guaranteed an entry, whatever their history or ambitions, so we thank the ACO for giving Ford the opportunity for a four car assault in June.”
Shared with MotorMartin was the news that the Ford GT racing car is based on the all-new Ford GT supercar, which is the pinnacle product of the Ford Performance division. With state-of-the-art aerodynamics, lightweight carbon fibre construction and a powerful and efficient Ford EcoBoost engine, the Ford GT has been built to go head-to-head with the GT establishment – Ferrari, Corvette, Porsche and Aston Martin – as they fight for victory in the ultimate endurance battle.
“I’m very happy that we can run all four Ford GTs at Le Mans,” said Chip Ganassi, owner of Ford Chip Ganassi Racing. “It will be a big challenge for us but one we are thrilled to undertake. We have prepared well and can’t wait to get the Ford GTs onto the track there and show everyone what they can do.”
Handily the #66 and #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing cars that run in the FIA World Endurance Championship will keep their race numbers for Le Mans. The two Ford GTs that run in the IMSA WeatherTechSportsCar Championship will receive new race numbers just for Le Mans: #66 becomes #68 and #67 becomes #69.
Ford have stage managed the building excitement amongst Race fans by announcing that we will have to wait a little longer for the configuration of the driver line-ups in the WEC cars as this will be announced at a later date, along with the identities of the third drivers for all four Ford GTs at Le Mans. Below is a short film provided by Ford Performance on their rather excellent YouTube channel regarding the Ford GT and it’s race debut at Daytona.
Ford GTs will run numbers 66, 67, 68 and 69
MotorMartin will be looking at a variety of different stories looking at what’s going on in the build up to the Le Mans 24 Hours 2016. I hope you’ll join me along the way.
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