24h Le Mans
Ford announced its official return to endurance the day before the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans and competed in its first race at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January. This year, the American marque will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first win at Le Mans. Four Ford GTs will be entered at the 24 Hours on 18-19 June.
Ford has not officially competed at Le Mans since 1969, the date of its fourth and last victory at the 24 Hours with Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver, in a Ford GT40 Mk.I. This year marks its big return in the LM GTE Pro class. Ford Chip Ganassi Racing will serve as the Detroit manufacturer's representative and will enter four cars. Two among them (No. 68 and No. 69) will compete in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, new moniker of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The two others (No. 66 and No. 67) will be present in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) as of the 6 Hours of Silverstone in the U.K. (April 17th) for the opening round.
The four models will be together only once: at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The driver line-ups are top-notch as such:
No. 66 Ford (Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK): Stefan Mücke, Olivier Pla, Billy Johnson
No. 67 Ford (Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK): Marino Franchitti, Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell
No. 68 Ford (Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA): Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, Sébastien Bourdais
No. 69 Ford (Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA): Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook, Scott Dixon
So as to celebrate its return to Le Mans, Ford is putting out a documentary called "The Return." Part 1 has just been released with incredible images from the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans and the No. 2 Ford GT 40's win with Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon.
David Bristol / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
Video: Youtube – Ford Performance
