24h Le Mans
The celebrations following Ford’s LM GTE Pro victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month have now died down, but the American carmaker still had to thank its employees. On Tuesday, the three drivers and the winning car were presented along with the Le Mans trophy to Ford employees.
Le Mans-born Sébastien Bourdais joined up with his team-mates Joey Hand and Dirk Müller, designated drivers in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, at Ford’s Dearborn (Michigan) headquarters, to celebrate the victory which marked the 50th anniversary of Ford’s maiden Le Mans win. The trio were accompanied by the triumphant #68 Ford GT, and the winners’ trophy.
Two of the three drivers who finished P3 at Le Mans were also in attendance. Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook, winners of the last three rounds of the American championship (Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen and Mosport), took the opportunity to present a pair of boots and gloves they were wearing when they clinched the Ford GT’s inaugural victory at the legendary Californian circuit.
The five drivers were delighted to answer the employees’ questions and sign autographs, while a number of personalities involved in the project were also at the presentation, including team owner Chip Ganassi, recently inducted into the Motorsport Hall of Fame of America.
Dave Pericak, global director of Ford Performance, the marque’s motorsport arm, was bursting with pride as executive chairman Bill Ford showed off the trophy awarded to the team in Le Mans: “It’s always a great day when you can bring a celebration like our Le Mans victory back to Ford employees and be able to present this trophy to them,” he said. “This victory was for them. So many of our employees worked very hard to help us get ready to race at Le Mans, and we couldn’t have done it without them. And all of our employees, here and globally, have been behind us from the start in this effort, and we wanted to let them know how much their support meant to us.”
While the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has already resumed after the mid-season break for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the World Endurance Championship (WEC) will be back on track on 24 July for the 6 Hours of Nürburgring.
Quote courtesy of the Ford media release.
Photo: Executive chairman Bill Ford presented the trophy to Ford Motor Company employees at the Dearborn headquarters.
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