Racing A Ferrari At Le Mans
But the Lego expert not only recreated the modern Ford GT, he also build a model of the Ford GT40 Mk2 p/1046, which won Le Mans back in 1966. But there’s no denying that Le Mans is still the most important and fascinating sports auto race in the world, the one trophy that every vehicle manufacturer would love to have. I’m confident. We won the first two big races of the year, Daytona and Sebring. So we need to look after ourselves, manage our time and get good sleep when we can.
What would a Ford victory mean to you in 2016?
We made a decision to set a pace for ourselves, which would keep us in touch with the lead and then go for it later in the race.
Edsel Ford II sat at the original wooden desk of his great-grandfather, Henry Ford, and delivered a simple message to Joey Hand and Ryan Briscoe, two of the drivers who will pilot the Ford GT in its historic return to Le Mans this weekend. The reigning world champions in the sister vehicle, Timo Bernhard (DE), Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Mark Webber (AU), have been unlucky in the first two rounds (accident in Silverstone, puncture in Spa-Francorchamps) and can’t wait to catch up.
He qualified Scuderia Corsa’s GT Daytona-class Ferrari 488 GT3 on pole at the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the auto went on to win the class. “For a kid born and raised in California to be going to Le Mans in a Ford GT auto, well, it’s just a thrill of a lifetime”.
There are definitely no half measures in Ford’s Le Mans effort, then, but the drivers are equally under no illusions about the level of competition they face.
Briscoe, a victor in the Verizon IndyCar Series, missed this year’s Indy 500 because of conflicts with the Ford GT Le Mans program. “Everyone is thinking and talking about it”, Priaulx said.
At Aston Martin, Darren Turner is back for his 14th Le Mans in a row.
Porsche entered Le Mans race week on the crest of a wave. All that work-millions of man hours, all those talented people, all that testing and building and late nights and last minute corrections-comes down to a vehicle with a driver in it, man and machine, everything on the line, sometimes in the rain, sometimes in total darkness, battling exhaustion at massively high speeds.
“Hopefully the homework we have done will pay off, but the one thing about Le Mans is that anything can happen right up to the very end and we know it will be a big fight”. Which is most important: Finishing the race? Heading to Le Mans, the auto is ready for competition – but how do the drivers prepare for one of the most daunting motor races in the world? “There’s only one goal”, he says.