Private Teams Look to Rekindle LeMans Glory

[NewsBot]

For the first time in more than 40 years, the Ford GT nameplate will return to Le Circuit de la Sarthe for the LeMans 24-hour race in France. Unlike the previous visits, this one is being driven by privateers and they're bringing thoroughly modern equipment.



Two independent European teams are planning an assault on the 24-hour event. Switzerland's Matech Competition has prepared two entrants in the GT1 class, while the Belgian team Marc VDS Racing will contest with a single car. At the moment, 56 entries have registered for the race.

Both teams have been showing well in FIA GT1 competition, and all three cars occupied the podium spots at the finish of May's 1000-km race in Spa, Belgium. It was considered a good test for the cars, drivers and crew. The Marc VDS Team reports that it has trained extensively on performing faultless pit stops.


Photo: Team Marc VDS

"It is an honor to have been chosen as one of the eight GT1 teams that will contest this year's Le Mans 24 Hours, one of the greatest motorsport events in the world," commented Marc VDS team President Marc van der Straten. "None of our three drivers have ever contested the [LeMans] race before, but all are experienced 24- hour racers and I'm confident, especially after the win at Spa, that they are more than capable of securing a strong result."


Photo: Matech Concepts

The Matech team also made a strong start in the FIA GT1 World Championship, winning two of three races this year. Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Thomas Mutsch currently lead the drivers' standings after three rounds. Driver Jonathan Hirschi, who drove for Matech in the Spa 1000km this season, will round out the crew for LeMans. The other Matech Ford GT will be crewed by an all-female Swiss team of Natacha Gachnang, Cyndie Allemann and Rahel Frey.



"I’m tremendously proud of this Matech Team project that began only three years ago and which made the return of the Ford GT to Le Mans a reality," said Matech team President, Martin Bartek. "Matech’s engineers, designers and mechanics started with an original Ford GT space frame chassis and have spent thousands of hours in technical studies and development to achieve the competitiveness and reliability required of this new generation racer."


Ford GT40 at 24 Hours of LeMans, France, 1969. Jacky Ickx/Jackie Oliver in their winning Gulf GT40 car.

This year's lineup begs comparison to the late 1960's when the Ford GT40 won the LeMans race four years in a row. Ordered by Henry Ford II to build a race car to beat Ferarri, an international group of company engineers delivered the first GT40 in April of 1964. The project had started scarcely a year earlier. Following his retirement from the 24-hour race that year, Carroll Shelby took over control of the program for Ford.

In 1965, the Ford GT led the race but was not able to complete it. The following attempt saw the arrival of the glory years, beginning with a 1-2-3 finish in 1966. The next year saw Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt set a speed record and take the checkered flag 32 miles ahead of anyone else. Ford's factory participation ended that year, but independent teams carried on, scoring victories in 1968 and 1969.



Some 250,000 spectators, more than twice at any Formula 1 race, are expected to witness the 2010 spectacle. The 78th Le Mans 24 Hours field will give spectators the opportunity to see the best cars in the world. Four separate classes participate, including LMP1 (LeMans Prototype 1) and LMP2, as well as GT1 and GT2 divisions. The GT1 category, in which these Ford GTs will compete, will see C6.R Corvettes, a Saleen S7R, an Aston Martin DBR9, Porsches, BMW's and a Lamborghini Murcielago in this year's race.

The 78th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours commences on Saturday, June 12 and runs into the following day. Live coverage of much of the race can be found on SPEED Channel, with the race start being broadcast beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.




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