24h Le Mans
It has been a fantastic season for drivers and teams from the Americas. The highlight was, of course, Ford’s winning comeback at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, fifty years after its first victory in La Sarthe.
The Ford GT was first revealed to the world at the Le Mans circuit on the eve of the 2015 race and it was the most hotly anticipated newcomer of the 2016 season. It didn’t disappoint.
There were echoes of the 1960s clash between Ford and Ferrari in this year’s LM GTE Pro class, and the American constructor’s objective was clear from the start: they were aiming for the top spot — at Le Mans and in the World Endurance Championship.
And what better way to start its list of triumphs with a win at the iconic endurance race? The French crowd were also over the moon as they watched local boy Sébastien Bourdais take victory with teammates German Dirk Müller and American Joey Hand. The icing on the cake came when the Ford GT driven by Olivier Pla, Stefan Mücke and Billy Johnson scooped maximum World Endurance Championship points after finishing third, making them the highest ranked WEC competitor at the event.
The Ford GT confirmed its strength over the second half of the season: Pla and Mücke were exemplary in their regularity while Harry Tincknell and Andy Priaulx took another two wins at the 6 Hours of Fuji and then Shanghai. Although it was too late to join the battle between Ferrari and Aston Martin for the FIA World Endurance Cup, Chip Ganassi’s works team were strong contenders in the LM GTE Pro class rankings in 2016. Blending performance and regularity, Olivier Pla-Stefan Mücke and Andy Priaulx-Harry Tincknell finished respectively fourth and fifth in the GT drivers’ endurance cup, separated by just half a point!
With the arrival of the new works Porsche 911 RSR to compete against the Ford GT, Ferrari 488 GTE and the indomitable Aston Martin Vantage, competition is going to be hotter than ever in 2017. Next year, it will also be fifty years since the 5,000-km barrier was broken at Le Mans... by Ford!
Photo: Ford’s comeback at Le Mans was the stuff of dreams, with three Ford GTs in the first five of the LM GTE Pro class. Bourdais/Müller/Hand (#68) took the win while Richard Westbrook/Ryan Briscoe/Scott Dixon (#69, here in the picture) and Pla/Mücke/Johnson finished third and fourth respectively.
