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Written by Stephen Dobie
This is the Ford GT that"s going to win Le Mans, right?Well, that"s what they"re hoping. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Ford"s momentous victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours with the Ford GT40. It"s plundering as much time and effort as possible into ensuring its modern day successor - a racing version of the new Ford GT supercar - celebrates the landmark in finest possible style.So what"s happening this weekend?The Ford GT makes its competitive debut at the Rolex 24, a twice-round-the-clock race at Daytona in Florida. It"s the first round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, which two GTs will be competing in all season. After IMSA"s fifth round in June, the intention is they"ll fly to France to meet two other GTs for an all-out attack on the Le Mans GTE Pro" class.If you"re a sucker for romance, you"ll be hoping for a Ford GT victory this weekend. The GT40 won the very first Daytona 24 Hours in 1966, and five months later made history at Le Mans. Winning here would be a nice little practice run for the potential party in June.Can it win overall?The Ford GT can"t. The GT Le Mans" class it competes in at Daytona - like the GTE Pro" class at Le Mans - is a couple of rungs down the pecking order from the full-fat Prototype racers.Ford immediately decided not to challenge for the big trophy: a GTE"-class car is more relatable and relevant to road cars, says Ford VP Raj Nair, and the racing Ford GT has been developed in parallel with the new Ford GT supercar over the last 18 months.It also means taking on Ferrari and its new 488 GTE racer, a tantalising recreation of the Ford v Ferrari rivalry that kickstarted the GT40 project all the way back in the sixties. This couldn"t happen in the classes above.Ford can win overall, though, with its Riley-Ford Ecoboost prototype. Two of those will be running at Daytona, and one of them was the victor at the 2015 Rolex 24. They use the same 3.5-litre turbo engine as the Ford GT, so the powerplant is already proven.How likely is a class win for the Ford GT?
Date written: 30 Jan 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 1963
This is the Ford GT that"s going to win Le Mans, right?Well, that"s what they"re hoping. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Ford"s momentous victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours with the Ford GT40. It"s plundering as much time and effort as possible into ensuring its modern day successor - a racing version of the new Ford GT supercar - celebrates the landmark in finest possible style.So what"s happening this weekend?The Ford GT makes its competitive debut at the Rolex 24, a twice-round-the-clock race at Daytona in Florida. It"s the first round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, which two GTs will be competing in all season. After IMSA"s fifth round in June, the intention is they"ll fly to France to meet two other GTs for an all-out attack on the Le Mans GTE Pro" class.If you"re a sucker for romance, you"ll be hoping for a Ford GT victory this weekend. The GT40 won the very first Daytona 24 Hours in 1966, and five months later made history at Le Mans. Winning here would be a nice little practice run for the potential party in June.Can it win overall?The Ford GT can"t. The GT Le Mans" class it competes in at Daytona - like the GTE Pro" class at Le Mans - is a couple of rungs down the pecking order from the full-fat Prototype racers.Ford immediately decided not to challenge for the big trophy: a GTE"-class car is more relatable and relevant to road cars, says Ford VP Raj Nair, and the racing Ford GT has been developed in parallel with the new Ford GT supercar over the last 18 months.It also means taking on Ferrari and its new 488 GTE racer, a tantalising recreation of the Ford v Ferrari rivalry that kickstarted the GT40 project all the way back in the sixties. This couldn"t happen in the classes above.Ford can win overall, though, with its Riley-Ford Ecoboost prototype. Two of those will be running at Daytona, and one of them was the victor at the 2015 Rolex 24. They use the same 3.5-litre turbo engine as the Ford GT, so the powerplant is already proven.How likely is a class win for the Ford GT?
Date written: 30 Jan 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 1963
