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Ford"s Le Mans comeback: "Winning is the only thing that"s tangible"
Written by Joe Holding
Fifty years have passed since the GT40 won Le Mans for the first time, locking out the podium in the first of four consecutive wins between 1966 and 1969.This year, the GT is coming back to the track. And far from being a simple tribute act, Ford is taking its racing programme seriously. So when its four GTs line up against the other GTE Pro cars at Circuit de la Sarthe in June, they"ll be there to try and win.The GT"s return to motorsport currently just a two-year commitment to the World Endurance and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championships has been in the pipeline for a couple of years.Ford decided to celebrate the GT40 with a new version half a century on from "66, but only on the condition that it would showcase the best of its current innovations. Which is why the drivetrain is hooked up to of all things a 600bhp EcoBoost power unit."You can imagine at first: Holy cow! In a supercar you"re going to put an EcoBoost engine?"" exclaims Ford Performance Global Director, Dave Pericak."We know we can push this engine to levels it has not gone before," he continues. "We did a quick engine programme to get a 3.5-litre EcoBoost to a racing format, and we took it out on the track."
Date: 6 Jan 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 1578
Written by Joe Holding
Fifty years have passed since the GT40 won Le Mans for the first time, locking out the podium in the first of four consecutive wins between 1966 and 1969.This year, the GT is coming back to the track. And far from being a simple tribute act, Ford is taking its racing programme seriously. So when its four GTs line up against the other GTE Pro cars at Circuit de la Sarthe in June, they"ll be there to try and win.The GT"s return to motorsport currently just a two-year commitment to the World Endurance and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championships has been in the pipeline for a couple of years.Ford decided to celebrate the GT40 with a new version half a century on from "66, but only on the condition that it would showcase the best of its current innovations. Which is why the drivetrain is hooked up to of all things a 600bhp EcoBoost power unit."You can imagine at first: Holy cow! In a supercar you"re going to put an EcoBoost engine?"" exclaims Ford Performance Global Director, Dave Pericak."We know we can push this engine to levels it has not gone before," he continues. "We did a quick engine programme to get a 3.5-litre EcoBoost to a racing format, and we took it out on the track."
Date: 6 Jan 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 1578
