The 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed is honouring several motor sport milestones, and few will resonate more on both sides of the Atlantic than our celebration of Ford’s first 24 Hours of Le Mans victory in 1966. That decade saw the Blue Oval attempt to acquire Ferrari, only to be rebuffed following marathon negotiations. Incensed, Henry Ford II promised to vanquish Ferrari in the greatest sports car race of them all, and Detroit’s finest came good 50 years ago with the GT40 MkII.
Today, a fabulous array of Ford sports-prototypes are taking to the Hill, ranging from the original 1964 GT40 prototype to the latest LM GTE which recently bested Ferrari at Le Mans to claim class honours. Ford firepower also features strongly in the NASCAR class, with the monstrous ex-Fred Lorenzon, Holman Moody-built Galaxie of 1963 leading the charge. And if you cannot get enough of American muscle, Jason Phelps will be firing up his 8.2-litre Mustang ‘Funny Car’ dragster later on today, while racer and former Stig, Ben Collins, will be taming a 450bhp F-150 raptor on the Hill. It will be spectacular!
(ENDS)
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