Ford is back at Le Mans this year with the new GT, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the GT40’s first win in 1966, and the three more that followed until 1969. So at this year’s Goodwood Members’ Meeting, a bunch of them showed up. So did the noise.
Since like the Mustang, the Mk1 GT40 was partly developed at the Goodwood Circuit, Lord March thought it would be a great idea to get more than two dozen of the 1964-1968 cars to the 74th Members’ Meeting for an hour long race into sunset commemorating Alan Mann, the legend behind the red and gold liveries of Alan Mann Racing. The GT40 club got busy.
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Alan’s son Henry was in one of the cars, compeating agianst such pros as Emanuele Pirro, Kenny Bräck, Andrew Jordan and Rub Hoff. Father and son team Mike and Andrew Jordon took the early lead, but braking issues – including the brakes catching fire in the pit lane – shifted the lead to Oliver Bryant and Philip Keen’s GT40, only for their car to retire with mechanical failure.
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This handed the lead and ultimately the win over to the 1965 GT40 of David Cuff and BTCC legend Steve Soper, with Tony Wood and Martin Stretton taking second, while Joaquin Folch-Rosinol and Simon Hadfield took third.
Did the GT40s go faster in period? No way. Goodwood is as fast as it ever was, and the cars only got faster with the modern tune-up.
Was this thunderstorm one of the best races I’ll ever see in my life? Certainly. Once again, there’s nothing like Goodwood. Bangers and mash, a pint of ale, nearly 30 GT40s at full throttle.
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Luckily, Ford Europe’s CEO Jim Farley was racing in car #16, which means I got some pictures from them, while Jalopnik had Robert Stokes and myself at the scene to get you all these shots. Enjoy.
How about more? Let’s have more. More is more, after all.
If you want to thank Ford for these, just buy an RS. They’ll know. Last but not least, here’s what RWS Motorsport managed to snap for you, fighting the cold:
Lord March should become immortal. That’s the only way we can keep this up.
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