After the death of Walt Hansgen in a J-car while testing at Le Mans in April, Ford decided to shelve the J-car and focus on the proven Mk IIs. Little development was done for the rest of the 1966 World Sports Car Championship season. In August 1966, Shelby American resumed testing and development work with Miles as primary test driver. Ford Motor Company had been working to develop and perfect a 7-liter 427 cubic inch engine. Lunn and his team had worked an engineering marvel to fit the larger engine in the mid-engine car while retaining aerodynamic integrity. Ken Miles and Phil Remington flew from Le Mans to Dearborn to test the car at the Romeo test track. For racing teams, it to 20 to 30 minutes to change the brake rotor. The wheel bearing also needed to be serviced in some cases and adjusted to the correct pre-load to finish the job. As speeds increased at Le Mans, rotors would often crack or deform due to the heat. LeMans, LeMans, France, 1966. Mechanic works on Ford MKII brakes. Ferrari first won Le Mans in 1949. Between 1960 and 1965 Ferrari totally dominated the 24-hour race. Ford had its revenge with wins in 1966/7/8/9 with the 7.0-litre GT40s.
Ford v Ferrari (titled Le Mans '66 in some European countries) [4] is a 2019 American biographical sports drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller. It stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale, with Jon Bernthal, Caitríona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Remo Girone, and
After winning notable races with the Ford GT40 Mark II, it was onto the big leagues. History would play out to prove that Ford had what it takes during the iconic battle of the 1966 Le Mans. Not only would Ford win the race for the first time, but the brand would take all the podium places, making this one of the most talked about automotive A6pu.
