Ford Waves Goodbye to Le Mans With Four Retro Racing Liveries

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Ford Waves Goodbye to Le Mans With Four Retro Racing Liveries

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on May 28th, 2019 in the Motorsports category.

 

[ThePotatoKing]

It still feels like yesterday when Ford first announced its return to Le Man.

 

[24HuresdeLoL]

God I will miss the Factory farty Fords, hoping it wont be the last we see of them yet though.

 

[G.T.Ace]

I'll miss that noise.

 

[FoRiZon]

So a significant rule change on Prototype Classes somewhat also affects GTE cars or I read the news wrong?

 

[Famine]

So a significant rule change on Prototype Classes somewhat also affects GTE cars or I read the news wrong?

No. The preamble conveys the message that 2019 will be the last we see of several cars, and notes the significant rule change that will lead to it. Also, the Ford GT is competing in its last Le Mans too.

 

[Fabr_123]

No. The preamble conveys the message that 2019 will be the last we see of several cars, and notes the significant rule change that will lead to it. Also, the Ford GT is competing in its last Le Mans too.

Ford is ending the factory program, but it is still unclear whether they will or not make the car available to another team to run in both WEC and IMSA.

 

[24HuresdeLoL]

Ford is ending the factory program, but it is still unclear whether they will or not make the car available to another team to run in both WEC and IMSA.

Chip did say, I think, that he could still run the IMSA cars as his own w/o major Ford backing, so there is hope on that, though I could be wrong on that. Some drivers, like Priaulx, did want them to still race in the WEC (like under Multimatic banner), so there is hope on both fronts.

 

[TheElbows]

I'm glad they showed up, but I'll be honest...the new Ford never really did it for me. I'm always happy to have another manufacturer competing, but overall I was never wowed. I suspect we'll see these cars on/off for a while. And Ford will probably keep racing in other areas.

When I saw retro, I did expect a gold one though...

 

[Nismonath5]

I'm glad they showed up, but I'll be honest...the new Ford never really did it for me. I'm always happy to have another manufacturer competing, but overall I was never wowed.

Same here, I've seen them on the track and doing pretty well, but something about them lacks a certain oomph for me. Sometimes you just get those cars.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Chip did say, I think, that he could still run the IMSA cars as his own w/o major Ford backing, so there is hope on that, though I could be wrong on that. Some drivers, like Priaulx, did want them to still race in the WEC (like under Multimatic banner), so there is hope on both fronts.

Chip is a shrewd businessman though, and if he can’t run these cars without going into the red, he won’t do it. And Ford is very stingy on international racing. I’m impressed that M-Sport managed to keep making a competitive WRC car with an uninterested Ford.

If anything people like Keating will keep the car alive in the AM category since it’s budget friendlier, but if you want to be Pro you have to have manufacturer backing. Only exception to this is Ferrari because AF Corse with Michelleto support the 488s in Ferrari’s name.

 

[Morbid65]

Can't say I'll miss them after their classless showing at Le Mans in 2016. I was really hoping for a 2010 Peugeot-style meltdown for them that never came.

To be fair, I suppose some of the blame lies with the ACO too though.