FORD.
FERRARI.
GOODYEAR.
The remarkable story of Le Mans 66
FORD.
FERRARI.
GOODYEAR.
Neobična priča utrke Le Mans 66
Kad su Bruce McLaren i Chris Amon 1966. odnijeli pobjedu u utrci 24 sata Le Mansa, Ford nije bio jedina američka tvrtka koja je ostavila traga na svjetskoj sceni. Poznati crni GT40 Mark II utrku je započeo na gumama tvrtke Firestone, velikog suparnika u takozvanim ratovima guma, ali ciljna se zastava spustila za gumama Goodyear.
THE BIRTH OF A DREAM
1959–1964
The stars for Ford’s spectacular triumph over Ferrari began to align in 1959.
When a heart condition brought former Le Mans winner Carroll Shelby’s driving career to a premature close, he turned his attention to winning the distribution rights for Goodyear race tyres in the western states.
It was to be the start of a successful racing partnership that propelled Shelby’s American team onto the international stage and led to the development of the iconic Cobra and Shelby Mustang.
In 1963, when negotiations to buy Ferrari ended in failure, Ford set its sights on beating the Italians on the track. To accelerate Ford’s Racing programme, Ford enlisted the help of a hand-picked team of designers, including Carrol Shelby.
It was Shelby’s racing pedigree that led Goodyear to fund the creation of the first Cobra-based Daytona Coupe, designed by Peter Brock. This sleek racer, with its pioneering aerodynamics, went on to do the impossible and beat the Ferrari 250 GTOs to a GT-class win, finishing fourth overall at Le Mans in 1964. However, better was still to come.
With Shelby finally behind the wheel of Ford’s GT40 programme, the iconic car quickly began to gain momentum. However, it was to be an inauspicious start. In1964, none of the much-vaunted new Fords finished Le Mans, or any other race.
As Shelby proudly noted however, they did succeed in striking fear into Enzo Ferrari, notching up 218mph on the famous Mulsanne Straight.
1965 was a similar story, with Ferrari sweeping the Le Mans podium once again and not a single GT40 crossing the finish line. 1965 was also the year that the North American Racing Team’s (NART) Ferrari 250 LM, driven by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt, unexpectedly gave Goodyear its first overall victory in the 24 Hours.
RAĐANJE JEDNOG SNA
1959–1964
Zvijezde su postale naklone spektakularnom trijumfu Forda nad Ferrarijem 1959. godine.
Kada su karijeru bivšeg pobjednika utrke Le Mans, Carrolla Shelbyja, problemi sa srcem doveli do preuranjenog završetka, on se okrenuo osvajanju distribucijskih prava guma za utrku tvrtke Goodyear u zapadnim državama.
Bio je to početak uspješnog trkaćeg partnerstva koje je pokrenulo Shelbyjevu američku momčad na internacionalnu scenu i dovelo do razvoja ikonske Kobre i Shelby Mustanga.
U 1963. godini kada su pregovori za kupovinu marke Ferrari propali, Ford se okrenuo prema pobjeđivanju Talijana na stazi. Kako bi ubrzao program za utrke tvrtke Ford, Ford je okupio posebno odabranu skupinu projektanata uključujući i Carrola Shelbya.
Bio je to Shelbyjev trkaći pedigre koji je potaknuo tvrtku Goodyear na financiranje prvog Daytona kupa temeljenog na Cobri osmišljenoj od strane Petera Brocka. Zahvaljujući pionirskom pristupu aerodinamici taj elegantni trkaći stroj učinio je nemoguće i pobijedio marku Ferrari 250 GTO te došao do pobjede u klasi GT i četvrtog mjesta u ukupnom poretku u utrci Le Mans 1964. godine. Međutim bolje je tek dolazilo.
Sa Shelbyjem koji je vodio program GT40 tvrtke Ford, ovaj legendarni automobil brzo je počeo dobivati na zamahu. Ipak bio je to zloglasan početak. Na utrci Le Mans 1964. godine nijedan od preuveličanih novih automobila Ford nije završio utrku, ali nijednu drugu utrku iste godine.
No kako je i Shelby ponosno izjavio, uspjeli su utjerati strah u Enza Ferrarija postižući brzinu od 218 mph na poznatoj stazi Mulsanne Straight.
Slična priča dogodila se i 1965. godine kada je Ferrari ponovo pomeo konkurenciju na utrci Le Mans, a nijedan GT40 nije prošao cilj. Iste godine Masten Gregory i Jochen Rindt iz tima North American Racing Team (NART) neočekivano su doveli svoj Ferrari 250 LM do pobjede, što je tvrtki Goodyear podarilo prvu sveukupnu pobjedu u ovoj 24-satnoj utrci.
1966
A REVOLUTION AT LE MANS
As Le Mans approached, Ferrari remained the clear favourite. Ford however, was determined to make an impression, entering eight of the 7-litre (427ci) GT40 Mark IIs into the race.
Remarkably, despite Shelby’s relationship with Goodyear, Wingfoot tyres were not fitted to every car. At the time, tyre contracts were often agreed with individual drivers rather than entire teams. And the drivers of the black #2 car, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, were both contracted to Firestone.
At 4pm, the race began in damp conditions and it quickly became apparent that the Goodyears were better suited to the wet than the Firestones. While two of the Shelby cars – the #1 of Ken Miles/Denny Hulme and the #3 of Dan Gurney/Jerry Grant – were happy with their tyres, Mclaren discovered he was losing chunks of tread on the Mulsanne at more than 210mph.
When Mclaren pitted to hand over to Amon at 5.33pm, he immediately sought out the Firestone representative and negotiated a switch to Goodyears.
This calculated move, contributed to a deficit that would only be wiped out when Miles in the #1 slowed to allow McLaren to catch up for the controversial finish.
The delay also lead to McLaren’s famous war-cry, “Go like hell!”, as Amon prepared to depart the pits. With Ford and Ferrari neck and neck, the race narrowed to a duel between Miles’ GT40 and the Ferrari 330P3 on the Mulsanne.
As the Ferrari struggled to compete with the straight-line speed of the GT40, Bandini’s engine exploded. And the rest was automotive history.
As 4pm rolled around the following day, the surviving #2, #1 and #5 Fords lined up for a staged finish.
Interestingly, while the controversial “dead-heat” between the two Shelby machines continues to be debated to this day, history records that McLaren and Amon were given the win based on starting further back and therefore having travelled a greater distance in the same time.
Without the early switch to Goodyears, many believe they would not have been in contention.
1966
REVOLUCIJA NA UTRCI LE MANS
Kako se Le Mans približavao, Ferrari je bio jasan favorit. Ford je međutim bio odlučan ostaviti dojam te je prijavio osam sedamlitarskih (427ci) GT40 Mark II automobila u utrku.
Neobično da unatoč Shelbyjevu odnosu s tvrtkom Goodyear, gume Wingfoot nisu bile opremljene na svaki automobil. U to su se vrijeme ugovori često sklapali s pojedinačnim vozačima, a ne s timovima. Oba vozača automobila br. 2, Bruce McLaren i Chris Amon, bila su ugovorno vezani za Firestone.
Početak utrke bio je u 16:00, u vlažnim uvjetima u kojima su se gume Goodyear brzo pokazale prikladnijima za mokre uvjete od onih koje je proizveo Firestone. Dok su dva Shelbyjeva automobila opremljena gumama tvrtke Goodyear – br. 1 koji su vozili Ken Miles i Denny Hulme i br. 3 koji su vozili Dan Gurney i Jerry Grant – bili zadovoljni s gumama, McLaren je otkrio da u ravnini Mulsanne pri brzini višoj od 338 km/h je gubio komade gaznog profila.
Kad je Mclaren u 17:33 ušao u boks kako bi vožnju prepustio Amonu, odmah je potražio predstavnika tvrtke Firestone i dogovorio prelazak na gume tvrtke Goodyear.
Ovaj proračunati potez doprinijeo je deficitu koji će se tek izbrisati kada je Miles u #1 usporio kako bi dopustio McLarenu da ga dostigne u kontraverznom završetku.
Zastoj je također doveo do poznatog McLarenova uzvika „Go like hell!“ („Vozi pakleno!“) dok se Amon pripremao krenuti sa stajališta. S automobilima Ford i Ferrari u ravnomjernim pozicijama, utrka se suzila na dvoboj između Milesova GT40 i Ferarrijeva 330P3 na ravnini Musanne.
Dok se Ferarri borio s brzinom na ravnoj stazi GT40-a Bandinijev je motor eksplodirao. Ostalo je postala automobilska povijest.
Kako se približavalo 16 sati, drugi dan preostali #2, #1 i #5 poravnali su se za završni prijelaz.
Zanimljivo je da iako kontroverzni postignut potpuno jednak rezultat dvaju Shelbyjevih strojeva i danas je predmet rasprava, povijest bilježi da su McLaren i Amon pobijedili na temelju činjenice da su na startu imali lošiji položaj te su u istom vremenu prešli dulji put.
Bez rane promjene na gume tvrtke Goodyear, mnogi vjeruju da ne bi došlo do sukoba.
1967 – ONWARDS
A RACING LEGACY
GATHERS SPEED
Shelby, Ford and Goodyear returned to Le Mans in 1967 recording a second straight victory with the Mark IV (and Goodyear’s third). In subsequent years, Goodyear would achieve a total of 14 wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In recent years, Goodyear has developed a new range of tyres for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In September 2020 Goodyear also helped British squad JOTA and the French outfit Panis Racing to secure a podium finish in the LMP2 category.
1967 – ONWARDS
TRKAĆE NASLJEĐE
PRIKUPLJA BRZINU
Shelby, Ford i tvrtka Goodyear vratili su se na Le Mans 1967. godine ostvarujući drugu uzastopnu pobjedu s modelom Mark IV (te treću za tvrtku Goodyear). U godinama koje su slijedile tvrtka Goodyear je u utrci 24 sata Le Mans osvojila ukupno 14 pobjeda.
Posljednjih godina tvrtka Goodyear razvila je novu ponudu trkaćih guma za prvenstvo FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) uključujući i 24 sata Le Mans.
U rujnu 2020. godine tvrtka Goodyear također je pomogla britanskoj momčadi JOTA i francuskom Panis Racing osigurati mjesto na pobjedničkom postolju LMP2 kategorije.
