I think the Ford was the best looking (most attractive) car on the track. The Audi was like something from outer space!
Ironically, the announcers I was listening to did a informal poll amongst each other - "What car sounds the best?" -- - they unanimously said "The Ferrari !!" It surprised me a bit to say the least.
I was glad to see Ford do so well, but they were not even close to equalized on BOP. I watched a lot of the race from the in car feed Ganassi and Ford broadcast live and the GT would just drive around the Corvette and Porsche entries on the Mulsanne. That said, the cars were reliable and that says a lot.
Some interesting footage of Ford events at Le Mans, the hospitality suite, rear pits, awards ceremony: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RZG29iNt0I[/ame]
Exactly. With the Corvette team, we are dealing with a known commodity for many years. They (the Corvette team) are always professional, prepared, and very seldom shoot themselves in the foot. The fact that they were so far off pace at LeMans should raise everyone's eyebrows, regardless of your rooting interest. Jimmy
Never lose sight of the fact that professional sports of all kinds are first and foremost entertainment and drama and controversy draws market share.
After reading this : Five Things To Worry About From The 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours ? dailysportscar.com I retract my congratulations.
So I guess this will be the expensive scheme when it comes to collectible of the new GT. Ford gave its $450,000 GT supercar a limited-edition '60s race car makeover Funny there is already a limited paint when the cars aren't even available yet.
They could have planned 1000ex and sold all of them easily and they would still maintain/gain value, and still have all that publicity about how exclusive it is.. 400ex is stupid. But i guess Ford doesnt really care about the HN/UHN market.
+1. Hell they could have sold 5000. What's it matter. They're a publicly traded company shouldn't they be interested in revenue generation not how limited their GT production is/how many potential customers they can exclude?
The new GT finished 1st and 2nd at Watkins Glen this last weekend. Another great showing for an amazing car.
I did not retract my "configuration", i retracted my "congratulations". I offered the congratulations upon the win at LeMans, so NO ... i did not retract the congratulations after i realized they won I retracted my congratulations because of Ford's extremely unsportsmanlike conduct during the race ... including a behind-the-scenes attempt to negotiate with Risi to finish second, under threat of a frivolous complaint/penalty (meaning: non-safety related) ... about an issue the stewards had already decided 'no action'. Ford was very afraid of a fair-fight on the track (with good reason, as it turns out) ... not afraid of Ferrari, but afraid of a small, private team. That's why they sent a representative to "negotiate" with Risi to take second place, and not race for the lead. Risi's team is the one deserving of congratulations. His is a private team, absent the substantial corporate backing that the Ford teams received. And yet, including the frivolous penalty, his private team finished ahead of all the Ford GTs except one, finishing only 10 seconds behind the lead. Congratulations to Risi Competizione!
Yeah, that story is bull****. Before you comment, be aware at WGI I sought out and heard the story directly from one of the tiny handful of people involved in the discussion at the time. And this was the first time it was discussed, because it was discussed on more than one occasion, not the purported "only minutes before the race ended" version of the story. That said, I am happy for it to become legend if it makes certain people feel better.
You are sadly mis-informed. Giuseppe Risi is a close, personal friend of mine ... i've heard the story directly from him, as well as several people present for the second visit of Ford to Risi's garage. About 2 hours before the race ended, a high-level representative from Ford was sent to Risi's garage, to "negotiate" for Risi to finish 2nd ... under threat of a frivolous complaint about the leader-light. Ford did NOT want Risi to be racing for the win, and would use any tactics possible to prevent it. The stewards were already well-aware of the leader-light problem, but had decided to take no action since it wasn't a safety issue. Thirty minutes later, the representative returned for Risi's "final answer" about agreeing to finish 2nd. Risi declined ... and learned that Ford had already filed the frivolous complaint, but offered to retract it, if Risi agreed to finish in second place. Ford was afraid of getting beaten by a small, private team, in a fair-fight on the track ... with good reason, as Risi's team beat all but one of the Ford GTs ... and finished only 10 seconds behind the leader. That's the truth. Any other "stories" you have heard are just that ... pure fantasy.
Oh, Giuseppe is a close personal friend of yours? Well in that case... I would say you are sadly being misinformed. No, nobody asked Risi to agree to finish in any position. Fix the light, no protest over the unequal application of the rules. Simple as that. We'll have to stick to what I said previously, which is I'm happy for people to believe whatever version they've created to make themselves feel better.
Including you, clearly. Ford ABSOLUTLEY demanded Risi to finish second, and threatened with a complaint over the frivolous (non-safety related) leader-light. What bull**** stories have you been told, about why Ford visited Risi's garage ??? What bull**** have you been fed, about why Ford visited Risi ... instead of just complaining to the stewards directly over a non-safety related issue? Mind you, we all know that Ford had been penalized for a safety issue (number light), while Risi was most definitely NOT (leader light). You said you've "heard" from one of the few people involved? Who did YOU hear from, exactly? Was that person in Risi's garage for Ford's "special visit"? do tell ...
