Le Mans: The Legend - Ford’s History at the Iconic Race

On June 15, 2024, the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance event will put automakers, engineers, technicians, and drivers to the test, and Ford Mustang will be competing to take the checkered flag. To celebrate, we’re taking a trip through all things Le Mans, from its history and Ford’s legacy there to what you can expect to see from Ford and other competitors when the race begins.

The Origin of Le Mans

The legend of Le Mans began on May 26, 1923, when a motor race was held at the Circuit de la Sarthe near the French town of Le Mans. Titled the Rudge-Whitworth 24-hour Endurance Grand Prix, it was the brainchild of the secretary general of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, a motorsport journalist and an industrialist, who wanted to create a competition to drive innovation and development in the automobile industry.

While the circuit layout may have evolved over the past 100 years, the essence of the event remains unchanged. Le Mans is the ultimate endurance driving test. It provides engineers with a high-speed laboratory for their machines, it challenges drivers to push to the absolute limit of human performance and it provides car manufacturers with a global platform to showcase their products.

In 2023, a record-breaking 325,000 racing fans from across the globe made the annual pilgrimage to Le Mans. A further 113 million fans from 196 countries worldwide followed the race on television, which was more than double the previous year’s viewership, and with over 25,000 accredited media on-site to tell the stories of Le Mans, the event reached its biggest audience to date.

Ford vs Ferrari at Le Mans: GO LIKE HELL!

The story of Ford’s triumph over Ferrari at Le Mans is a legendary tale of two automotive giants going head-to-head. In the early 1960s, the Automobile Manufacturers Association had issued a ban on participation in motorsport events, but Ford made the decision to disregard the ban and go racing.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans was, and remains, the race that all car manufacturers want to win. At that time, the most successful manufacturer at the event was Ferrari, so contact was duly made with Enzo Ferrari, asking him to sell his company to Ford and continue to race under the blue oval.

Ferrari’s negative response was a snub to Ford, so Henry Ford II issued a directive to “go out and beat him”.

You can read the entire, wonderful tale of how Ford finished first, second and third at Le Mans in 1966 in the original Ford race report, or you can catch the feature film: “Ford v Ferrari” (also named “Le Mans ‘66” in some European countries), or you can read the book by A.J. Baime, titled “Go Like Hell!” – the words shouted by Bruce McLaren to Chris Amon as they drove to their famous victory.

The success of the 1960s wasn’t confined to the 1966 race. Ford went on to win Le Mans in 1967, 1968 and 1969, such was their dominance over the competition.

Ford’s Return to Le Mans Fifty years Later

This legacy of victory was a lot to live up to. Fifty years after that first and most famous victory over Ferrari, it was time for Ford to “Go like hell” once more. Mirroring the past, a team was assembled in 2016 to build a modern Ford GT that could go out and win Le Mans on the 50th anniversary of the 1966 win.

In 2016 the top class for cars like the Ford GT was “LMGTE Pro”. A win in this class would be deemed a race victory. The competition was tighter than ever, but Ford created a team of specialists from Ford Performance, Multimatic Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing to form “Ford Chip Ganassi Racing”. With four cars on the grid for the 2016 race, Ford had four shots at repeating its historic win.

At 4 p.m.  on Sunday, June 19th, 2016, after 24 hours of grueling racing, the #68 Ford GT—driven by Dirk Müller, Joey Hand and Sébastien Bourdais—took the checkered flag, sealing Ford’s place in the history books once again.

You can relive the moment that Ford made history at Le Mans below:

Mustang Steps Up

This year, as the Ford Mustang celebrates its 60th anniversary, it is time for the American icon to step up to the mark at Le Mans. Three Mustang GT3 race cars will compete at the event, run by customer team Proton Competition with support from both Ford Performance and Multimatic Motorsports.

Every Mustang is “Built Ford proud,” and the Mustang GT3 has been bred to race. Given the determination and passion that has gone into this program, Le Mans is going to be a big weekend for the team, everyone at Ford, and race fans across the world.

The Ford GT already has a winning history at this legendary race.

Now, it’s Mustang’s turn.