"The fact that Ford made the decision to build such a hardcore car, within the rules I'll add, for homologation purposes," ??? The car has already raced for a year when "for homolgation purposes" a car per week is supposed to be built. None have hit the streets.... "It's not indicative of any "collusion" with the ACO or anyone else. Baseless allegations to the contrary are just silly." "Baseless"? The above is a fact. How is that baseless? Admittedly, no "collusion", however, the car does not meet the rules (homologation), it was given dispensation.
I think it's now well established that some are upset that Ford was allowed to race in 2016 when production started only in December. Keep things in perspective though. The consideration given Ford in 2016 was far less than given others in the past. Ford is making the street cars. They will meet the production requirements for years 2-4. The decision to allow Ford to race in 2016 gave fans an epic battle between old rivals on the 50th anniversary of the historic 1966 Le Mans finish. Despite the advanced nature of the Ford, the races have been very close and exciting. If the roles were reversed and the GT wore a Ferrari badge, I would have no complaints about the Ferrari racing. While the propriety of the 2016 production waiver can be the subject of an honest, intellectual debate, to suggest that Ford is breaking the rules or greasing palms is sophomoric.
"The decision to allow Ford to race in 2016 gave fans an epic battle between old rivals on the 50th anniversary of the historic 1966 Le Mans finish." Baaahhh, humbug!!! The podium filling finish in '66 was for overall, not some lower class, 44 laps down from the real race winner. If Ford wanted to do it right, they should have gone after Audi, Porsche, and Toyota! Seriously though, I was not all excited like many that Ford was back for just that reason. I was even chastised over at the FordGT boards for making my feelings know. I've been a Ford fan since their efforts at Le Mans (and thank you ABC TV for the live coverage of the first and last hours; 'hooked me on endurance racing) but was still disappointed with the effort. Other than that, I agree with you.
I'll put it to you this way. Had Ferrari built a spiritual successor to the outrageously beautiful P3/4 to contest this year's Daytona 24 on the 50th anniversary of Ferrari's 1-2-3 revenge finish, I would grant them whatever waivers were needed to field the cars. Besides, racing without controversy is just plain boring! For selfish reasons I'm happy Ford didn't race in the prototype class. That would be a car I could not buy.
Since you could not buy a mass produced GT40 MKII in '66, then I guess they should not have raced it. Thus there would be nothing to celebrate last year. (and you can't buy one of the present racing GTs, either. Try.) Racing is not boring without controversy. Try it some time.
It can be said that Ford is consistent. Mk III street GT40s were available for sale beginning 1967. And yes, I could have purchased my new GT already, but I traded my build slot to a former Ford bigwig, someone everyone here would recognize. My build slot is now 2Q2018. Before anyone asks, I was in fact allotted a car over a year before the person with whom I swapped, which shows you how well Ford treated it's ordinary customers like me.
I'm confused. I was under the impression that there was an application system for purchasing and the approved were just announced last spring. What was that all about?
The application process was last spring and the acceptance letters were sent over the summer. Build slots were generally awarded by quarter. Official production began last December. The first "retail" deliveries are happening in the next week or so. Ford did complete and deliver the required number of cars in 2016 per the waiver. It's my understanding these went to Ford insiders. The first three years of production have been allocated, with the fourth and final year of production to be allocated later.
Some great pictures from the event. The car looks really fantastic from any angle! http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10190921/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_1-1200x801.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10181331/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_24-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10181405/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_26-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10181427/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_27-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10181616/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_33-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10181707/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_36-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10181831/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_41-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10194358/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_43-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10181813/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_40-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10201131/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_47-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10205658/DSC1791-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10204738/DSC3228-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10204050/DSC2336-1200x800.jpg http://speedhunters-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10202519/Bathurst12hr_2017_Everingham_Speedhunters_53-1200x820.jpg
Shiver me timbers!!! I'm watchin' ARCA at Daytona as I type and there's a car with MOMO livery !!! (Who woulda' thunk??? ) edit: Bah. Humbug. Out in a "big one" (not of his doin'). Booo...hisss.
An hour away. That was a great shoot out, too bad Van Der Linde lost pole at the end. I'm not an Audi fan but the guy can flat drive. Gonna be an exciting race, Audi is looking very competitive.
Wow, so much wreckage, hard to keep watching. I would love to see GT3 dropped from the series, and more focus on the closer to road car GT4 here. The GT3's are just too big.
That was a brutal hit at the end. Glad they're all OK, it could have been much worse. As they say, "That's racing!" never know whats gonna happen. On to the next one
How nice to see the Bathurst 12 Hours on live streaming and with Hindy doing the commentary. I can see an event on the other side of the planet live streaming but the 24 Hours of Daytona right here in my own country, well IMSA apologizes for that due to their contract with FOX, they're not allowed to stream while races are being shown live on the FOX musical chairs networks. BHW
If it makes you feel any better, I used a VPN to get around the IMSA/FOX geoblocking and the feed was so bad (slow, kept crashing, awful resolution, etc) that I couldn't watch it anyway.
