GT40 Mirage : The 1966 season Part 4

THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS

The 24 hours finally arrived. After the success at Daytona and Sebring Ford had to win. They brought the big armada, no less than 8 Mk2 with the 7 liter engine and 6 Mk1 with the 5 liter entered by private teams. Against them we found the same amount of cars for Ferrari but with only 2 factory entries, only one for Chaparral and 6 Porsche Carrera 6.
During practice Ford lost already one car in an accident between the Scuderia Bear's Mk1and the AMR's #7 Mk2. The Mk1 was destroyed beyond repair but the Mk2 was repairable. The officials disqualified the driver and the car for unsportmanlike conduct. Alan Mann and Leo Beebe (President of Ford France) went to meet the officials and after menacing to withdraw all the Ford entries an arrangement was made and only the driver (Thomson) was disqualified. Brian Muir was found at the last minute as a replacement. The Mk2 was quickly repaired using the black nose of the Alan Mann's spare car -1012- still in its Spa livery.
The Le Mans Line up:

#2 - Mk2 - Chassis 1046 - Entered by SAI - Winner
#1 - Mk2 - Chassis 1015 - Entered by SAI - 2nd
#5 - Mk2 - Chassis 1016 - Entered by H&M - 3rd
#3 - Mk2 - Chassis 1047 - Entered by SAI - Quit 18th hours - Engine
   #14 - Mk1 - Chassis 1040 - Entered by Filipinetti - Quit 17th hours - Accident
   #15 - Mk1 - Chassis 1007 - Entered by Ford France - Quit 16th hours - Engine
   #59 - Mk1 - Chassis 1038 - Entered by Essex Wire - Quit 15th hours - Engine
   #60 - Mk1 - Chassis 1001 - Entered by Essex Wire - Quit 11th hours - Engine
   #7 - Mk2 - Chassis XGT2 - Entered by AMR - Quit 9th hours - suspension
   #6 - Mk2 - Chassis 1031 - Entered by H&M - Quit 11th hours - Engine
   #8 - Mk2 - Chassis XGT1 - Entered by AMR - Quit 6th hours - Clutch
   #4 - Mk2 - Chassis 1032 - Entered by H&M - Quit 5th hours - Transmission
   #12 - Mk1 - Chassis 1017   - Entered by Comstock - Quit 3rd hours - Engine
   #63 - Mk1 - Chassis 1029 - Entered by Scuderia Bear - DNS Accident

Of the 14 entries only 3 finished but at the 1st-2nd-3rd places : goal achieved.
There was a little mishap at the end. In order to stage a finish with a tie the leading car (#1) was told to slow down to let the #2 rejoin, but the officials told the team that, by rule, a tie was not possible. In the case when 2 cars pass the finish line together the one which starts further down will be the winner having covered a greater distance. That staging robbed the #1 car drivers the victory.
In addition to the win at Le Mans, Ford got the Manufacturer Championship.
The rest of the season was raced by privateers. Ford didn't want to let people think that this victory was just luck and announced their return in 1967. The "J" program continue and the Mk2s went back to testing.

The models :