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[h=2]'A Big Ask' chronicles Ford's return to Le Mans[/h] RACER Staff

Fifty years after Henry Ford II opened the Ford Motor Company's checkbook to defeat bitter rival Ferrari at Le Mans, Ford returned to the iconic event with a new Ford GT race car that at once stood on the cutting edge of 21st century technology and paid homage to the victorious Ford GT40s of the 1960s.


They partnered with Chip Ganassi Racing, six-time winners of the 24 Hours of Daytona and America's most successful racing team, Multimatic Engineering, among the world's leading automotive engineering and manufacturing firms, and a host of world-class suppliers in an effort to win the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Author David Phillips chronicles this journey in "A Big Ask: The Story of Ford's Triumphant Return to Le Mans." In the words of Raj Nair, Ford's Executive Vice President, Product Development and Chief Technical Officer, the idea of Ford facing the combined might of Aston Martin, Chevrolet, Ferrari and Porsche was "a big ask." Here's a sneak peak.

By the time (Chip) Ganassi and (Mike) Hull finally paid a visit to Dearborn, enough of the Ford GT had been finalized to get their attention in a big way.
"When you first saw the car it took your breath away," says Ganassi. "It was obviously the grandson of the original Ford GT40 that had the hover board and the virtual reality headset on ... but it still had the unmistakable family resemblance to the grandfather."
When the 2015 Ford GT "concept car" was unveiled at the 2015 North American Automobile Show in Detroit, the reaction was equally rapturous.
"It's an unmistakable shot across the bows of the world's preeminent supercar makers," said Car and Driver's Alexander Stoklosa.
"The Ford GT was the most exciting, most innovative and most surprising meant-for-production car to make an appearance in 2015, period," wrote Robert Cumberford in naming the car Automobile magazine's Design of the Year in an article entitled Ford GT: Monument to Style, Inside and Out.
Calling the Ford GT "a perfect example of function complimenting design," Top Gear's Jack Rix said, "assuming the GT performs like Ford claims, engineering perfection has never looked so good."
The Ford GT even became the first automobile to win a Gold Clio in the prestigious international Clio Awards competition.
When, after several months or speculation following the North American Auto Show, Ford confirmed plans to race the new Ford GT, the reception was even more enthusiastic in the motorsports community – particularly from some of those who would be competing against the Ford GT from Daytona to Le Mans.
"We heard from Porsche and Chevy that they were really glad Ford is back in the game," said (Dave) Pericak (Director, Ford Performance). "Then in the next breath they said: 'But did you have to bring a gun to a knife fight?'"

"A Big Ask: The Story of Ford's Triumphant Return to Le Mans" can be purchased directly through the publisher by clicking here. To pre-order "A Big Ask" on Amazon, please click here.

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EXCERPT: 'A Big Ask' - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca/Ford's Triumphant Return to Le Mans Wednesday, 07 December 2016

RACER Staff / Image by Marshall Pruett

In "A Big Ask: The Story of Ford's Triumphant Return to Le Mans," author David Phillips chronicles Ford's return to Le Mans 50 years after Henry Ford II opened the Ford Motor Company's checkbook to defeat bitter rival Ferrari.
They partnered with Chip Ganassi Racing, six-time winners of the 24 Hours of Daytona and America's most successful racing team, Multimatic Engineering, among the world's leading automotive engineering and manufacturing firms, and a host of world-class suppliers in an effort to win the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In this week's excerpt, the Ford team reaches a milestone several weeks before crossing the pond to race at Le Mans
One by one the GTLM cars all headed to [Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca] pit lane, with [Richard] Westbrook alone making a bid to go the distance on two stops.
“What I realized after the race, what Mike [Hull] is very clever at, is that he puts the belief in the driver,” Westbrook says. “The fact that he trusted me to do it probably made it that bit easier than it was; the fact that he was so sure I could do it, he brought that belief in me and, yeah, we were able to do it.”
For an added benefit, as Westbrook braked early entering the tight corners and gently massaged the throttle on exit to save fuel, he was also babying his Michelins, particularly the rear tires: The more gradual the application of the throttle, the less wheelspin; and the less wheelspin, the less rubber left in his wake.
So although “Westy” was still in maximum fuel-saving mode – and on Michelins with some 50 laps on them – in the final laps, his pursuers failed to gain any appreciable ground. When the checkered flag waved at the end of two hours – 2:01:16.388 to be exact – the #67 Ford GT was 12.5 seconds clear of Alessandro Pier Guidi’s Ferrari 488 …and the Ford GT had its first win just 351 days after Maxwell’s first tentative laps at Calabogie.
“Standing in the pit with the team and with a couple of laps to go I started thinking: ‘Is this it? Is this going to be our first win?’” said Henry Ford III. “And I started to get real anxious about those finishing laps. Then Westbrook crossed the line and it was a really powerful moment. It was a prove point that we were really back, officially, and that we were going to be competitive at Le Mans.”
"A Big Ask: The Story of Ford's Triumphant Return to Le Mans" can be purchased directly through the publisher by clicking here. To pre-order "A Big Ask" on Amazon, please click here.

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A Big Ask

The Story of Ford's Triumphant Return to Le Mans

by David Phillips


Buy Now!

Printed Book - $34.95


Overview
"A Big Ask" is the inside story of the Ford Motor Company's return to the world's most famous sports car race - The 24 Hours of Le Mans - as told by veteran motorsports journalist David Phillips and accompanied by more than 100 color images by some of the world's top racing photographers. Half a century ago, Ford's battles with Ferrari for supremacy at Le Mans became the stuff of legends. Rebuffed in his bid to buy Ferrari, Henry Ford II spent untold millions to defeat the iconic Italian marque in a race it had come to dominate in the early 1960s. After two years of humiliating failure, the Ford GT40 delivered a storied 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans in 1966, the first of four straight wins for the American automaker. Ford returned to Le Mans in 2016 with a 21st century Ford GT and a bold mission: Celebrate the golden anniversary of its legendary 1-2-3 finish in 1966 with another victory. But Ford did not go it alone. Boasting a driver line-up of "Le Mans Assassins," Ford partnered with powerful Chip Ganassi Racing, winners of the Indianapolis 500, 24 Hours of Daytona and Daytona 500, world-renowned Multimatic Engineering, and a host of world-class suppliers in an effort to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Veteran motorsports journalist David Phillips was embedded with Ford Chip Ganassi Racing throughout what proved to be an exhausting and exhilarating journey, from the development of the Ford GT and its problematic competition debut through to its first successes and, finally, triumphant performances at Le Mans and beyond. With unfettered access to all of the team's key players, he provides a detailed, insightful and compelling account of Ford Chip Ganassi Racing's audacious bid to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans that will be a welcome addition to the collection of any motorsports aficianado, automotive buff or sports fan.

Description
"A Big Ask" is the inside story of the Ford Motor Company's return to the world's most famous sports car race - The 24 Hours of Le Mans - as told by veteran motorsports journalist David Phillips and accompanied by more than 100 color images by some of the world's leading racing photographers. Half a century ago, Ford's battles with Ferrari for supremacy at Le Mans became the stuff of legends. Rebuffed in his bid to buy Ferrari, Henry Ford II spent untold millions to defeat the iconic Italian marque in a race it had come to dominate in the early 1960s. After two years of humiliating failure, the Ford GT40 delivered a storied 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans in 1966, the first of four straight wins for the American automaker. Ford returned to Le Mans in 2016 with a 21st century Ford GT and a bold mission: Celebrate the golden anniversary of its legendary 1-2-3 finish in 1966 with another victory. But Ford did not go it alone. Boasting a driver line-up of "Le Mans Assassins," Ford partnered with powerful Chip Ganassi Racing, winners of the Indianapolis 500, 24 Hours of Daytona and Daytona 500, world-renowned Multimatic Engineering, and a host of world-class suppliers in an effort to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Veteran motorsports journalist David Phillips was embedded with Ford Chip Ganassi Racing throughout what proved to be an exhausting and exhilarating journey, from the development of the Ford GT and its problematic competition debut through to its first successes and, finally, triumphant performances at Le Mans and beyond. With unfettered access to all of the key players at Ford, Chip Ganassi Racing and Multimatic, he provides a detailed, insightful and compelling account of Ford Chip Ganassi Racing's audacious bid to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans that will be a welcome addition to the collection of any motorsports aficianado, automotive buff or sports fan.
About the author
David Phillips spent more than two decades as a freelance journalist covering Indy and sports car racing for some of the world’s leading motorsports publications including Racer, Autoweek, Motoring News, Motor Sport, Autosport, IndyCar, Auto Action, Sports Car and On Track as well as racer.com, speed.com, USA Today and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Since 2009 he has been publications director of iRacing.com, the world’s premier online motorsports simulation service.