Michael Satterfield
Ford has unveiled their “Celebration Liveries” for the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours. Each car bearing a livery that celebrates the success of Ford at Le Mans dating all the way back to the 1960s. Each of the four factory Ford GTs will bear a livery that celebrates the success of the manufacturer at Le Mans, both in the present day and during the 1960s.
The four factory GTs campaigned by Chip Ganassi Racing will be racing at La Sarthe Circuit at Le Mans in their special liveries and will be joined by a fifth Ford GT, racing in the GTE Am class with Keating Motorsports.
The celebration liveries were inspired by:
The #66 Ford GT raced by Stefan Mücke (GER), Olivier Pla (FRA) and Billy Johnson (USA) has a black livery that echoes that of the Ford GT40 of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon that won Le Mans in 1966.
The Ford GT40 that Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt drove to victory at Le Mans in 1967 is remembered in the new livery of the #67 Ford GT raced by Andy Priaulx (GB), Harry Tincknell (GB) and Jonathan Bomarito (USA).
The #68 Ford GT is Ford’s most recent Le Mans winner, taking the chequered flag first in the 2016 race. Dirk Müller (GER), Joey Hand (USA) and Sébastien Bourdais (FRA) will race in the same colors as when it won Le Mans in 2016.
The #69 Ford GT of Scott Dixon (NZ), Ryan Briscoe (AUS) and Richard Westbrook (GB) takes its design cues from the Ford GT40 that came second in Ford’s glorious 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans in 1966.
The #85 Ford GT will be raced in the GTE Am class by customer team, Keating Motorsports. The team is using the same livery design as the four factory Fords but using the striking colors of its title sponsor, Wynn’s. The driver line-up for the #85 Ford GT is Ben Keating (US), Jeroen Bleekemolen (NETH) and Felipe Fraga (BRA).
The Ford GTs will be on track in their new celebration liveries this Sunday (June 2) for the Official Le Mans Test. Fans will be able to follow the 24-hour race on June 15-16 from inside the cockpit of the factory Ford GTs as Ford’s popular Le Mans Livestream will return for its fourth consecutive year.
