Ford GT Owner VIP Hospitality at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans
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Saint Ho
GT Owner
A other video made from within the Ford GT parade, by André and Olivier, from Germany.
The ACO had imposed the helmets, a little bit ridiculous for this type of parade, although the speed was sustained, that the video does not express at all. I better understood the interests of the "Gurney bubble" on the GT40, because I was very uncomfortable, the helmet touching the roof of my white beauty.
https://youtu.be/pbjX0YHV1kA
The ACO had imposed the helmets, a little bit ridiculous for this type of parade, although the speed was sustained, that the video does not express at all. I better understood the interests of the "Gurney bubble" on the GT40, because I was very uncomfortable, the helmet touching the roof of my white beauty.
https://youtu.be/pbjX0YHV1kA
texas mongrel
GT Owner
Hey Guys, been off the grid enjoying McLaren hospitality during the Goodwood Festival of Speed, now relaxing at our place in the Lake District before heading home to Texas.
Well, 2500 miles of GT driving was certainly fun! Hanging out with the other guys on our epic European road trip was the experience of a lifetime. I think we managed eight countries in our six days? One of my memories was the drive to Lake Como where we navigated narrower and narrower streets only to arrive at "Villa D'Este Dry Cleaners", rather than the actual Villa D'Este! Thankyou Danielle, that was an 'interesting' sidetour!
After LeMans we were back to England and went to the Morgan Factory with Fred and Sherry. I then returned the favour by taking them to the McLaren Factory where Bruce's daughter Amanda showed us round. Then it was on to a track day at Brands Hatch where ex-Williams/Caterham F1 driver Ricardo Teixiera showed me how to drop 13 seconds off my lap times during the day ( those F1 boys sure love super early apexes). Then it was two days at FOS where we got to see the number 66 GT storm up the hill in both dry and wet conditions. Who knew those cars could do burnouts so easily? We also got to meet and chat with Marino and Dirk, plus got to ogle once again at the white GT that was on display in the Ford stand. Sorry, no photos of all this, except inside my head.
Can't wait for LeMans '17!
Well, 2500 miles of GT driving was certainly fun! Hanging out with the other guys on our epic European road trip was the experience of a lifetime. I think we managed eight countries in our six days? One of my memories was the drive to Lake Como where we navigated narrower and narrower streets only to arrive at "Villa D'Este Dry Cleaners", rather than the actual Villa D'Este! Thankyou Danielle, that was an 'interesting' sidetour!
After LeMans we were back to England and went to the Morgan Factory with Fred and Sherry. I then returned the favour by taking them to the McLaren Factory where Bruce's daughter Amanda showed us round. Then it was on to a track day at Brands Hatch where ex-Williams/Caterham F1 driver Ricardo Teixiera showed me how to drop 13 seconds off my lap times during the day ( those F1 boys sure love super early apexes). Then it was two days at FOS where we got to see the number 66 GT storm up the hill in both dry and wet conditions. Who knew those cars could do burnouts so easily? We also got to meet and chat with Marino and Dirk, plus got to ogle once again at the white GT that was on display in the Ford stand. Sorry, no photos of all this, except inside my head.
Can't wait for LeMans '17!
BAT
GT Owner
Awsum GT
GT Owner '18
PL510*Jeff
Well-known member
Alright, here we go.
The Final Summary
I'm not sure at what point we made the mental commitment that we were shipping our GTs to Europe, but despite a bunch of hurdles along the way, in the end a small group of us said "I don't care what it takes, I'm taking my car to Le Mans." It actually ended up going pretty smooth in the end, and here is some of what went on. In the following posts you will find a mixture of pro photography, awful cell phone pics, and more. Enjoy.
Matt and I sent our Ford GTs in a container from Miami. Ironically we ended up using the same company Ford did to ship the new GT over for the race. Not only does the shipping company move cargo around the globe, they also have the latest potato with which to take photos:
Geared up for the overnight flight to London. I was admonished for wearing over the ear headphones by Air Canada. Weird.
The cars, as if by magic, arrived on time and ready for us in the UK.
I had a bum fog bulb I forgot to replace before I left. Luckily GT101 in the UK came to the rescue and fixed it on the spot. They also added an AUX jack so Matt wouldn't have to stream audio through a bluetooth speaker.
Off we went. The best part about the UK is how gas is SO inexpensive. Especially filling a bunch of 700-800-1000 hp cars. It couldn't have been more than $100 every time we filled up.
Chip & Charley enjoying the father/son time.
The Final Summary
I'm not sure at what point we made the mental commitment that we were shipping our GTs to Europe, but despite a bunch of hurdles along the way, in the end a small group of us said "I don't care what it takes, I'm taking my car to Le Mans." It actually ended up going pretty smooth in the end, and here is some of what went on. In the following posts you will find a mixture of pro photography, awful cell phone pics, and more. Enjoy.
Matt and I sent our Ford GTs in a container from Miami. Ironically we ended up using the same company Ford did to ship the new GT over for the race. Not only does the shipping company move cargo around the globe, they also have the latest potato with which to take photos:
Geared up for the overnight flight to London. I was admonished for wearing over the ear headphones by Air Canada. Weird.
The cars, as if by magic, arrived on time and ready for us in the UK.
I had a bum fog bulb I forgot to replace before I left. Luckily GT101 in the UK came to the rescue and fixed it on the spot. They also added an AUX jack so Matt wouldn't have to stream audio through a bluetooth speaker.
Off we went. The best part about the UK is how gas is SO inexpensive. Especially filling a bunch of 700-800-1000 hp cars. It couldn't have been more than $100 every time we filled up.
Chip & Charley enjoying the father/son time.
I was tasked with leading us on our wrong side of the road driving. It was fine. Beyond not being able to see anything when entering a roundabout, no problems. We made a quick 140 mile drive to the Chunnel.
Not a celebration of Burger King. Queens birthday.
The cars were popular in line, especially since we took the oversize vehicle lane for more wiggle room in the train car. A bunch of RVs, vans, and supercars.
Really easy to get in and out. Plenty of space, staff was pleasant. Not a lot to do while traversing the Channel.
Yes, sorry Ferrari.
Our first stop as a group was a very nice hotel in an area of Belgium I'd never been to. Sint Martens-Latem is a beautiful area. Would repeat for sure. The best part of our arrival was we pulled into a small circular courtyard while dozens of people were eating in the adjoining outdoor courtyard. They were definitely shocked, and soon, I let many, many Belgians sit in my car.
Not a celebration of Burger King. Queens birthday.
The cars were popular in line, especially since we took the oversize vehicle lane for more wiggle room in the train car. A bunch of RVs, vans, and supercars.
Really easy to get in and out. Plenty of space, staff was pleasant. Not a lot to do while traversing the Channel.
Yes, sorry Ferrari.
Our first stop as a group was a very nice hotel in an area of Belgium I'd never been to. Sint Martens-Latem is a beautiful area. Would repeat for sure. The best part of our arrival was we pulled into a small circular courtyard while dozens of people were eating in the adjoining outdoor courtyard. They were definitely shocked, and soon, I let many, many Belgians sit in my car.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Jasper Geys. He is the tall skinny kid in the jean shorts in the pics above. Somehow he saw a video of us on Facebook driving down the Belgian motorway, recognized the area, and went blasting up and down the road until he found us. When he found us at a gas station, I literally thought his head was going to explode. :lol He took some awesome photos, but I can't seem to find them at the moment. He did take the gas station pic:
Shortly after our arrival, we had a squad of photographers there.
We stayed out late, had about 50 Belgian 0.001% alcohol beers, and prepared for a couple of rainy, soggy days ahead.
Oh, and the hotel had a big red guard dog in the back.
Silverbullitt
GT Owner
On our way out from the hotel, we drove through what has to be the nicest area in Belgium. Lots of perfectly manicured everything, and a bunch of killer architecture. Even the shops looked good.
Apparently this is one of the largest volume Ferrari dealers in Europe. We had to stop for a pic.
Incinerating more money.
And onto our first historic racing circuit.
I love Spa. They would never build this racetrack today. Cuts through amazing forest with massive elevation changes. A Ford GT won the 1000 km of Spa here in 1968, and the new Ford GT got its first WEC podium here in 2016.
They gave us a quick tour of the facility, which is awesome.
Here's where you get interviewed when you're really good at driving.
Race control:
I didn't take a pic of the media room, but it's unreal. Basically exclusively for Formula 1, they have space for endless media.
Apparently this is one of the largest volume Ferrari dealers in Europe. We had to stop for a pic.
Incinerating more money.
And onto our first historic racing circuit.
I love Spa. They would never build this racetrack today. Cuts through amazing forest with massive elevation changes. A Ford GT won the 1000 km of Spa here in 1968, and the new Ford GT got its first WEC podium here in 2016.
They gave us a quick tour of the facility, which is awesome.
Here's where you get interviewed when you're really good at driving.
Race control:
I didn't take a pic of the media room, but it's unreal. Basically exclusively for Formula 1, they have space for endless media.
Awsum GT
GT Owner '18
Great photos... you all must have had a great time traveling thru Europe in the GT's. Fun times for sure!
Luckily, more awesome photographers were around to take good photos. These were from a fellow named Tom Daem.
Two for Texas Mongrel, because he claims the blue car never gets pictures posted:
Fulfilling our duty as American ambassadors for Ford GT.
Watching from the rooftop as a number of small Euro series races took place. Weather was pretty miserable, but still awesome.
They let us do two laps of the circuit at the very end of the day bookended by stewards. Really nice of them. They couldn't have been more hospitable towards us. Kudos Belgium. We shall return. I definitely plan on trying to make the WEC race here next year.
Two for Texas Mongrel, because he claims the blue car never gets pictures posted:
Fulfilling our duty as American ambassadors for Ford GT.
Watching from the rooftop as a number of small Euro series races took place. Weather was pretty miserable, but still awesome.
They let us do two laps of the circuit at the very end of the day bookended by stewards. Really nice of them. They couldn't have been more hospitable towards us. Kudos Belgium. We shall return. I definitely plan on trying to make the WEC race here next year.
We got off to a late drive over to the Nurburgring at the end of the day. Crazy story, but it had to probably be near midnight when the navigation told us to turn on a road that was closed for construction. So we had to make a loop through a small side street. Out of nowhere a guy stops his car while we're discussing alternate routes, truly in the middle of nowhere and gives us the "HOLY SHIT I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M SEEING ALL THESE CARS TOGETHER!" It was pretty funny. You are literally safe nowhere. A woman came out of her house, and I thought she would shoo us away, but nope, she busted out the cell phone cam and started snapping away.
When we arrived at the Ring, the same:
Keep in mind, this was truly the middle of the night, and we were swarmed at the hotel entrance. It was also amusing because a ton of the guys were Porsche Motorsport, but they were all Italian. Just sounded wrong to hear lyrical Italian escaping the mouth of people wearing Porsche jackets at the Nurburgring.
Is the Ring car guy heaven? You be the judge.
Is this Birch Green? Lichtgrun? Whatever it is, it's awesome.
I told Brian, this is one of the few times the car next to yours in the parking lot will be worth 4 times more. Dude obviously tracked this thing quite a bit. Kudos P1 guy.
Hey guess, what? More crowds.
It's cool because they are obviously so desensitized towards super bad ass Porsches that nobody really turns and looks when a GT3 or similar goes by, but the GT still draws people like crazy. As we left the info center, there were people literally running along side us to take pics.
When we arrived at the Ring, the same:
Keep in mind, this was truly the middle of the night, and we were swarmed at the hotel entrance. It was also amusing because a ton of the guys were Porsche Motorsport, but they were all Italian. Just sounded wrong to hear lyrical Italian escaping the mouth of people wearing Porsche jackets at the Nurburgring.
Is the Ring car guy heaven? You be the judge.
Is this Birch Green? Lichtgrun? Whatever it is, it's awesome.
I told Brian, this is one of the few times the car next to yours in the parking lot will be worth 4 times more. Dude obviously tracked this thing quite a bit. Kudos P1 guy.
Hey guess, what? More crowds.
It's cool because they are obviously so desensitized towards super bad ass Porsches that nobody really turns and looks when a GT3 or similar goes by, but the GT still draws people like crazy. As we left the info center, there were people literally running along side us to take pics.
Did we go on the Ring? Of course we did. It was pissing rain, but no matter. Was it super nerve-wracking? Yes. Still, an awesome experience. It was raining off and on throughout the whole circuit, alternating between drizzle and deluge. Very slick. Recognized a lot of turns from Forza 6. Confident I could master the circuit in no more than 30 years, tops.
We grabbed some grub and headed off to Rainy Switzerland from Rainy Germany.
We grabbed some grub and headed off to Rainy Switzerland from Rainy Germany.
You'll have to excuse me if I forget where some of this stuff was. There were lots of mountains, and lots of rain. I do believe I was following this 488 near Zurich.
Twas soggy but nice as we ended up at our destination near Lucerne, which was a town called Weggis. Lovely.
Twas soggy but nice as we ended up at our destination near Lucerne, which was a town called Weggis. Lovely.
Italy knew we were coming and arranged for a complete and immediate turnaround of the weather. We headed to Lake Como, my favorite location at which to absolutely incinerate money, and there is no better place in LC to do so than at Villa d'Este.
We could not score an invite to the Wedding. Looked nice.
After a nice lunch and chill out on the lake, we headed off into the mountains. Amazing driving on the Autostrada.
We could not score an invite to the Wedding. Looked nice.
After a nice lunch and chill out on the lake, we headed off into the mountains. Amazing driving on the Autostrada.
Awsum GT
GT Owner '18
We drove through some amazing mountains up to a resort in a town called Saint Vincent. It was freshly refurbished and very, very nice. Guess what Texas Mongrel and I discussed with a guy on vacation? Whether or not we filed our new GT applications. :lol Crazy, we're in the mountains in fairly remote northern Italy talking about GT applications.
Old castle in the mountains.
They were super leisurely at the local gas station. Life moves...slow.
Old castle in the mountains.
They were super leisurely at the local gas station. Life moves...slow.
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