"Le Mans 66": starring role for Goodyear 🎥
NOW IN THE CINEMA "Le Mans 66" tells the story of the legendary duel between Ford and Ferrari. In addition to the cars, Goodyear racing tires were a central element of the 24-hour race at the time. The trailer for the new film "Le Mans 66" should not only attract motorsport fans to the cinemas. When Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon raced in the 24 Hours of [...]
The trailer for the new film "Le Mans 66" should not only attract motorsport fans to the cinemas.
When Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon took victory at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ford wasn't the only American company making its mark on the world stage. The famous black GT40 Mark II ran on Goodyear tires - even though it had started the race on rubber from big rival Firestone in the tire war of the time.
Mike Rytokoski, Goodyear's Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Europe, said, "The Amon/McLaren victory brought a podium finish for Goodyear and was our second consecutive triumph at Le Mans. Goodyear is particularly proud to have played such an important role in motorsport at this historic event."
A true story
Oscar winners Matt Damon and Christian Bale tell the remarkable story of visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and fearless British racing driver Ken Miles (Bale) in "Le Mans '66," which has been in Swiss cinemas since November 14. Together they battled the laws of physics and their own personal demons. Their goal: to build a revolutionary race car for the Ford Motor Company and beat Enzo Ferrari's dominant race cars at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.
Change of tire brand during the race
The 24 Hours of Le Mans began in 1966 in wet conditions. It quickly became apparent that Goodyear tires provided excellent wet performance compared to Firestone products. Two of the participating cars from the Shelby American Racing team - the #1 of Ken Miles/Denny Hulme and the #3 of Dan Gurney/Jerry Grant - demonstrated superior performance with their Goodyear tires at this point in the race.
Bruce McLaren's Firestone-tired car, on the other hand, lost tread on the Mulsanne straight at nearly 340 mph. When he pitted shortly after, he immediately sought out the Firestone representative and negotiated a switch to Goodyear before handing over to colleague Chris Amon and the car continued the race on Goodyear.
Winner by distance
At the start of the final stage of the race the next day, the remaining Ford #2, #1 and #5 - the latter being the Holman & Moody car of Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson - battled it out for the legendary finish. To this day, the battle between these two Shelbys remains legendary in Le Mans history. Based on the greater distance covered, the win was ultimately awarded to McLaren and Amon, as they had started further back and covered a greater distance in the same amount of time. The Goodyear tires were a major factor in this great success for Ford.
Goodyear returns to Le Mans in 2020
To date, Goodyear has taken a total of 14 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and would go on to become the most successful tire manufacturer in Formula One history with 368 Formula One Grand Prix victories.
Goodyear has returned to international motorsport in the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 19/20 season. In June 2020, the tire manufacturer will again compete in the LMP2 category at Le Mans.
Mike Rytokoski: "The story behind the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans perfectly reflects Goodyear's passion, performance and innovation. With this heritage, we decided earlier this year to once again become a tire supplier for the World Endurance Championship. We look forward to being back on the grid at Le Mans next year."
Under the link goodyear.eu/en_en/consumer/why-goodyear/goodyear-at-le-mans-66.html there is more about the historical background to the film.
