-Runner-up at Le Mans this year, the #17 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by future world champions Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber had a special red and white livery, a nod to the colours of the 917 raced by Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann in 1970, the first ever Porsche to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

-Similarly, one of the three Nissan GT-R LM NISMO prototypes paid tribute to the history of its manufacturer and the iconic 24-hour race. The #21 car driven by Tsugio Matsuda, Lucas Ordonez and Mark Shulzhitskiy sported the same colours as the #24 R390 CK in which Mark Blundell, Julian Bailey and Gianfranco Brancatelli took the first ever pole for a Japanese constructor in 1990. That was also the year that two chicanes were added to the Mulsanne straight.

-As part of the build-up to this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours on Saturday 13 June, racegoers got their first glimpse of the Alpine Célébration, built to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the legendary French sports car marque founded by Jean Rédélé. Unfortunately, in the race itself, the Alpine A450b failed to finish. However, it ended its World Endurance Championship season superbly with victory in the LM P2 class at the 6 Hours of Shanghai.

-At a press conference held at the 24-hour circuit on Friday 12 June, Ford announced its return to Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship in 2016, fifty years after the first of its four consecutive Le Mans wins. The Ford GT unveiled that day sported number #66... will there be a second #67 car? We’ll have to wait until 5 February and the press conference for the 2016 Le Man 24 Hours to find out!


Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO | Translated from French by Clair Pickworth
 

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, FRIDAY 12 JUNE 2015, FORD PRESS CONFERENCE. The #66 on the Ford GT unveiled at the 24-hour circuit recalls the Ford Mk II that Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren drove to victory in 1966.