24h Le Mans
A partner in Ford's return to Le Mans in the LM GTE class in 2016, Chip Ganassi is one of the initiators of the DeltaWing project, the first tenant of Garage 56 at the 24 Hours, which hosts an innovative and unranked prototype.
Originally, the DeltaWing was a single-seater, whose beginnings date back to January, 2009. Designed by Ben Bowlby with Chip Ganassi's financial support, it was one of the candidates for the new definition of cars in the American series IndyCar for 2012. When the Dallara DW12 project was finally chosen, Chip Ganassi, Ben Bowlby and Don Panoz (creator of the American race Petit Le Mans) and Dan Gurney (winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967) decided to convert the DeltaWing to a two-seater and take the first-ever Garage 56 available at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, at the 2012 edition. Qualified in the middle of the field in the LM P2 class, the Nissan DeltaWing was forced to retire on Saturday early evening following a collision with another prototype.
Four years after inaugurating Garage 56 with the Nissan DeltaWing, in 2016 Chip Ganassi is taking on another major project: to reserect the legend of Ford, exactly half a century after the first of four consecutive wins for the American manufacturer. And also to write a new chapter in the history of the icon at the 24 Hours of Le Mans of the 1960s. The silhouette of the Ford GT40 (and its variations Mk II and Mk IV) has marked the collective memory as the direct inspiration for the Ford GT expected next year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the World Endurance Championship and the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. After having entered the record books at the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Chip Ganassi is taking on without a doubt the biggest challenge of his career as an outfit owner. His Ford GTs are highly anticipated on the track...
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
Photo: INDIANAPOLIS (INDIANA, U.S.), INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, INDIANAPOLIS 500, SUNDAY MAY 24 2015, PRE-RACE CEREMONIES. Three weeks apart, the team of Chip Ganassi (at right with New Zealander Scott Dixon, one of his drivers) will for the first time be at the start of two of the oldest circuit auto races in the world in 2016: the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
