Sadly, in another
nod to the greediness of Capitalism, ever demanding Share Holder's stock value
and continuous squeezing 'O profits, we're NO longer able to read great
Automobile stories in the Sunday editions of the New York Times, for which I
find at the very least, extremely disappointing!
Alas, in a nod to earlier Days, when I'd be
posting stories linked with various Automotive yarns from the New York Times
commemorating Vintage Automobiles in regards to thy "Mack Daddy" 'O
Historic Car events, nee the Monterey Historics, which forever will be idyllically
seared into thy memory-banks as 'Hystericals; Hya!
With the 'Uber overflow of Historic car
events having congregated along California's picturesque coastline this past weekend,
culminating with the Monterey Motorsport Reunion, twinned with the
magnificently Bourgeoisie
Pebble Beach Concours de Elegance - there won't be a Damn
thing for Mwah to read about this year's undertakings!
Instead, I'll travel down another unknown
road, having missed the initial B-I-g' announcement from Circuit de la Sarthe
by NO less than the B-I-G' MAN Himself; Hya! Simply known as thee Cheepster',
aka Chip Ganassi, who wryly noted he wasn't in France for the food; Hooah!
As the Ford Motor Company finally made
official what had long been rumoured. That the Dearborn Auto Giant would indeed
return to Circuit de la Sarthe to
contest the 2016 24 Heurs du Mans in honour of
the 50th Anniversary of its historic 1-2-3 finish.
Yet somehow, I feel a tiny bit disappointed,
since although the vehicle of choice will be Ford's latest iteration of its
iconic GT40 now known simply as the Ford GT, they'll simply be competing for
class honours in the GTE Pro category and not for outright victory - which
would have required constructing a top-flight Hybrid LMP1 Prototype instead.
Whilst on a side note, how many of Y'all realize
that Monsieur Ganassi actually once was an aspiring racing driver who contested
the Indy 500? Which I chronicled several years ago in;
Yet somehow I either missed this caveat or was
totally unawares' that Cheep', as pronounced by 'El Zorro, nee Alex Zanardi had
capped off his driving career by racing for Sauber at Le Mans in 1987.
And it doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to
figure out how Ford will be competing directly against its largest Dearborn
competitor Chevrolet next year in what should be a good 'Ol Fashioned Donnybrook!
Although GM's "Fly Yellow" C7R Corvette was once again
victorious at Le Mans this year, I'm somewhat more intrigued by the company's
determination to restore as many of the
ruined Corvettes from its Bowling Green museum that were swallowed up by a
massive sink-hole! Which in some twisted, karmic way parallels General Motors
recent history of Bankruptcy and Ignition Gate...
But back to Ford's legendous' GT40, for which
it seems only proper that 'MAD MAX (Papis) would be the chauffer of said
vehicle passing another iconic Sports Car at Mother Speedway's recently held
Historics. Where Massamiliano left a Porsche 906 in his wake due to his superior
Blue Oval horsepower. Although in fairness, the 906 isn't in the same league as
the Narly GT40, presumably of Beastly seven liter Big Block form?
Yet currently, Porsche is having the last
laugh, still reveling in the After-glow of having just won Le Mans outright
with its 919 Hybrid for Stuggart's record 17th time - which victory in the GTE
ranks pales in comparison.
Meanwhile Three Doors Down, figuratively, la
Scuderia resides in that most special of Italian towns simply known as
Maranello, where arguably the world's most famous auto
manufacturer's facility exists.
As the citizens of
Maranello, and Italy wait patiently for the church bells to ring again -
signaling that Herr Vettel has triumphed over the mighty Silver Arrows once more!
Although with the recently announced Spin-off and public stock offering, acknowledging
that Ferrari's worth in excess of three billion Euros; SHEISA! It seems a bit
sad that they're unwilling to produce their own LMP1 Prototype and take on
their German rivals on the Mulsanne Straight...
UPDATE
Spotted the following story whilst perusing
some of my many Automotive Haunts, with some more details towards CGR's Ford GT
testing plans coming to light. With Mike Hull, Chip Ganassi's right hand (Man) noting
how Multimatic, a prolific 'Kuhnaidiun racing enterprise will be responsible
for the World Endurance Championship's brace 'O Ford GT's, while CGR focuses
upon its two car IMSA Tutor Sports car Championship operation...
