Ford Racing

[Black 03 Z06]

For years have have bought models and die casts from a company in Toronto called Mini Grid. I started buying scale racers from them in the 1970's, George and Julia Maxwell ran the business originally out of their home in Agincourt.

Their son, Scott Maxwell eventually took over the business and it remains a family business. Scott Maxwell is also a successful professional race car driver. He announced tonight on his site that he has been doing long term extensive development on the new Ford GT 40 for both Ford directly and a Canadian company called Multimatic, a long time race team.

They have announced that Ford will return to Le Mans in 2016. They will race the GT 40 at Daytona and Sebring next year in preparation of their assault on Le Mans, the 50th Anniversary of Fords Le Mans attempt with the GT 40. There will be six drivers whose names he did not want to divulge at this point.

I thought this was pretty interesting news and thought I would pass it along. The car looks stunning but I cannot figure out how to grab the picture from his site.

 

[smackYYZ]

Very interesting news!

Looking at Scott's twitter feed I can see that they were just at Sebring for 3 days doing testing with the Ford GT.

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Thanks Mike, I have no idea why I cannot grab pictures like you just did.

Scott Maxwell is a really nice guy, I think he is painfully shy on occasion but he certain can drive a race car.

It will be interesting to see what Ford and Multimatic can accomplish.

I would love to go to Le Mans for the race, that is one for the bucket list for certain. I remember many years ago reading about the NASCAR teams that went over to compete. Massive stock cars compared to the typical size racer. The French have always loved the boom of the big North American V8's. Corvette has such a strong and colourful history there, long before the very successful Pratt and Miller Group.

In the early 1950's American sportsman Briggs Cunningham took two Cadillac Model 61's to Le Mans. One was essentially a stock bodied car the other was a aerodynamic beauty the French called Le Monstre. Painted in American racing colours of White with Blue stripes they performance quite well.

 

[Riley P]

That is very interesting information. Thanks for posting it up! Nice to see the GT's back at Le Mans!

 

[12cents]

Although I'm not a Ford fan it is still good to see another North American manufacturer competing. I have no doubts it will be quick but that is only part of this type of racing.
But what a fat-a$$ed rear diffuser!!

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Update on the Ford GT 40 Program by Ford race driver and Mini Grid's Scott Maxwell.


Update: Testing & Racing with GT’s & Mustang’s


Somewhat reluctantly back in October I wrote a short letter to our Mini Grid customer base exposing the fact that; when not hiding in the back room at Mini Grid; my other day job was racing and testing vehicles for primarily, at the moment, the Ford Motor Company and the Canadian automotive engineering firm Multimatic.

It was a great relief to me then that the feedback was overwhelmingly positive and we received many kind and appreciated responses encouraging more of the same when appropriate. Some readers even shared their own stories, especially with the focus at that time of my role in the development of the new Ford GT racing car. This car stirs up much interest and; for some of you; great memories if you were around in the 1960’s when the Ford GT40’s were in their heyday. You may find this attached link to a video Ford produced interesting as it covers the very first time the new Ford GT racing car ran back in the early spring of last year… right here in Calabogie, Ontario!

Anyways, while we are in the depth of winter perhaps now is as good a time as any to give you that ‘appropriate’ update of why I might not be in the back room of Mini Grid during your recent visit. In fact I write this note while sitting in Sebring during a two-day test here in late-February. This seems to be a trend because I wrote the original expose sitting above the pits at Sebring back in the Fall while testing the Ford GT racing car! You might think that having this available ‘spare time’ at a racing track hints at disaster, but in fact this is quite the norm for a development project like this, and this is a big one! The ratio of running time (my work time) versus the time spent in debrief/analysis/discovery and problem solving (where the smart guys earn their money) doesn’t always lend itself to endless lapping and such is the case today as I write this.

The focus for the team I am working with has now moved from the racing car (which is now in the capable hands of Chip Ganassi Racing in the U.S. and Multimatic Motorsport in the U.K.) to the Ford GT street car. My role as one of the test drivers for the Vehicle Dynamics area of the development can vary day to day but generally it involves pushing the car to the edge to sort out ‘limit handling’ and often to maximize the engine, gearbox, brakes, tires, aerodynamics, etc., etc. in an effort to find out what the potential weak points may be and to allow the engineers and designers to isolate and address any issues. So it’s very unpredictable work and difficult to keep to a schedule as you just don’t know what’s around the next corner…

Suffice to say the car is absolutely beautiful to drive (even in this early prototype configuration). For those that will be lucky enough to actually own the new Ford GT (I won’t be one of them!) they have a lot to look forward to.

In the meantime it’s not just the testing keeping me occupied. Once again in 2016 I will be driving the factory entry Ford Mustang GT350R-C in the IMSA series alongside the super talented Billy Johnson. In fact we have already had our first race back in January at Daytona and even happier to report that we won! So a good start to the season. Next round is Sebring (maybe I should just move here…) in March, and we make our one Canadian stop at Mosport in July.

Enough from me for now. The car is ready to go again. Until next time…