The Story Of Legendary 1966 Le Mans and Goodyear

Le Mans'66 is a movie that tells the tale of the legendary battle for supremacy between Ford and Ferrari. The story is about the struggle during the time of iconic 1966 Le Mans which was a French endurance challenge and the key element of the race was the role that the Goodyear tyres played which helped Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon to reach the victory lane and grab their righteous trophy.

The time period when Bruce Mclaren and Chris Amon drove their cars to victory in the year 1966, 24 hour Le Mans was followed by Ford trying to get into action and also make a mark on the world stage. The famous black GT40 Mark II was equipped with Goodyear tyres even if they raced on the company's biggest rival back in the day called Firestone.

Mike Rytokoski, Vice-President, Chief Marketing Officer of Goodyear stated that Mclaren and Amon's victory has provided them also success. He mentions it as something like a second triumph at Le Mans.

He further added that Goodyear is proud to have played a key role in one of the world's most important historic moments in motorsport. Goodyear has been glad to be a part of the Le Mans'66 Film.

Also See:Goodyear: Fleet Tracker Device Collects Data Of Tyre Efficiency

About the Movie:

Academy award winners Matt Damon and christian bale star in Le Mans'66, which is a true story of the American car designer Carroll Shelby and British driver Ken Miles. The vision that Shelby had in the beginning was not fully encouraged or supported by Ken Miles however, they come into terms and fight the battle for creating a dominating race car for the Ford Motor Company that can beat Enzo Ferrari at the 1966, 24 hours of Le Mans that took place in France.

The battle for Le Mans winner title:

The 1966, 24 hour Le Mans took place in the most unfortunate and tough conditions. The race track was damp which soon proved the Goodyear tyres to be better than the Firestone. Two cars participated from Shelby's American racing teams. The no. 1 car was driven by Ken Miles and Denny Hulme and the Number 3 was driven by Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant. There were no issues with the Goodyear tyres but the McLaren which was equipped with Firestone lost chunks of tread at probably more than 337 kph on the Mulsanne straight.

The McLaren negotiated for a switch to Goodyear tyres after the Firestone started to show signs of failure.

At the end of the race, number 2, 1 and 5 survived the harsh conditions and lined up for a staged finish. This stands to be a debated even today since in the history records the McLaren as the winners which was based on the starting further back and covering greater distance. If they would not have considered the Goodyear tyres, the McLaren would never had finished the race and see the beautiful end result

Eventually, Goodyear carried on its legacy with 14 wins in the 24 hour Le Mans and became popular in the racing sector with again 368 Formula One Grand Prix wins.

Also See: Know About The Concept Tyres Used In 'Lexus UX'

In 2020, Th company will race again at the Le Mans in the LMP2 category.

Mike Rytokoski, Vice-President, Chief Marketing Officer Europe for Goodyear stated that "It's with great spirit that we decided earlier this year to become once again a tyre supplier for the FIA World Endurance Championship. We are looking forward to be on the grid again in Le Mans next year."

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