LYNX-PREPARED FORD GT40 RACES AT LE MANS

The Lynx-prepared ex-Yamaha Ford GT40 (GT40P/1077) competed successfully at this year’s Le Mans Classic event held during the weekend of 23^rd to 25^th July.

The car, which raced in ‘Plateau 5’, was driven by John Mayston-Taylor who qualified it in 8^th position out of 65 entries ahead of the four other GT40s entered in the race.

The event itself comprised of three 45-minute races with a mandatory one-minute pit stop during each race. As with the modern 24 Heures du Mans, an Index of Performance is established to take into account the varying specifications of the cars in each category.

The first race for ‘Plateau 5’ was run in the dark at 10.45pm on Saturday and Mayston-Taylor ran strongly to finish in 3^rd place in 1077.

Following a delay caused by an accident in an earlier race, the second race length for ‘Plateau 5’ was shortened to 30 minutes. The race started shortly before dawn on Sunday morning and the cars raced into the sunrise. Whilst running in 5th place, with five minutes remaining, 1077 suffered a puncture to the right rear tyre and was forced to retire.

The final race was held at 2.00pm on Sunday afternoon in hot sunny conditions. GT40P/1077 ran strongly at the front of the field throughout the race and despite a deflating right front tyre two laps from the end (again caused by the sharp gravel at Le Mans), Mayston-Taylor continued and finished in 4th place.

“The car itself ran faultlessly throughout the entire weekend, but the gravel thrown onto the track by other cars caused us problems with punctures”, commented Mayston-Taylor after the races. “It was good to be able to stretch its legs and running side-by-side with a Ferrari 512M on the Mulsanne at 180mph at dawn was a truly unforgettable experience”.

Racing plans for GT40P/1077 for the balance of the 2004 and 2005 seasons include participation in selected historic endurance races in Europe and North America.

FOR FULL LISTINGS OF "PLATEAU 5" IN THE 2004 LE MANS CLASSIC, PLEASE CLICK HERE

For further information, please contact  John Mayston-Taylor at Lynx or see the Official Le Mans Classic website..    

28 July 2004

NEWS RELEASE