Memories of GT40 glory days rekindled

Two private teams are planning to return the iconic Ford GT name to the legendary Le Mans 24-Hour race (June 12-13) in France, for the first time in more than 40 years.

For the 2010 Le Mans 24-Hour event, Swiss team Matech Competition and Belgian Team Marc VDS Racing will aim to recapture the glory years with their Ford GT racers.

Matech Competition has entered two cars in the GT1 category, while Marc VDS Racing will campaign a third car among the 56-strong entry.

The Matech Ford GT1 recently claimed a 1-2-3 result in the Spa 1000km, with Bas Leinders, Eric De Doncker and Markus Palttala taking the Marc VDS Racing car to overall victory.

Romain Grosjean and Thomas Mutsch will be joined by Jonathan Hirschi at Le Mans in one of the Matech cars, while the team's other Ford GT1 will be crewed by the all-female Swiss line-up of Natacha Gachnang, Cyndie Allemann and Rahel Frey.

The Marc VDS Racing Ford GT1 will be driven as usual by Leinders, De Doncker and Palttala.

The all-female line-up is a real first for Le Mans.

Gachnang, who has recovered from a broken leg sustained in the opening GT1 championship round in Abu Dhabi, is the cousin of F1 driver Sebastien Buemi and raced in Formula 2 last season. Frey and Allemann have both raced in Formula 3.

Ford dominated the classic sports car endurance race in the 1960s, when the GT40 won four years in a row between 1966 and 1969 and, although it is not competing as a factory team this year, Ford provides technical support to the privateers taking part.