74 SEP/OCT 2019 MAXIM.COM
Steve McQueen’s 1971 film Le Mans remains the definitive movie about the icon-
ic endurance race. But that may change in November when Ford v Ferrari from
James Mangold, director of Marvel’s The Wolverine and Logan, gets released.
The autobiographical action flick stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale in the
tale of Ford’s epic triumph over longstanding Le Mans champs Ferrari with
the incomparable Ford GT40 in 1966. The GT40, designed by Carroll Shelby
(played by Damon in the film) went on to win Le Mans three more times in
1967, 1968 and 1969. It all started because of a feud; in 1963 Henry Ford II had
a deal in place to buy Ferrari. But when Enzo Ferrari backed out at the last
minute, an enraged Ford told his lead negotiator to “go to Le Mans, and beat
his ass,” whatever the cost. – Jared Paul Stern
LE MANS ON FILM
movie. Derek ended up in the garbage dump covered in rubbish. Steve
ended up with a laugh, and chalked the score to 1-1.
At this year’s race I was camped out in an RV by the permanent Bu-
gatti Circuit part of the track since Thursday as it’s the only way to truly
immerse yourself in something like this. It’s now 12 am on Sunday, and
the cars have been racing since 3 pm on Saturday. I have an eight million
calorie jamón ibérico sandwich in my hand. Procured against a backdrop
of floodlights and fairground rides from a food stall of gnarly Iberians
with grizzly, muscular, forearms; and a passion for black, acorn-gorged
pigs. Fat, salt, sugar and protein are hitting my system and temporar-
ily kidnapping the pleasure centers of my brain. Caffeine is sloshing
around at levels high enough to erase all thought of sleep. And there is
a good chance I would fail a breathalyzer test.
But I am here to soak up the atmosphere. Not to attack each corner at
breakneck speed with metronomic precision as the drivers are doing.
In the background you hear what sounds like a swarm of steampunk
flying insects. Playing a riff on Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.” With the
deep thumping bass of the Corvettes, the popping tenor of the LMP
cars, and the high pitched buzzing of Porsche 911s. The Brembo Rac-
ing crew and I are about to attempt to bypass security and watch the
action from a corner of the track in the small village of Mulsanne. The
Mulsanne. By climbing onto workmen’s cabins at the corner at the end
of the infamous straight.
I had been told that this was one of the best places to watch as the
cars come flying out of the darkness at over 200 mph, before decelerat-
ing to a fraction of that in a few hundred feet, thanks to carbon Brembo
brakes lit up like fireflies in the dark. Ferrari and Ford are again locked in
their 50 year old battle, soon to be immortalized in the new movie, Fo rd v
Ferrari starring Christian Bale. Another actor, Patrick Dempsey, is lead-
ing his own Porsche team here at Le Mans hoping for a repeat victory
in their class, while at the top of the technological totem pole Toyota is
racing its LMP1 Hybrids against itself.
Le Mans is a place of mists and magic and pilgrimage. Glory, glam-
our and legend hang in every breath in the air. Mingling with the smell
of beer, sweat, grease, and high octane racing fuel. And death, and glory.
This is holy ground for motor racing fans. As Harry Tincknell, driving
for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing this year in their failed bid to recapture
Ford’s 1960s GT glory days told me, “drivers want to win Le Mans more
than at any other race.”
One look at former Formula One Champion—and now two-time Le
Mans winner—Fernando Alonso shoehorning himself into the Toyota
Gazoo Racing LMP1 car and you immediately understand this. This
race has always drawn drivers to its sadomasochistic siren call. Across
disciplines, continents, and oceans. For this is the magical charm of Le
Mans. A place where as another alumnus, Mario Andretti, who drove
the original Ford GT40s, once put it, “If everything seems under con-
trol, you’re just not going fast enough.”Racing at sunset; Above: Le Mans movies past and present;
Opposite: pit stops during the grueling race are equally fraught with excitementJAM
ESMOYPHOTOG
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