Racing the Ford GT40

By Richard Barnett

The I recently spent an afternoon racing a Ford GT40 around a tortuous figure of eight circuit in West Wales. But it wasn’t just me: my other half, Gwyn, was driving another GT40, the anglo-american sports car that showed Enzo how to do it properly back in the 1960s.

It took quite some time to get used to the controls, gently feathering the throttle as I negotiated the tight hairpins. There’s a mixture of fear, getting used to a mid-engined car’s handling, mixed with the competitive edge of not letting Gwyn, under any circumstances, get past.

Gradually I got used to the car’s crisp handling, roaring down the straights at high speed, backing off sharply for the hairpins, then sticking the power back on as I powered out. Luckily the GT40 is a forgiving old beast, tolerating an inexperienced pilot like me.

Gwyn got on the pace appreciably quicker than I did, barreling past me as we came up on the chicanes, and soon her car’s tail lights were a dim and distant view.

But perhaps a little high-speed driving experience, like a little knowledge, is a dangerous thing.

Gwyn managed to roll the GT40 she was driving, and it ended up off the track and on its roof. Luckily she wasn’t hurt, and the car suffered very little damage.

Before this we’d had 10 laps of door handle to door handle racing, almost banging the rear wheelarches as we power-slid out of the hairpins side by side, with just enough time to let the mighty Ford straighten up for a straight-line sprint before the next hairpin. At one point there is a small bridge where the track crosses over itself, and keeping the cars from leaping in the air necessitated further throttle control.

A quick dust over and it was back on the track. Both drivers, refreshed by a cup of rosie lee (tea in Cockney rhyming slang) and digestive biscuits, were soon back at the controls.

Oh, I forgot to say: you didn’t think we were racing REAL GT40s did you? Sadly not. Instead we were trying out our new Scalextric GT40 set! It’s great fun, and it’s more exciting than any computer-based motor racing game. And if you roll these GT40s, all you’ll damage is your ego…

About the author: Richard Barnett is a lifelong car enthusiast who has also been lucky enough to work with cars throughout his professional career. He claims to have started his motoring interest when he was two and a half years old.

During his working life Richard has sold motoring books, run a motoring library, done motor industry consultancy, been a motoring journalist (writing stories for the now defunct AutoClassic, Classic and Sportscar and Autosport) and currently works in motor industry pr.

A member of Britain's prestige Royal Automobile Club, Richard is also a member of the Society of Automotive Historians, the Vintage Sports Car Club,
the Historic Sports Car Club and the Classic Rally Association.

He has an extensive motoring library and attends as many historic motor racing events as his calendar allows.

Richard owns a Lancia Flaminia and his favourite car is a Facel Vega HK500.