Ferrari F40 LM and Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM, and two 1970 F1 cars ...
Although the Ferrari F40 LM was developed by Michelotto in the late 1980s, it was not seriously raced in Europe until half a decade later. The arrival of the GT1 class and the BPR Championship finally provided the racing F40 with a podium to shine on. Its closest competition was the brand new McLaren F1 GTR but the Ferrari nevertheless proved hugely competitive. One of our feature cars won a BPR race in 1995 and finished 12th at Le Mans. For 1996 Michelotto developed an even wilder 'GTE' version of the F40, which was even more competitive and often outpaced the McLarens. A year later both the Ferrari and McLaren faced purpose-built racing cars from Porsche and Mercedes-Benz and gradually lost touch. The ultimate development of these GT1 machines was the Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM that was used in the second half of the 1998 season. Although it failed at Le Mans, the V8-engined racer won all subsequent rounds of the FIA GT Championship. It very effectively killed off the GT1 class that very briefly saw the world's finest supercars go head-to-head. Both the F40 LM and CLK-LM are pictured earlier this year during the Modena Trackdays.
In 2010 four new teams look set to join Formula 1, which is in part made possible by the readily available Cosworth V8 engine. It is a repeat of the 1970 season when a host of new manufacturers tried their luck at Formula 1 with a car built around the Cosworth DFV engine. The most successful of these was March, who aimed at selling their new 701 at customers. Among them was Ken Tyrrell, who entered his Marches for World Champion Jackie Stewart. The Scot scored three pole positions and won one race in 'his' 701 before switching to the first Tyrrell. Our extensive gallery features four of eleven 701s built, including the example used by Stewart. A little less fortunate was DeTomaso's efforts with the Dallara built and Frank Williams run 505. The car was too heavy and Williams' lead driver Piers Courage suffered a fatal crash. One of the surviving chassis has recently been fully restored by Hall & Hall and was driven up the hill at the most recent Festivals of Speed. For 1971 Williams switched to a March 701, which is also featured in our article.
Enjoy the links:
[url=http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/3800/DeTomaso-505-F1-Cosworth.html]1970 DeTomaso 505 F1 Cosworth - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]
[url=http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/645/Ferrari-F40-LM.html]1989 - 1994 Ferrari F40 LM - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]
[url=http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/605/March-701-Cosworth.html]1970 - 1971 March 701 Cosworth - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]
[url=http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/1082/Mercedes-Benz-CLK-LM.html]1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]
