| While having had the pace for outright wins in 1995, the car starting from the front row of the grid several times, Ferte and Thevenin failed to make it inside the top five fastest qualifiers even once in '96. Furthermore, increasingly sporadic appearances as the season wore on meant a realistic championship challenge was never really on the cards. The year began at Paul Ricard where, starting from a disapointing tenth, 74045 failed to finish. RFR then skipped Round 2 at Monza and headed for Spain and the Jarama 4 Hours. Having qualified sixth, Ferte and Thevenin finished a creditable fifth to get their first points of the year. An eighth and sixth at Silverstone and the Nurburgring made it three consecutive finishes for the F40, both results coming after each driver put in steady performances behind the wheel - Ferte even leading briefly in Britain. Missing Round's 6 (Anderstorp), 8 (Brands Hatch) and 9 (Spa), RFR were present at Suzuka for the 1000km race, although after qualifying eighth, they failed to finish. The old F40 put in its best performance of the year around Nogaro, the all-French squad thriving on home soil to grab the final podium spot after beginning the race fifth. This would be the F40 LM's final competitive outing as RFR opted not to fly out to Zhuhai for the season finale, 74045 taking a 3rd, 5th, 6th and 8th from six race's - not bad for what was essentially a five year old car. |
