www.QV500.com - Ferrari F40 Part 6: F40 LM - 1995 & '96 Le Mans 24 Hours
 

74045, 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours		 In conjunction with campaigns in the BPR GT seasons of 1995 and '96, RFR Sport twice entered their distinctive blue F40 LM in the most prestigious endurance race of all - the Le Mans 24 Hours. By the mid nineties, the ACO's revised class regulations had all but outlawed fully-fledged prototypes, opening the field up to a plethora of genuine GT cars, many of which were in with a real chance of outright victory. Despite going into the 1995 24 Hour race with an absolutely miserable reliability record that had seen it fail to finish in four out of its previous five outing's, 74045 would undoubtedly have the speed to give a good account of itself in the early stages.
   
Turning up at la Sarthe wearing the familiar Pilot Aldix livery, 74045 was driven by experienced F40 pedaller, Michel Ferte, his regular team-mate, Olivier Thevenin and Carlos Palau. It had been completely rebuilt after sustaining accident damage at Montlhery, the team using a special reinforced gearbox for Le Mans. Along with the F40 GTE's of Ferrari Club Italia, the Ferrari's dominated GT1 qualifying by taking the top three positions in category, the two FCI entries being split by Ferte who started seventh. Come Saturday afternoon and three hours into the race, 74045 was surprisingly still running. More than that, it was 12th overall, just three laps adrift of the lead works-backed McLaren. Gradually gaining positions here and there, the RFR drivers eventually climbed as high as eighth by 6am on Sunday morning and there they stayed until just after 11:30 when Ferte took a trip into the gravel. Although he was able to continue after being pulled out, 74045 dropped four positions. Thereafter running reliably through until three o'clock on Sunday afternoon, RFR had seemingly achieved the impossible with their ageing F40 and completed the entire 24 hour race. They finished 12th overall and sixth in the very competitive GT1 class - Ferrari's first Le Mans finish in many years. Ferte and Thevenin were back in 1996 along with Le Mans debutante Nicolas Leboissetier, but despite featuring a number of tweaks to the bodywork and engine, the F40 was unable to repeat its achievement of the previous year. Shortly after midnight, Ferte was forced to retire when a leak in the fuel tank caused a flash fire in the cabin.
 
Race Drivers Team Chassis Overall GT1
1995 Le Mans 24 Hours Ferte / Thevenin / Palau Pilot Aldix Racing 74045 12th 6th
1996 Le Mans 24 Hours Ferte / Thevenin / Leboissetier Pilot Aldix Racing 74045 DNF -