This is the most expensive Ford GT40 ever sold – despite its calamitous history
A Ford GT40 MkII which managed 12 laps at the famous 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours has become been auctioned for a record amount
Endurance racing legend Hurley Haywood speaks out about being a gay racing driver after documentary release
Hurley Haywood managing Brumos Racing, 2008 Photo: Motorsport Images
Hurley Haywood is one of the most successful endurance racers of all time. A driver synonymous with Porsche, he has five podium finishes at the Le Mans 24 Hours and three overall wins.
Add to that five Daytona 24 Hours victories and two wins at the Sebring 12 Hours, and it becomes clear what a talent he is.
But Haywood, who came out as gay in 2018, had to hide his identity and sexual orientation from sponsors, fans and the media throughout his career.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, he says: “I was afraid. I didn’t want it to get out.
“I didn’t have any gay male role models. I had to deal with all that stuff myself, work through all the problems of what it would be like if I suddenly came out as gay.
“What would that do? Would I lose all my fans? Would I lose all my sponsors?”
But Haywood also tells The Guardian that “Racing is evolving,” and attitudes are changing.
“I think those barriers that stand in the way are gradually being knocked down.”
A documentary released in March, Hurley, told Haywood’s life story with archive footage and interviews with racing personalities.
He speaks out about hiding his identity from the motor sport fraternity in the 1970s, reflects on his career and talks about his co-driver Peter Gregg.
Patrick Dempsey, actor and racer, is Hurley‘s executive producer. Watch the trailer below.
Furthermore, the documentary’s distributor – 1091 – has another movie in the works documenting Dale Earnhardt Sr’s final race from the eyes of fellow NASCAR racer Michael Waltrip.
Titled Blink of an Eye, it’s based on Waltrip’s 2011 book In the Blink of an Eye: Dale, Daytona, and the Day that Changed Everything.
Blink of an Eye will be released soon, following a private screening before the NASCAR World 600 at Charlotte on May 24.
A Ford GT40 MkII which managed 12 laps at the famous 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours has become been auctioned for a record amount
Two of racing's biggest rivals are on collision course once more, with the Ford v Ferrari battle for overall Le Mans victory due to resume in 2027 after six decades — and Ford is already talking up the fight
Ford will develop a new top-tier sports car to compete for overall victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance Championship Hypercar class from 2027 onwards, aiming to continue where its GT40 left off in the 1960s
Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson warned that winning was essential for its Hypercar project earlier this year. After an uncompetitive run in the Le Mans 24 Hours, she says that the fight goes on, with the team confident that it will catch its rivals