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RM Sotheby’s is currently offering it for sale through its private sales department, one of six examples of the Ford Matech GT1, which won the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship four times.
Swiss structure (Geneva-based) Matech Concepts, founded in 2006 by the late Martin Bartek, has established strong ties with the blue oval manufacturer since its launch, mainly by distributing the Mustang FR500 produced in the United States in Europe. So in 2007, Matech Concepts decided to build a Ford GT to compete in the GT3 category, and success came immediately: The following season, the Swiss team won the coveted title.
Always seeing bigger, Matech set the goal of integrating the GT1 category, which later became the pinnacle of the GT category. In March 2009, Matech received authorization from the American manufacturer to manufacture a GT1 version of the Ford GT, with the sole condition of integrating a “factory” V8 block prepared by Roush Yates under its rear hood. That’s why Matech modified the two GT3 chassis to align them in the GT1 category from the 2009 season, while simultaneously preparing two new Ford GT1s for the next season.
In 2010, the new Ford Matech GT1 showed up on the track. Designed in collaboration with German engineer Heggermann Ag, the new GT equipped with aerodynamics working in the wind tunnel in Cologne kicked off a 5.3-liter V8 block by Roush Yates and associated with a 6-speed Xtrac transmission. The suspension was provided by Multimatic, while the brakes came from AP Racing.
Although the car’s debut resulted in retirement at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2010), the Ford Matech GT1 raced by the Marc VDS Racing Team shined even more in the FIA GT1 championship.
The chassis 003 that interests us here was used by Finn Markus Palttala and Belgian Renaud Kuppens in 2010 and was replaced by Italian Matteo Bobbi in the last three rounds. The following year, the excellent Maxime Martin became associated with the Frenchman Fred Makowiecki for most of the races, and his skills were particularly expressed at Abu Dhabi, the Sachsenring and the Ordos circuit, where they won the qualifying races. more so than the main race on this last track. It’s the results that sported this chassis at number 41 for two seasons, making it the most efficient Ford Matech GT1 chassis in the race.
At the end of the 2011 season, this 2011 chassis was withdrawn from circuits and has not been back on track since. It remained in the United States until 2019, when it joined the British private collection, where it still belongs. This chassis has recently undergone a complete restoration (with support from Multimatic and Xtrac) by BBM Sport, and a shake-up last March confirmed the vehicle’s excellent condition, with the V8 block producing more than 580 hp and 648 Nm.
RM Sotheby’s did not specify the selling price of this chassis, which is suitable for historic vehicle competitions such as Endurance Racing Legends, organized by Peter Auto and bringing together prototypes and GTs from the 1990s-2000s on the track.
Photo credit: RM Sotheby’s
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