Racing for Cancer, DeBoer partner ahead of Le Mans Festival

By May 27, 2015, 9:23 AM EDT
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source: APCool release here. The 2014 Indianapolis 500 champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay, has also spent much of his career with Racing for Cancer, working to raise awareness and fundraise to help the cause.

Hunter-Reay will have another driver on board with Racing for Cancer, in the form of sports car driver Derek DeBoer, who has raced most recently with the TRG-AMR team in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and Pirelli World Challenge championships.

The full release is below:

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source:
Photo: IMSA

Racing for Cancer and Derek DeBoer, with the TRG-AMR team are pleased to announce an exciting partnership for Derek’s next race. Derek will campaign the No. 83 Racing for Cancer B.R.M. TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the 2015 Le Mans Festival race held just prior to the start of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 13, 2015. In addition, Derek is pleased to announce that he will launch the “83 Reasons to Follow car 83” fundraising program to allow fans to donate to Racing for Cancer and have their name or a loved one’s name honored on Derek’s No. 83 Aston Martin for the event.

The donation requested will be $100.00 and 50% will go directly to Racing for Cancer. With this donation, the name of the donor or loved one will be included on a yellow note strip above the rear tire of Derek’s race car. Each donor will receive an email with a hi-res digital photo of the name that they requested on the Aston Martin as well as additional hi-res photos of the car in action from the race. To donate and be a part of the campaign, please go to http://www.derekdeboerracing.com/shopping/

Racing For Cancer is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization co-founded by 2012 IndyCar champion, and 2014 Indy 500 champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Ryan started the charity following his mother’s passing from cancer in 2009. Since 2010, Racing for Cancer has been working towards a goal of uniting motorsports fans, teams, drivers, and sponsors to take of their collective generosity to support the global fight to beat cancer. Through various fundraising programs, Racing for Cancer is focused on the awareness and value of early detection and prevention. Nearly one third of all cancer is said to be preventable. In addition, they aim to do more to help in the fight against childhood cancer. One in every 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 19 and cancer is the number one cause of disease-related death among children. With your help we can do more in advancing the global fight to beat cancer!

Derek will use the Le Mans Festival event as the initial opportunity to partner with this great charity. Look for further announcements from Derek DeBoer and Racing for Cancer on expanding the partnership in 2015, 2016 and beyond.

source: No. 83 Racing for Cancer B.R.M. TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4 driver Derek DeBoer, “I am so excited for this chance to turn my first laps on the most hallowed ground of endurance racing- Le Mans. Doing this with my family and racing family of TRG-AMR is exactly how I would dream up my first Le Mans experience. Even larger than this- I am honored to be announcing my partnership with Ryan Hunter-Reay’s Racing For Cancer charity and see it as an opportunity to both educate and raise the much needed funding to continue this global fight. Much like Ryan, I’ve experienced cancer from an outside view- Loved ones have been lost, families and relationships have been torn apart, and a lucky few have won! I’ve felt and witnessed the Grace, Bravery and Fear that come along with cancer and see the largest determining factor of the end result coming with early detection. That is what this partnership is all about- educating to find it early so that there is a chance to win.”

Racing for Charity President and co-founder Tom Vossman added, “We are excited to partner with Derek in this historic race week. It has been our goal to expand our efforts to all motorsports so this partnership is a real pivotal step in our commitment to grow and do more for the cancer community. Derek is aligned with our vision and is very committed to support our efforts!”

TRG-AMR CEO Kevin Buckler, “This is a great cause and well put together and I could not think of a better ambassador than Derek. He has been such a fantastic friend and teammate and is always so committed to making sure that whatever he touches achieves integrity and success. Having this debut at one of the greatest sports car racing events in the world just puts on the final touches and we look forward to helping Derek with his Racing for Cancer campaign and its debut at Le Mans.”

“I lost my mom, who was by my side my entire career, tragically to this disease.” added Ryan Hunter-Reay. “I wanted to give back and do so in a way that emphasized the need for early detection and prevention. In just four short years, through the help of our partners, we have donated over $3 million in the global fight. I am committed as ever to grow and do more so hopefully someday, nobody has to go through what my family endured in the loss of my mom, Lydia.”

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).