LEGO brings iconic 1966 Ford GT40 and 2016 Ford GT to life as part of new series - MotorSportsTalk

No matter how old you get, you’re never too old for LEGO’s – particularly if you’re a racing fan.

To that end, LEGO has introduced a new Speed Champions line that will bring back some great old memories, as well as new ones.

Most notable in the LEGO Speed Champions series is Ford race cars that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 50 years apart: the iconic Ford GT40 in 1966 and the Ford GT in 2016.

The series includes cars, mini figures, checkered flags, course workers, championship trophies and racetracks to, as a media release says, “help to bring famous victories to life again and again.”

“Many people in my team grew up with the legend of Ford’s history-making 1966 victory – and experienced the excitement of building and design for the first time through LEGO bricks,” said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. “This kit is a powerful way to tell our Le Mans story, and will hopefully inspire the race drivers, engineers, and designers of the future.”

Ford and LEGO engineers and officials worked together on developing the project.

“This was a dream project – with a lot of pressure,” said Craig Callum, head of design, LEGO Speed Champions. “The Ford GT40 is one of the most iconic race cars of all time, and the new Ford GT is just incredible.

“Designed for children, but with grown-ups fans in mind too, we know these models will be closely scrutinized for authenticity.”

Check out the following video of Callum assembling the new kit in record time:

To order, go to LEGO.com/shop. However, one bit of bad news: they won’t be available for Christmas. Release date is March 1, 2017. Still, it’ll be worth the wait.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”