Andrettis help celebrate Ford's historic Le Mans win at Goodwood

As part of the Goodwood Festival of Speed's celebrations of American motorsport and motorsport's greatest rivalries, one of the sport's greatest dynasties was enlisted to help with the festivities.

It's been 60 years since Ford defeated Ferrari for the first time at Le Mans, a story told in the popular 2019 movie "Ford v Ferrari" (or Le Mans ‘66 if you're reading from parts of Europe), and one that has also had its moment during this weekend’s Festival.

Those in attendance got to see the very same Ford GT40s that finished 1-2-3 at Le Mans in 1966, reenacting the famous three-abreast formation as they crossed the finish line back in the day. Behind the wheels of the cars were three generations of the legendary Andretti family: Mario, Michael and Marco.

“We have enough time to reminisce of that period,” said Mario – who also raced a GT40 at Le Mans in 1966, albeit failing to finish – after their Saturday afternoon run up the hill. “It's a lot of nostalgia here, and it's so wonderful that they were able to do this.”

Of course, with the second place finisher of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon having started further back than Ken Miles and Denny Hulme's first finishing car, it was McLaren and Amon that were declared the winners in period. And while a large element of the Festival of Speed is about celebrating history, Mario joked that Michael might have wanted to change it this time around.

“You know, we had to do quite a bit of talking to Michael because we thought that he would give Ken Miles a bit of revenge, try to cross the finish line first on this one like he was supposed to,” he said. “But he held on, so we just kept it the way it was then.

“We're so privileged to be able to have had this opportunity as a family here to sort of come back to a great moment in history in our sport, really, at Le Mans with Ford 1-2-3.”

The all-American lineup of Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson took third with much less controversy. This time around, it was Marco who was at the helm of the gold entry.

“I didn't want that run to end,” he said. “I'll tell you what, this is the only day that I'm satisfied being P3 with these guys. But no, it was a total honor to be able to be invited and included in this, and a pretty awesome event.”

With American motorsport playing such a huge role in this year's Festival of Speed – with NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA, Can-Am, and Pikes Peak among the other series and events being highlighted – it was fitting that one of America's great motorsport families got the call to drive the GT40s. Of course, the Andrettis aren't the only ones with such a pedigree; U.S. motorsport history is filled with big names spanning the generations.

“It's actually been a lot of fun through the years, racing some of the families,” said Michael. “Al [Unser] Sr was one of his [Mario's] nemesis, and Al Jr. was one of mine. Those were just fantastic times and glory days, and it's cool to be here and experience all this, and seeing a lot of good old friends here too. It's been fun.”