To younger fans, it’s a stretch to associate Ferrari with Le Mans. Sure, the pseudo-works AF Corse team kept the flame alive, but vying for GTE class victories – no matter how competitively fought – can never carry the weight of an overall win. Ferrari is obviously keen to change that with its new Hypercar, but there are no guarantees.

There was a time when a Le Mans 24 Hours without the Prancing Horse would have been unthinkable. By the 1960s, Le Mans was at least as important to Enzo as F1 – and the red cars were often dominant. Its tally of nine victories, seven of which came between 1958 and ’65, still leaves the Italians third in the all-time list of winners, behind Porsche on 19 and Audi’s 13. Remarkable, given that Ferrari’s last hurrah was 48 years ago, in a race that marked the end of one era and the beginning of another.

By 1965, Ford was hell-bent on beating Ferrari at Le Mans to avenge Enzo for spurning its buy-out advances. Five GT40s and two new 7-litre MkII ‘X-cars’ came up against Ferrari’s armada of four prototypes, plus two North American Racing Team cars and a pair from Maranello Concessionaires.