Ford V Ferrari claimed two Academy Awards for best sound editing and best film editing, marking the first time a motorsport themed picture has won such an award since ‘Grand Prix’ from 1966.
The plot of film was set around Ford’s rivalry with Ferrari during the mid 1960s at the 24 hours of Le Mans, led by famed team boss Carroll Shelby and his trusted driver Ken Miles played by Matt Damon and Christian Bale respectively.
Miles and co-driver Denny Hulme would unfortunately lose out on victory at Le Mans in 1966 due to a decision made by Ford’s Racing Director Leo Beebe in wanting the cars to stage a dead heat at the finish.
Miles slowed down to allow the sister car of Bruce McLaren to catch up in the latter stages and as they crossed the line together, due to the way the result was declared at the time on distance covered and not laps completed, Bruce McLaren and his co-driver Chris Amon would be the eventual winners for having started behind Miles on the grid.
There was strong opposition in the technical categories with The Irishman, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, 1917, The Joker and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
Other nominations for Ford V Ferrari – otherwise known as ‘Le Mans ’66’ in some other locations – came in for ‘best picture’ but lost out to the critically acclaimed ‘Parasite‘, and for best sound mixing losing out to the World War epic ‘1917‘.
John Frankenheimer’s ‘Grand Prix’ had claimed three awards at the 1967 Academy Awards for sound, best effects and film editing. This was the only previous motorsport related picture to have previously made a significant impact in film awards.
