{"id":13719,"date":"2025-06-11T18:50:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T18:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=13719"},"modified":"2025-06-27T18:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T18:12:08","slug":"when-racing-history-finds-the-right-pen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=13719","title":{"rendered":"2025 Ken W. Purdy Awards: When racing history finds the right pen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the right hands, even the most well-worn racing legend can feel newly alive. Our writer Jim Donnelly proved that again by winning at the 2025 Ken W. Purdy Awards with \u2018Ford GT40: The Rocky Road to Greatness\u2019, published in issue 11. It\u2019s a riveting dive into Ford\u2019s bruising path to Le Mans glory.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published in our 2024 Le Mans special, Donnelly\u2019s piece strips away the polished mythology surrounding the Ford GT40 and exposes the grit beneath: fragile prototypes, wind tunnel failures, and gearboxes exploding at speed. Central to the story is Roy Lunn \u2014 the engineer without whom the GT40\u2019s victories at Daytona, Sebring, and finally Le Mans in \u201966 would have remained a fantasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Potential was clear, but GT40 was still fragile in 1964. Photo Ford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Credit where it’s due<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Donnelly\u2019s telling, Lunn is the unsung architect behind Ford\u2019s mid-engine missile, working in the shadows as Carroll Shelby and others grabbed headlines. \u201cEverybody got credit for the (GT40 and Mark II) thing except for the people who actually did it,\u201d the article quotes author Martyn Schorr \u2014 a sentiment Donnelly\u2019s prose powerfully restores to the record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

IMPA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Presented annually by the International Motor Press Association<\/a> (IMPA), the Ken W. Purdy Awards honor excellence in automotive journalism. Donnelly \u2014 a veteran editor and writer \u2014 previously won the Purdy Award in 2023, further cementing his place among the most honored voices in automotive journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful for having the opportunity to create this kind of journalism,\u201d Donnelly said. \u201cTo be recognized this way is truly wonderful. To be associated with the Purdy legacy is a high honor indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Passion is alive”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As IMPA President Sam Fiorani said: \u201cIMPA is pleased to report that passion for the automobile and its journalism is alive and well.\u201d He added that \u201chigh-caliber writing, editing, and presentation is one constant that has not diminished.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an age of short attention spans, Donnelly\u2019s work reminds us that some stories \u2014 especially those forged in oil, sweat, and obsession \u2014 deserve to be told with both beauty and truth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the right hands, even the most well-worn racing legend can feel newly alive. Our writer Jim Donnelly proved that again by winning the 2025 Ken W. Purdy award with \u2018Ford GT40: The Rocky Road to Greatness\u2019, published in issue 11. It\u2019s a riveting dive into Ford\u2019s bruising path to Le Mans glory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":13724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115,111],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-13719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-from-tazio-magazine","category-tazio-the-magazine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/KenPurdyAwards25.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/244"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13719"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13727,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13719\/revisions\/13727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13719"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fthb-sponsors&post=13719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}