Ford has announced that it will compete in the Hypercar division of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2027, which will include its first shot at an overall 24 Hours of Le Mans victory in 45 years.
The Blue Oval will join Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Genesis, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota in the top-tier of international endurance racing, a category that Ford hasn’t featured in since the early 1980s – and not won in since the 1960s.
Ford Performance revealed the news as part of its second annual season launch, held today in North Carolina.
Details of Ford’s new LMDh (Le Mans Daytona hybrid) prototype racer haven’t been shared as yet, with the vehicle in development ahead of its debut two years from now.
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The 2024 Le Mans grid
Ford first entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in 1964, debuting the now legendary GT40 race car. Up against fierce competition from Ferrari, the GT40 soon became a raging success, going on to claim four consecutive outright victories between 1966 and 1969.
The saga was detailed in the hit 2019 Hollywood film Ford v Ferrari, starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon.
While Ford tried to take outright honours in the French endurance classic in 1982, the brand has had success in the lower classes, taking out the LMGTE Pro division in 2016 with the Ford GT – 50 years on from its first triumph.
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Ford won its class at Le Mans in 2016
The Ford Mustang GT3 also secured a podium position in the LMGT3 class at last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, behind entries from Porsche and BMW.
Speaking on a seismic day for Ford in motorsport, executive chair Bill Ford expressed his excitement to chase outright victory at Le Mans once again.
“We are entering a new era for performance and racing at Ford,” said Mr Ford.
“You can see it from what we’re doing on-road and off-road. When we race, we race to win. And there is no track or race that means more to our history than Le Mans.
“It is where we took on Ferrari and won in the 1960s. It is where we returned 50 years later and shocked the world and beat Ferrari again.
“I am thrilled that we’re going back to Le Mans and competing at the highest level of endurance racing. We are ready to once again challenge the world, and ‘go like hell!’”
In addition to the WEC announcement, Ford Performance also launched a new partnership with Triple Eight Race Engineering in Australia’s Supercars Championship.
After more than a decade and a half, Triple Eight is coming back to Ford to race the Mustang in Supercars, leaving long-time partner General Motors.
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