Ford v Ferrari II: Ford enters top-drawer Hypercar class to win Le Mans in 2027

Posted by Talbot Payne on February 4, 2025

Charlotte, North Carolina — The golden era of Ford racing is coming back.

For the first time since the legendary GT40 dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France from 1966-1969, Ford Motor Co. is returning to the pinnacle of sports car racing to take on the world. The Dearborn-based automaker announced at its annual Racing Season Launch event here that it will enter the World Endurance Championship in 2027 with a full factory LMDh Hypercar team taking on Ferrari, Porsche Penske, Cadillac and Toyota to win the world’s greatest endurance race.

“We are entering a new era for performance and racing at Ford,” said Ford chairman Bill 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.”

Ford enters LMDh Hypercar class to win Le Mans.

Ford enters LMDh Hypercar class to win Le Mans. Ford, Ford

The epic battle between Ford and Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966 inspired the blockbuster, Academy Award-winning movie “Ford v Ferrari” in 2019.

After the 1960s, Ford exited from the top-tier prototype class and competed in production-focused class racing around the world. In 2016, it won the Le Mans GT class with a mid-engine GT, and then finished second in the GT class last year with the debut of its Mustang GT3.

The LMDh Hypercar entry marks another level of commitment with a hybrid-powered, 670-horsepower prototype racer that has attracted the world’s best manufacturers in competition not seen since the 1960s, when Ford, Ferrari and Porsche went at it hammer-and-tong to win the top spot of Le Mans’ podium.

The Ford will hit speeds of 200 mph on Le Mans’ Mulsanne Straight while going head-to-head on strategy with the likes of Ferrari and Bloomfield Hills-based Team Penske. which manages the Porsche entry. Penske entered two Porsche 963 prototypes in 2024 in an effort to win the only major trophy that has eluded its chairman, Roger Penske, in his seven-decade racing career but was beaten to the checkered flag by Ferrari with Toyota taking second.

Ford will take on rivals including Porsche Penske, which fielded this #6 Porsche 963 last year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.

Ford will take on rivals including Porsche Penske, which fielded this #6 Porsche 963 last year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News

Ford did not give details on whether it will also enter the North American Weathertech Sportscar Series that shares the same Hypercar class rules for LMDh cars with WEC. Like the rear-wheel-drive Ford racer, Porsche Penske and Cadillac entries are also so-called LMDh Hypercars, which makes them eligible for the 24 Hours of Daytona (that Porsche Penske just won last weekend) and the Detroit Grand Prix in June.

Ferrari and Toyota, on the other hand, have produced so-called LMH Hypercars, which are only eligible for the international WEC series because their hybrid systems drive all four wheels and have unlimited development budgets. An LMDh car is capped at a cost of about $1 million.

The distinction was crucial in 2024 as the Ferrari and Toyota LMH Hypercars had better traction and higher straight-line speeds compared to LMDh entries. Stewards are expected to address such disparities in coming years for fairness and competition.

Chairman Ford has been passionate about motor racing, which has informed the family brand since the company’s founding in 1903. The passion runs deep as his son, Will Ford, became general manager of Ford’s racing division, Ford Performance, in 2023. The pair have presided over an expansion of Ford into international motorsport in off-road racing, with a Ford Raptor finishing third in Saudi Arabia’s Dakar Rally this year — and now the announcement that the brand is entering WEC in both the Hypercar and GT categories.

24 Hours of Le Mans 2024: The #2 Cadillac V-Series.R started 7th and finished 7th.

24 Hours of Le Mans 2024: The #2 Cadillac V-Series.R started 7th and finished 7th. Henry Payne, The Detroit News

“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!’” said Chairman Ford, referencing the “Go Like Hell” book that catalogued Ford’s 1966 Le Mans win.

Ford’s announcement was met with cheers across the globe.

“It is wonderful news to welcome Ford back to the top level of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in almost 60 years,” said Pierre Fillon, president of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, which oversees the Le Mans race. “It is a brand that has always had a close affinity with this very special race, and history shows that Ford does not compete to finish second. The renewal of its famous rivalry with Ferrari is truly an exciting prospect.”

Other manufacturers that have entered the WEC series include BMW, Peugeot and Lamborghini.

“(Ford’s) return to the highest level of the discipline is further validation of the success and appeal of the current Hypercar regulations,” said President Richard Mille of the FIA Endurance Commission, which is the licensing body for international motorsport. “Endurance racing’s golden age is right here, and right now!”

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.

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