Ford v Everybody: Le Mans Hypercar program will be run in-house

Posted by Talbot Payne on September 25, 2025

It’s Ford v Everybody. The Dearborn automaker is taking on the world in international Le Mans-class Hypercar racing in 2027, and its program will be run entirely in-house.

The announcement is a break from tradition as most manufacturer work teams are historically run by third-party racing operations. Think Porsche’s Hypercar program run by Team Penske or Cadillac’s program (which locked out the front row at this year’s Le Mans) run by JOTA Sport out of England. Cadillac’s open-wheel, Formula One program, too, is run by TWG Motorsports.

Ford is taking on the world in international Le Mans-class Hypercar racing in 2027 with a program that will be run entirely in-house.

Ford is taking on the world in international Le Mans-class Hypercar racing in 2027 with a program that will be run entirely in-house. Ford, Ford

Ford Motor Co.’s announcement comes on the heels of its racing division being recast this summer from Ford Performance to Ford Racing, integrating its racing operations with the production side of the company more than ever. Racing is at the core of the Blue Oval’s DNA, including a historic win over Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966, the subject of the 2019 Oscar-winning movie “Ford v Ferrari.”

“Keeping with our core values, our Hypercar program will be operated by Ford Racing,” said Ford Racing Global Director Mark Rushbrook. “This gives us the ability to react more quickly on track, enhancing our competitiveness. It also allows us to bring technology back to our road cars more effectively and efficiently than ever before.”

The in-house program will expand the duties of motorsports veteran Dan Sayers, who Ford announced will oversee its Hypercar program in June. Sayers has experience as the head of Aston Martin’s motorsports program and comes to Ford from Red Bull Ford Powertrains, where he has been program director for that F1 team’s power unit development. Intriguingly, Red Bull Ford is one of the few teams on the F1 grid that manages its own drivetrain in-house, having recently ended its contract with Honda.

“Ford Performance is taking on so many different challenges around the racing world, but to lead Ford back to its spiritual home at Le Mans was a challenge I could not turn down,” Sayers said at Le Mans when Ford hired him. “Having previously led Aston Martin to multiple Le Mans class victories, the opportunity to take overall honors with Ford is something very special. I have loved working on the F1 program with Red Bull Ford Powertrains, so this feels a lot like joining a different part of the same family.”

The 12 and #38 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars lead the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the pole. The two cars are run by the JOTA Sports race team. Ford, by contrast, will run its hypercar program in-house.

The 12 and #38 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars lead the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the pole. The two cars are run by the JOTA Sports race team. Ford, by contrast, will run its hypercar program in-house. Alastair Staley / Drew Gibson Photography, Cadillac

Sayers’ team will work at hyper-speed to build a Hypercar program.

In less than two years Ford Racing must assemble its team to — along with French chassis partner Oreca (announced at Le Mans in June) — design, build and test a 700-horsepower hybrid rocket ship to compete at the pinnacle of World Endurance Championship sportscar racing against a loaded field including Ferrari, Porsche Penske, Cadillac, Toyota, Peugeot, Aston Martin, BMW and Genesis.

“Every role needs to be filled and that is no small task because we aren’t just filling the positions, we are building a team culture which mirrors that of Ford Racing: passionate and driven by a need to be the best,” said Rushbrook.

The program will be run across Ford’s facilities in Dearborn, Charlotte, N.C., and England.

“These are assets that no one can match, and we are focused on staying at the forefront in facilities, technology and people. In addition to Oreca’s support, we are pleased to say that longtime engineering and motorsport consultancy group Venture Engineering will provide technical and operational support,” Rushbrook said.

Ford Racing will be only the third team on the Le Mans grid to run a full in-house operation. Toyota Gazoo Racing, which won Le Mans five years straight from 2018-2022, captains the Japanese maker’s sportscar effort and Peugeot Sport helms Peugeot’s program.

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans: Porsche's Hypercar team is run by Team Penske. Ford will take on Porsche and others with a team it will run in-house.

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans: Porsche’s Hypercar team is run by Team Penske. Ford will take on Porsche and others with a team it will run in-house. Porsche

Ford Racing’s decision runs counter to its own racing history going back to Caroll Shelby shepherding the race program that brought the GT40 its first overall Le Mans win in 1966. More recently, Toronto-based Multimatic ran Ford’s GT3 race team when the Ford GT beat Ferrari in the GT class in 2016.

The in-house team dovetails with Ford’s larger goals to build a corporate framework that weaves motorsports into production engineering and marketing. Ford Racing runs race programs across the motorsports spectrum from F1 and Hypercar to off-road vehicles like the Bronco and F-150 Raptors — not to mention muscle car-icon Mustang, which competes in the Mustang Challenge, GT4 and international GT3 series.

“It is an exciting time as we continue to build and develop our Ford Racing Hypercar program,” Rushbrook said. “We are filling dozens of roles in our design and engineering departments and our engine program. We are speaking to top development engineers and technicians to staff our testing and race programs. We are bringing in the leading mechanics and skilled racing tradespeople from around the world.”

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

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