Ford is making a play in top-end endurance racing once again. It plans to run in the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans, competing for the first time since 1969.
The company is developing a hypercar to enter the World Endurance Championship (WEC). Until now, it has been running a Mustang for the GT3 class. Previously it ran a GT supercar in the GTE class.
Of the two rulesets allowed in the WEC’s top class, Ford will follow LMDh (Le Mans Daytona Hypercar). It utilises a higher proportion of off-the-shelf components than the LMH (Le Mans Hypercar) alternative.
These include prescribed chassis from Dallara, Ligier, Oreca and Multimatic. There’s also a rear-axle hybrid system using parts from Bosch, WAE and Xtrac.
Ferrari, Peugeot and Toyota already run LMH hypercars. Aston Martin plans to compete with its Valkyrie. So Ford will join Alpine, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche in running LMDh hypercars. Genesis is also joining in next year.
Ford executive chairman, Bill Ford, commented: “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.”
Ford’s return comes at a time when Ferrari rules over the 24 Hours of Le Mans, having won it with the 499P in 2023 and 2024.
Although it didn’t claim the WEC’s manufacturer’s title which went to Toyota, Ferrari is still amongst the favourites to take victory in France again this year.
