Just
ahead of this weekend’s Le Mans 24Hrs, Ford Motor Company announced that it
will return to the French circuit next year on the 50th anniversary of
Ford’s 1-2-3 finish at the 1966 race.
The new Ford GT race car will compete in the Le Mans GT Endurance
class for professional teams and drivers (LM GTE Pro).
Based on the all-new Ford GT supercar unveiled in January, the
race car will be powered by the race proven 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6 engine as
used by Chip Ganassi Racing last year and this year.
Two Ford teams will be operated by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix
Sabates (CGRFS) and they will be supported by Multimatic Motorsports, Roush
Yates Engines, Castrol, Michelin, Forza Motorsport, Sparco, Brembo and CGRFS.
The race car has undergone extensive design and testing within Ford and
Multimatic, with CGRFS providing input into the development. Roush Yates is
supporting development of the 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6.
So it looks as though there will be no ‘official’ Ford return to
the World Rally Championship once the GT race teams gets their hands on the
budgets!
