Ford GT to enter Le Mans GTE Pro in 2016
Ford has officially announced that it will return to Le Mans in 2016 – fifty years after winning the endurance race with the Ford GT 40 in a famous 1-2-3. This forms part of Ford’s strategy to deliver more than twelve new performance models by 2020: Ford Raptor, Shelby GT350 and Focus RS to name a few.
The 2016 Ford GT Le Mans will be designed to compete in the GTE Pro category where it will race against a mob of Porsche 911s, Aston Martins and the current champion, the Corvette C7R. Aside from Le Mans, the newly assembled race team will compete in a two-team, four car effort operated by Chip Ganassi and Felix Sebates.
The Ford GT Endurance Racer will turn its first wheel in competition in January 2016 at the Rolex 24-hour at Daytona Florida. Aside from FIA Endurance Racing the car will also race in the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship
Based on the road car, which was unveiled in January and goes on sale in 2016, the Ford GtT Le Mans racer will use a 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6 engine to power its extremely lightweight but rigid carbon fibre shell. The road car is rumoured to have one of the best power-to-weight ratios of any production car and when combined with the most powerful EcoBoost engine, that statistic should be multiplied.
“As we developed the Ford GT, from the outset, we wanted to ensure we had a car that has what it takes to return Ford to the world of GT racing,” said Raj Nair, Ford Motor Company group vice president, Global Product Development and chief technical officer. “We believe the Ford GT’s advances in aerodynamics, light-weighting and EcoBoost power will make for a compelling race car that can once again compete on a global stage.”
Team owner Chip Ganassi added, “We’ve won races and championships, but we’ve never run Le Mans. When presented the opportunity to compete with the all-new Ford GT on the world’s biggest sports car stage, and on the 50th anniversary of one of the most storied victories in racing history, how could any race team not want to be part of that? Will it be a challenge? Absolutely, but we couldn’t be with a better partner than Ford.”
