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Ford Motor Company is returning to the pinnacle of prototype sports car racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) in 2027. Ford Performance field a full factory team entering with the aim of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Between 1966 and 1969, Ford captured four consecutive overall victories in the city of Le Mans, France. Since then, Ford has focused on class victories in 2016 with the Ford GT in GTLM and more recently with the Ford Mustang GT3. The Mustang won its first 24-hour race in the production-based GTD Pro class at the Rolex 24 in Daytona last weekend.
“We are entering a new era for performance and racing at 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. It is where we returned 50 years later and shocked the world and beat Ferrari again” said Bill Ford, Ford Motor Company Executive Chair 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!’” The announcement didn’t mention Carrol Shelby who not only coined the “go like hell” phrase on a pit board message to a driver, but was instrumental in Ford’s first LeMans win. Shelby is the only man to have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a driver, team owner and automotive manufacturer.*
“Ford and endurance racing are a perfect fit, as has been proven time and again. It is a brand with a long and proud motorsport heritage, and a passion for competition instilled by Henry Ford himself. The company’s return to the highest level of the discipline is further validation of the success and appeal of the current Hypercar regulations. Endurance racing’s golden age is right here, and right now!,” said Richard Mille, FIA Endurance Commission President and luxury watchmaker.
Mille is well known in racing circles for his sponsorship of racing events and drivers including Fernando Alonso, Mick Schumacher, Alain Prost, Charles Leclerc (who will be the voice on the radio to Lewis Hamilton at the Ferrari F1 team next season. Hamilton was recently spotted with a Mille watch. – AutoCrat), Simon Pagenaud, Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, and retired Formula One driver, now broadcaster Martin Brundle, who does the best pit walk and commentary in all of Motorsports,
*AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Ford to Return to Le Mans in 2027
Click for more.
Ford Motor Company is returning to the pinnacle of prototype sports car racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) in 2027. Ford Performance field a full factory team entering with the aim of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Between 1966 and 1969, Ford captured four consecutive overall victories in the city of Le Mans, France. Since then, Ford has focused on class victories in 2016 with the Ford GT in GTLM and more recently with the Ford Mustang GT3. The Mustang won its first 24-hour race in the production-based GTD Pro class at the Rolex 24 in Daytona last weekend.
“We are entering a new era for performance and racing at 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. It is where we returned 50 years later and shocked the world and beat Ferrari again” said Bill Ford, Ford Motor Company Executive Chair 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!’” The announcement didn’t mention Carrol Shelby who not only coined the “go like hell” phrase on a pit board message to a driver, but was instrumental in Ford’s first LeMans win. Shelby is the only man to have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a driver, team owner and automotive manufacturer.*
“Ford and endurance racing are a perfect fit, as has been proven time and again. It is a brand with a long and proud motorsport heritage, and a passion for competition instilled by Henry Ford himself. The company’s return to the highest level of the discipline is further validation of the success and appeal of the current Hypercar regulations. Endurance racing’s golden age is right here, and right now!,” said Richard Mille, FIA Endurance Commission President and luxury watchmaker.
Mille is well known in racing circles for his sponsorship of racing events and drivers including Fernando Alonso, Mick Schumacher, Alain Prost, Charles Leclerc (who will be the voice on the radio to Lewis Hamilton at the Ferrari F1 team next season. Hamilton was recently spotted with a Mille watch. – AutoCrat), Simon Pagenaud, Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, and retired Formula One driver, now broadcaster Martin Brundle, who does the best pit walk and commentary in all of Motorsports,
*AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.