The World Endurance Championship is set to boast an enviable roster of manufacturers in 2027 after Ford announced it will return to the series’ top class.
Ford is targeting its fifth outright win at the Le Mans 24 Hours, having triumphed in the race four years in a row in the sixties with its GT40, as depicted in a 2019 film. It enjoyed its last class win with its GT car in 2016 and pulled out of the series three years later.
The announcement follows that of another carmaking giant, Hyundai, which last month confirmed details of its plans to enter WEC next year with its Genesis brand. Following the departures of Audi-owned Lamborghini and niche brand Isotta Fraschini from the series last year, WEC can look forward to having 10 major manufacturers at its races in 2027.
Ford and Genesis will join Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Toyota, Peugeot and Renault-owned Alpine.
Bill Ford announced the company’s plans at a Ford Performance event yesterday. “There’s no track or race that means more to us than Le Mans,” he said.
“It’s where we took on Ferrari in the 1960s and beat them four times in a row. Then we went back 50 years later and we beat them again. And that was one of the great days in my career was in 2016 when we did that after 50 years.
“Tonight, I’m really happy to announce we’re going back to Le Mans, back to win. But not only the class, this time to win it all, because I’m announcing that in 2027 Ford will be competing with a new prototype LMDh.”
Ford is due to return to F1 next year as part of Red Bull’s new powertrains division. They will face at least five other manufacturers in grand prix racing: Ferrari, Mercedes, Audi, Honda and Alpine. Cadillac also has an agreement in principle to join F1 next year.
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