Ford will race its GT40 supercar at Le Mans
Ford has made it official: a Ford GT race car will race in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, a fitting celebration of the 50th anniversary of the automaker's first win with the GT40 at the prestigious endurance race.
Ford's return to racing also includes the Tudor United SportsCar Championship.
Executive Chairman Bill Ford, CEO Mark Fields and Raj Nair, head of global product development. made the announcement today in France on the eve of this weekend's Le Mans race.
The Ford GT race car will run the full 2016 schedules of the FIA World Endurance Championship and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, making its competition debut in January 2016 in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Florida.
The two Ford teams will be operated by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS). Both series teams intend to compete with four cars at Le Mans.
At this morning's press event, which was live-streamed globally, Ganassi said he started talking to Ford in 2013 and he really wants to win.
Drivers are not being announced yet, but they are lining up outside the door, Ganassi said.
Ford first showed the 2016 Ford GT in January at the North American International Auto Show and said the super car would go on sale in late 2016. It has a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V-6 engine with unique turbos, cams, pistons and rods to generate more than 600 horsepower.
Pricing has not been announced for the mid-engine street car but it is expected to be about $400,000.
Since its debut, speculation has been rampant that it is the street legal requirement for Ford to get back into racing with a modern GT. And the timing was aligned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the GT40 taking the 1-2-3 spots in 1966, a feat that Ford executives say instilled racing DNA into the company and has stamped development ever since.