Ford (NYSE:F) To Field SuperCar A Le Mans In 2016
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) will return to endurance racing next year as it celebrates the 50th anniversary of its historic top-three sweep in the 1966 24 Hour of Le Mans.
The Detroit automaker confirmed that it will compete in the 2016 Le Mans race with a version of its GT SuperCar, which goes on sale next year in limited numbers.
“When the GT40 competed at Le Mans in the 1960s, Henry Ford II sought to prove Ford could beat endurance racing’s most legendary manufacturers,” Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chairman, said in a statement. “We are still extremely proud of having won this iconic race four times in a row, and that same spirit that drove the innovation behind the first Ford GT still drives us today.”
The GT race car will make its debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.
Two GT teams operated by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates will participate in the full Y 2016 schedules of the FIA World Endurance Championship and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The teams will enter 4 GTs in the Le Mans race, drivers to be announced later.
The GT, unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January, is the flagship of Ford’s new performance division, which will comprise 12 vehicles by Y 2020.
Running Le Mans in Y 2016 is no coincidence, coming as it does 50 yrs after Ford’s GT40 Mk. II won the world’s biggest sports-car race with Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon piloting the winning car.
They lead a GT40 sweep of the Top 3 finishing positions and capped Henry Ford II’s well-documented feud with Enzo Ferrari. Ford’s first Le Mans try was in Y 1923.
So as the new Ford GT supercar program gears up to battle the GTLM class’ (LM GTE Pro in WEC) Porsches, Chevys, Ferraris, Astons and BMWs globally, there is no better way for Ford to re-establish itself as a serious performance-car manufacturer.
And it a super way to celebrate 2016’s 50th anniversary of the company’s 1st Le Mans overall win.
Have a terrific weekend.
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
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