It has been half a century since Ford dominated the 24 hours of Le Mans with the GT40. We knew that a racing version of the new Ford GT was in the works, but in a press release issued today, they announced their intentions to run the entire 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship and the Tudor United SportsCar Championship.
That is a very bold move for any new car, so they are partnering with Chip Ganassi Racing and Felix Sabates, with each team fielding four cars. Several teams have already proven the reliability and power of the twin turbo 3.5-liter V6 in Daytona prototypes and we look forward to hearing it scream down the Mulsanne Straight.
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“Ford remains focused on three priorities globally – accelerating our One Ford plan, delivering product excellence with passion and driving innovation in every part of our business,” said Mark Fields, Ford Motor Company president and CEO, in the release. “All three came together to create the new Ford GT. We also know from our rich history in motorsports that world-class competition is a great incubator for even further product innovation.”
The new GT Le Mans race car features quite a few innovations that Ford is hoping will take it to the top. This includes the obvious aerodynamic optimizations, lightweight construction and efficiency and power of the EcoBoost engine.
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On being a part of the Ford GT’s return to Le Mans, team owner Ganassi stated, “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.”
Stay tuned to Autofluence for more GT and Ford news.
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(Source: Ford)
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