Ford returns to Le Mans in 2016 with an all-new GT
2016 Ford GT. Photos courtesy Ford Motor Company.
In 1966, Ford GT40s swept the podium at Le Mans, signaling to Ferrari that its era of dominance in endurance racing was officially over. GT40s delivered victories at the Circuit de la Sarthe from 1967-’69 as well, but by 1970 the cars were no longer competitive against Porsche’s 917. To mark the 50th anniversary of its 1966 first-second-third finish at Le Mans, Ford has announced that its new Ford GT will return to Le Mans in 2016, in a factory-backed LM GTE Pro class effort managed by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.
While hardly a surprise to anyone who’s followed the launch of the new Ford GT supercar, the move does indicate a shift in focus from Ford’s last GT, launched in 2004. A total of 4,038 examples of the company’s halo supercar were built between 2004 and 2006, but no race version was ever developed by the factory (though privateer teams did campaign highly modified versions of the Ford GT at Le Mans in 2010 and 2011 with little success).
The new Ford GT will race at far more than Le Mans in 2016. Current plans have the cars running the full schedule of the FIA World Endurance Championship (likely to be eight races, including Le Mans) plus the full 13-race schedule of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The season will open for the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team in January, with the 24 Hours of Daytona. Counting both series, four cars will be campaigned, with driver announcements expected in the coming weeks.
The GT40 Mk I debuts at Le Mans in 1964. Richard Attwood and Jo Schlesser, in car 12, completed just 58 laps before retiring.
Unlike the Ford GT40s, which relied upon normally aspirated 7.0-liter (427-cu.in.) V-8s in 1966-’67 and 4.9-liter (299-cu.in.) V-8s in 1968 and ’69, the 2016 Ford GT will be powered by a turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6, developed with performance partner Roush Yates Engines. The 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine has already seen its share of competition, as it’s powered several entries in the TUDOR United SportsCar Series since the 2014 season.
GT40s finish 1-2-3 at Le Mans in 1966.
Of the official announcement that Ford will return to Le Mans on the 50th anniversary of its podium sweep, executive chairman Bill Ford said, “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. 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.”
A cutaway drawing of the 1967 GT40 Mk II.
Will that spirit, and a massive R&D effort in the coming months, be enough to deliver a victory at Le Mans in 2016? If history is any indicator, the answer is “probably not.” Ford’s GT40 Mk I, then powered by a 4.2-liter (256-cu.in.) V-8, debuted at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, where none of the three factory-backed cars finished the race. In 1965, despite soliciting help from Carroll Shelby (who created the 427 V-8 powered Mk II), none of the five GT40s entered completed more than 89 laps. Only in the car’s third year did it have both the speed and stamina needed to win the race and enter the history books, albeit in a rather spectacular fashion.
The GT40 Mk I driven by Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver heads to victory in 1969.
Modern racing relies far more on computer modeling than on trial and error testing, but few events in motor racing are as taxing as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Can Ford repeat its podium sweep on the golden anniversary of the event? We’ll find out in June of 2016.