Photo: Ford
This year, Ford is coming to the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with a new car and a fresh lineup of drivers, including three-time WTCC champion Andy Priaulx.
Priaulx is not new to the endurance series as he already won the Nurburgring 24 Hours, the Sebring 12 Hours and podiumed at Le Mans. He will be joined by German endurance driver Stefan Mucke, Frenchmen Olivier Pla and British Marino Franchitti in Ford’s new line-up with which they want to properly commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Ford GT40’s famous one-two-three result in 1966 at Le Mans.
The Ford Ganassi WEC team, based at the new motorsport headquarters of Multimatic, will follow a nine-race program in Europe, Asia, and the Middle-East, under the command of George Howard-Chappell, who has a broad experience in Le Mans, having led teams to three victories in this historic race.
As Dave Pericak, Ford Performance global director, recently stated, “To compete at this level you need the best car, the best team, and the best drivers.”
According to Autocar, Andy Priaulx made a sporting decision to join the team after he saw how much effort was being invested in this entire project.
The new Ford GT Le Mans will compete in the LM GTE Pro Category and will be powered by a 3.6-liter twin turbo V6 from Ford’s Ecoboost line-up, facing some fierce rivals such as the Ferrari 458 Italia, Porsche 911 RSR, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, or the Chevrolet Corvette C7R.
The car features new bodywork with improved aerodynamics, new lightweight carbon fiber elements, a light chassis, and also some minor components made using the 3d printing technique.
Ford’s race project was founded in the 1960s, after a story that every car enthusiast knows. Then company boss Henry Ford II wanted to buy Ferrari but failed to do so after it was rejected by Il Commendatore. A big rivalry was born, and Ford created the GT program to top Ferrari at Le Mans. After a few failures, the legendary GT40 won the iconic race in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969, and thus, a performance legend was born.
The Ford Ganassi WEC team, based at the new motorsport headquarters of Multimatic, will follow a nine-race program in Europe, Asia, and the Middle-East, under the command of George Howard-Chappell, who has a broad experience in Le Mans, having led teams to three victories in this historic race.
As Dave Pericak, Ford Performance global director, recently stated, “To compete at this level you need the best car, the best team, and the best drivers.”
According to Autocar, Andy Priaulx made a sporting decision to join the team after he saw how much effort was being invested in this entire project.
The new Ford GT Le Mans will compete in the LM GTE Pro Category and will be powered by a 3.6-liter twin turbo V6 from Ford’s Ecoboost line-up, facing some fierce rivals such as the Ferrari 458 Italia, Porsche 911 RSR, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, or the Chevrolet Corvette C7R.
The car features new bodywork with improved aerodynamics, new lightweight carbon fiber elements, a light chassis, and also some minor components made using the 3d printing technique.
Ford’s race project was founded in the 1960s, after a story that every car enthusiast knows. Then company boss Henry Ford II wanted to buy Ferrari but failed to do so after it was rejected by Il Commendatore. A big rivalry was born, and Ford created the GT program to top Ferrari at Le Mans. After a few failures, the legendary GT40 won the iconic race in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969, and thus, a performance legend was born.
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