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Ford Weighing Le Mans Return

The Blue Oval was a dominant figure of endurance racing back in the 1960s, when it dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times with the Ford GT40. Despite this remarkable streak, the American manufacturer didn't enjoy any other remarkable success in the World Sportscar Championship or the FIA World Endurance Championship. But that may change…
1966 Ford GT40 Endurance Racer 1 photo
Photo: Ford
…sooner than fans of the Blue Oval might have expected. According to inside info gathered by Marshall Pruett and published by racer.com, Ford is weighing a return to the grueling French endurance race that it had dominated from 1966 to 1969. Even though the automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan is currently channeling its motorsport efforts especially in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, sources hint at a possible 2016 - 2017 comeback to the Circuit de la Sarthe.

If all comes to fruition and the source is correct, than Ford might provide a winning follow-up to the 2011 effort at Le Mans, when a set of privateer GTs were entered. Of course, the Blue Oval hasn't declared anything official in this regard, but its racing public relations director claimed to Pruett that we should "stay tuned for the official announcement, because I would have flatly denied this if it was BS." Don't know about you, but that reply has a more than certain whiff of "expect great things to come" to it, so keep them fingers crossed, ok?

Lamentably, Ford has slim chances of competing in the king-of-the-hill LM P1 class against Audi, Porsche and Toyota, 'cause this level of competition requires a helluva lot of money for developing a competitive hybrid powertrain, among other stuff. But if an EcoBoost V6 borrowed from the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Daytona Prototype racer might find its way under the bonnet of the finished product next to an electrical motor and a battery pack, then we're looking at a LM P2 effort, also known as the "little prototype" class.

LM P2-spec racing cars have similar characteristics to the ones competing in the top-tier LM P1 class, including the carbon fiber monocoque chassis, all while respecting very strict cost controls: chassis cost is capped at € 370,000; engine cost is capped at €80,350, fuel volume is limited at 75 liters for turbocharged cars and the racecar must weigh at least 900 kilos. If Ford officials give the green light to the P2 development program and if the automaker does well in 2016 or 2017, then maybe we can hope for an LM P1 Ford racer as soon as 2020.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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