Ford Eyes Top-Tier Le Mans 24 Hours Return In 2027

American carmaker Ford officially announced its plans to return to top-tier endurance racing in 2027, and it is eyeing up overall victory at the famed Le Mans 24 Hours.

Earlier this week, American carmaking giant Ford officially announced plans to return to top-tier endurance racing. Specifically, the Blue Oval marque is eyeing up a return to the famed Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race in 2027, and it seeks to reclaim overall glory.

In its announcement, the automaker confirmed that it plans to enter and compete in the LMDh prototype class. This also means that the automaker will compete in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) series in 2027 – the famed Le Mans 24 Hours is held as part of which.

Ford famously took a 1-2-3 victory at Le Mans in 1966 - its first of four that included the 67, 68 and 69 events - where it dethroned reigning champions Ferrari.

Racing fans will remember that Ford famously won the renowned 24-hour racing event four times consecutively from 1966 to 1969, beating past champions Ferrari here – and the events of which inspired the star-studded Ford v Ferrari (Le Mans ’66) film released in 2019.

After that, Ford hasn’t clinched an overall Le Mans victory. The marque did however return and competed in the production-based GT class in more recent times, culminating with its GTLM class win in the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours using a Ford GT.

Ford's last big win at Le Mans came in 2016 when it won the production-based GTLM class using its Ford GT.

“When we race, we race to win. And there is no track or race that means more to our history than Le Mans. It is where we took on Ferrari and won in the 1960s,” said Ford’s executive chairman Bill Ford via an official press release issued by the firm detailing this new endeavour.

Devised as a more cost-effective competition format versus top-level racing formulas, LMDh prototypes are also eligible to race across both the IMSA WeatherTech series and WEC. Presently, automakers competing here include Acura, Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Lamborghini, and Porsche. 

Current generation Ford Mustang is GT class specification.

Additionally, in both series, LMDh prototypes race against cars built to the equal yet rivalling FIA's Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) ruleset. Amongst the LMH ranks are reigning Le Mans champions Ferrari, Peugeot, Toyota, several privateers, and soon, Aston Martin.

Given its history, perhaps the Blue Oval marque’s return to Le Mans by 2027 was somewhat expected. Above all, it should also complement the firm’s equally high-profile re-entry into Formula 1 (F1) racing through  its partnership  with reigning champions Red Bull Racing.