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Ford GT Goes Racing At Le Mans In 2016

Justin Hyde
·Managing Editor

Ford GT Goes Racing At Le Mans In 2016

Ever since the reveal of the new Ford GT supercar at the Detroit auto show in January, the smart money has been on Ford using its new star to re-enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race the original Ford GT40s won four years in a row from 1966 to 1969. Today, Ford finally made it official — with its biggest racing launch since Carroll Shelby set out to beat Enzo Ferrari 50 years ago.

Ford Chairman Bill Ford revealed the Ford GT race car today outside the Le Mans course, based on but not identical to the twin-turbo V-6-powered supercar that Ford will begin building for customers next year.

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“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,” said Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford. “We are still extremely proud of having won this iconic race four times in a row.”

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Since the era when Ford last competed at Le Mans, the breadth of technology and racing on display has exploded. The front-running prototype teams from Porsche, Audi and Toyota will spend tens of millions of dollars in their efforts, with complex hybrid power trains. In the GT classes, manufacturer-backed teams from Porsche, Chevrolet, Ferrari and others must race cars that are similar to their road-going counterparts; in some cases, the race versions run at reduced horsepower to the road cars in order to keep teams competitive.

The Ford GT will compete in the GTE-Pro class, running a full season of endurance races starting with the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in February, with the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team managing the program. Ford says it will have four GTs in the 2016 Le Mans field, and given the experience in running EcoBoost-powered race cars, the GT should be a competitor from the start. Whether it does as well as its ancestor will be the big story a year from now. Click the video below for Ford’s own promotion, and a little nod to its Ferrari-beating history at the end.