Le Mans 1969, take two: Ford mulls hybrid hypercar to rival Ferrari

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 05:00:46 +0000
Automotive

Ford's campaign to dominate global motorsport could bring a GT40 successor for endurance racing

Ford is considering fielding a hybrid hypercar in the top class of world endurance racing, which could see it go toe to toe with Ferrari for all-out victory at Le Mans for the first time since 1969.

Since the original GT40 bowed out, Ford has not been represented in the upper echelons of sports car racing (except for the ill-fated C100 of the early 1980s), but now as the firm dramatically enhances its focus on motorsport, a return to the front of the grid at La Sarthe is possible.

That’s according to Mark Rushbrook, global director of the Ford Performance motorsport division, who has told Autocar that the firm is “constantly studying or looking at where we can race, or should race”.

With entries in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) GT3 class, the Dakar Rally, the World Rally Championship, Nascar, Australian Supercars and Pikes Peak, plus a return to Formula 1 with Red Bull in 2026, Ford Performance is already “competing in more places than any other manufacturer”, Rushbrook said.

But Ford – unlike Toyota, Ferrari, Peugeot, Lamborghini, Alpine, Cadillac, Porsche, BMW and others – does not currently compete in either the Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) or Le Mans Daytona h (LMDh) prototype classes.

Asked if the company would consider adding a hypercar to its motorsport portfolio, Rushbrook told Autocar: “To be responsible for what we're chartered to do, we need to be aware of all opportunities.”

He cited the growing visibility and competitiveness of endurance racing, plus the FIA’s decision to allow LMH and LMDh cars to race together, as particular incentives that could spark Ford’s return to top-flight endurance racing.

“Motorsports is very strong, overall, globally, and all different disciplines - they're all strong. But I think, relatively, sports car racing in these last three years has really come on, and a lot of that is because of global convergence.

“GTE and GT LM converged with GT3 – so now we've got one focus for GT racing, which helped us make sense out of having the Mustang GT3 – and the same at prototype [level], which has not truly converged in many ways, because there's still the LMdH formula, or the LMH formula, but at least there's the ability to race them together, so that convergence has been great.”

Rushbrook did not say whether Ford would be more likely to opt for LMDh – which mandates manufacturers must use a high proportion of off-the-shelf components, including a specific electric motor arrangement and a chassis supplied by one of four licensed constructors – or LMH, which allows a much greater degree of design and engineering freedom.

"You look at the number of manufacturers involved in it, and some choose LMDh while some choose LMH. So yeah, of course, we're looking at it, but that doesn't mean we're going to tell you what we’ll do," said Rushbrook.

Ford revealed the P1 hypercar in 2020 as a futuristic, virtual GT racer to take part in online esports racing series. The brand has never voiced any plans to build a running version, but did later build a full-scale concept that could give clues to how a track-bound Ford hypercar might look.

Asked if he would like to see a reprieve of Ford’s successful campaign to beat Ferrari at Le Mans in the 1960s, Rushbrook said only: "We raced them at Le Mans this year and we'll race them again," he said, referring to the Mustang taking on the Ferrari 296 in the GT3 category, but he stopped short of alluding to an ambition to bid for the outright win at La Sarthe.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, as a renowned motorsport fanatic and keen racing driver himself, is highly supportive of the company’s racing efforts, which, Rushbrook says, is a boon when it comes to obtaining sign-off for new programmes.

"Where it is easy is him understanding what motorsports is and what it takes to do it, and truly understanding the benefits from it. But he certainly holds us accountable from a business perspective - to do it in a responsible and sustainable way," said Rushbrook.

Farley himself has previously said such exploits will only get the green light if they are demonstrably commercially viable - which means Ford does not run motorsport teams itself. “We’ve stretched our racing to make a sustainable business,” Farley told Autocar recently. “In the past, we’ve sponsored people to help them become successful, but now we’ve launched a customer business.”

In line with Ford's other motorsport efforts, then, any hypercar programme would likely be run by a specialist motorsport outfit.

Indeed, Rushbrook highlighted that “everywhere we compete, we don't own a team”, suggesting this would also be true of any prototype effort.

Notably, Ford’s new Formula 1 partner, Red Bull, has just revealed its own hybrid hypercar – the V10-engined RB17 – and boss Christian Horner has hinted that a Le Mans entry isn’t off the table. Red Bull approached Ford about the project in the early stages of development, but it was deemed incompatible with the Blue Oval’s product strategy.

Rushbrook explained to Autocar why Ford Performance chose not to collaborate with Red Bull: "It was a case of: is there incremental benefit from doing it? Because when we had that discussion with Christian [Horner], we knew we were bringing the Ford GT MkIV to market, which is not quite an RB17, but it's a fantastic track-day car.

“So we felt our ambitions in that space were being met with the GT MkIV, and that's true to our heritage - for the most recent Ford GT, but also with a nod back to the original GT40."

While he acknowledged the possibility that Ford could take a hybrid hypercar to Le Mans, Rushbrook was less open to the prospect of the company participating in any pure-electric motorsport series in the near future.

He said Ford Performance’s electric vehicle strategy currently centres around headline-baiting, stand-alone demonstrator vehicles like the Supervan, F-150 Lightning Supertruck and Mustang Mach-E 1400, and there is no plan to adapt any of these for an EV racing programme.

“We have to see how things progress," said Rushbrook. "For us right now, given the success we're having with the demonstrators, is there any urgency for us to join a full-electric series? To be honest, there's not right now, but if one comes along that makes sense that we think meets our pillars, then we would certainly consider joining it.

"It's got to be genuine motorsport. And we don't want to force a change to the format. If suddenly you say the 24 Hours of Le Mans is going to go all-electric - well, that just doesn't make sense, because the technology doesn't support the format. And if you change it from the 24 Hours, it's no longer the 24 Hours..."