24h Le Mans
This was not a shot in the dark. The Ford Hypercar’s first kilometres come after months of work on the engine, simulator and honing Ford Racing team procedures. Their journey to the 95th 24 Hours of Le Mans on 9–13 June 2027 has begun.
A Hypercar leaving the workshop for the first time, plus six drivers aiming for the same project goal amount to over 1,000 kilometres in three days. To an outsider, the Ford Hypercar’s first date at the Paul Ricard circuit may seem like the beginning. In fact, it’s the culmination of months of preparation. To get the car track ready, Ford Racing spent many hours working on the engine in the dyno cell in Dearborn, making sure the car would be operational from the outset. The first outing may be the first chapter, but there was a prelude to the story of Ford’s journey to the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship to take on Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Genesis, McLaren, Peugeot and Toyota.
A race car doesn’t come into being when it leaves the pit lane. The Ford Hypercar was a reality long before it entered the track at the Paul Ricard circuit.
A few weeks earlier, the 5.4-litre V8 naturally aspirated engine, developed in-house, was fired up for the first time in France. The American manufacturer worked alongside chassis builder Oreca to integrate the powertrain, while fleshing out its sporting programme in view of its FIA World Endurance Championship entry in 2027.
All that remained was to test the car on a real circuit.
Dan Sayers, WEC Hypercar Program Manager at Ford Racing sums up the philosophy: ‘Reaching Paul Ricard and getting the car through its shakedown and three full days of running is exactly the milestone we set out to hit. Everything we did in the buildup – the dyno work in Dearborn, the fire-up in France, the countless hours in the sim – was about making sure that when we rolled out onto the track, we were ready to be plug and play.’
It was important to know as much as possible about the car’s behaviour before the first outing, so as to gather precious data from lap one. This next phase is all about learning.
The team at Ford Racing were able to see the results of their work in real conditions at the Paul Ricard circuit. Engineers gathered data, drivers got familiar with the Hypercar’s behaviour and the team checked that the project elements hung together correctly.
For an entirely new programme it’s essential to begin turning laps into learning. Logan Sargeant, one of the six drivers in the programme, knows that as well as anyone. ‘Kicking off a new programme always takes time – you’re figuring out how all the pieces fit together, and we’re still working through that,’ explains the American. ‘That said, we really hit the ground running.’
Indeed, the team left nothing to chance. ‘Starting testing from where we did is a huge credit to the team. There have already been countless hours poured into this project, including a ton of time in the simulator, so we’ve had a massive head start. Now it’s about making sure everything comes together flawlessly, and that’s the next step for us.’
That’s where the first kilometres are precious. Data gathered on track can be reworked in simulation. Behaviour observed by a driver can give engineers new indications. Noticed early on, a little glitch can be ironed out and avoid bigger problems further down the line. Every lap becomes a piece of a huge puzzle that Ford is piecing together.
A less visible element of the first outing is nonetheless important: teamwork. The programme isn’t just a car, it’s a group of people.
All six drivers were at Paul Ricard. Sebastian Priaulx, Mike Rockenfeller and Logan Sargeant were already announced as playing a part in the Hypercar’s development. The three others brought their experience too.
Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Racing: ‘The fact that all six of our drivers were on hand, working together and pushing this programme forward, tells you everything about the spirit we’re building at Ford Racing.’
Building. The watchword. For Ford is not just entering two cars in 2027. The American brand is back at the highest level of endurance racing with the aim of reclaiming overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With four wins to date (1966–1969), the manufacturer is counting on the Hypercar to be reacquainted with the Le Mans trophy after a sixty-year hiatus.
Yet there’s a world of difference between the Ford GT40 and today’s car. Technology has changed, cars are not the same and endurance racing has undergone profound transformation. One thing remains: the idea that Le Mans requires preparation to match the size of the challenge.
The three-day test was one of the first stages on an arduous journey. At Ford Racing, everyone knows the finish line is a long way off.
‘There’s a long list of milestones still ahead of us before Q1 2027, but these past couple of weeks has given the team a lot of confidence and strong foundations to build on,’ says Dan Sayers.
The schedule is packed. After the first outing, the Hypercar development programme continues on other circuits and environments, to cover plenty of ground before the car’s maiden race. The test phase spans three continents, and that’s before the first FIA WEC race.
‘Every mile we put on this car brings us closer to Le Mans, and closer to reclaiming our place at the top of endurance racing,’ says Mark Rushbrook, summing up the aim of the pre-competition preparation.
For the moment, Ford are not playing to win. There are no chequered flags involved yet. However, in the data recorded at Paul Ricard, in the sensations felt by the drivers and in the thousands of elements analysed by the engineers, there is already a taste of the Ford Hypercar as it will be on the morning of 13 June 2027.
