Ford has just recently announced that they will be making a comeback to the historic pinnacle of endurance motorsport, the 24 Hours of Le Mans beginning next year with the reincarnation of a car that won the prestigious title four times from 1966 to 1969, the Ford GT – the very first car to help an American manufacturer win Le Mans.
Gone are the times that men sprinted to their machines in black and white with the roaring sound of a 7.0-litre V8 soundtracking the moment. These days, Le Mans cars are so much more technologically advanced as compared to the cars of yesteryear, employing diesel and hybrid technology. Take for example the all-new Ford GT that will be deployed to next year’s line up.
It features a 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6 mill that happens to be the most powerful EcoBoost production engine made to date. Ford hasn’t released specifics on the engine but it’s claimed to exceed 600 hp and has more torque than a naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 Boss engine. Without much fettering around, this block will power the race car in the upcoming championship that will be running in the LM GTE PRO Class.
Ford has had help from Multimatic Motorsports which tested and designed the race car. Roush Yates Engines and Castrol imparted their knowledge and technology onto the oily bits whilst Michelin, Forza Motorsport, Sparco and Brembo helped out in other aspects.
“We’ve won races and championships, but we’ve never run Le Mans,” team owner, Chip Ganassi said. With Fords 50th anniversary of the momentous win in 1966, they are gunning for the Le Mans championship title in 2016.
