Ford v Ferrari, Part 2: How Ford is prepping to win Le Mans. Again.

Car and drivers

Sayers’ influence is considerable. Unlike the ‘66 effort in which Ford built the cars, then contracted race prep to teams like that of Shelby American (Matt Damon played the charismatic Carrol Shelby in the movie) and Holman & Moody, the 2027 Le Mans effort flips the script.

Race prep is led in-house by Sayers (Ford is developing a raucous, hybrid, naturally aspirated, 5.4-liter V-8 powertrain**)** while the chassis has been outsourced to Oreca, which also makes chassis for Alpine and Genesis.

Ford WEC Hypercar driver Logan Sargeant is spending the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship as a driver in the GT3-class Ford Mustang. Imola, Italy April 15-18 2026.

“Ford would like the hypercar to represent the Ford aerodynamics and body shape,” smiled Sayers in reference to the GT40, one of Ford’s most iconic designs. “We have a lot of input from our (design) studio, so it's not just purely done from an Oreca aerodynamics perspective. Hopefully it represents a Ford and it doesn't look like an Oreca.”

Expect two Ford Hypercars (the modern prototypes class) at Le Mans next year, not eight.

The race cars are being built, said Sayers, with an official rollout in the south of France in the next 2-to-3 months. On-track testing will begin around July, followed by testing in the United States, culminating in a 30-hour endurance test early in the new year. First race? Likely Qatar in February 2027 as the WEC season gets underway. In 1966, the season started with the Daytona 24-Hour race in Florida, but Ford has not committed to North America’s IMSA Weathertech Series, only WEC.

Ford brought a who’s who of international talent to the 1966 fight, including American stars Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, and Mark Donahue. Expect a smaller, if still formidable, gang of six in 2027 — including ex-Formula One American driver Logan Sargeant.

“Being an American driver, having being around Ford cars growing up ... it's really cool to have the opportunity to win at Le Mans with Ford,” Sargeant, who is racing a Mustang in WEC’s GT3 class this year, said in an interview. “It’s definitely a huge privilege.”

Family passion

Another key area of continuity between the 1966 effort and 2027 is family. Henry Ford II’s determination to showcase the Blue Oval’s capability on the world stage has been handed down to a new generation of Fords passionate about motor racing: Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr., and his son, Will, general manager of Ford Racing.

Ford Racing is central to the brand’s identity and technical development. Its motorsports ambitions run from the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia to Formula One.

Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. (right) and son Will, general manager of Ford Racing, talk with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson (left) at Formula One series opener in Melbourne, Australia.

“We’re on the whole sports car pyramid from our Mustang challenge spec series in GT (racing) all the way up to Hypercar next year with our return for the overall win at Le Mans,” Will Ford said in an interview earlier this month at the Miami Grand Prix. “It's really important, for example, for Mustang in the sportscar category to stay relevant ... for another generation of Mustang fans. We are transitioning Mustang from an American muscle car to a global sportscar.”

Hybrid era

Will Ford works alongside Ford Racing Chief Mark Rushbrook, who says that developing the Oracle Red Bull and Racing Bulls F1 teams’ complex hybrid system has improved engineering learnings across the company.

In the 1960s, Ford’s naturally-aspirated, 3.0-liter V-8 Cosworth engines won four F1 championships. The Le Mans-winning, 7.0-liter Ford GT40 Mk II engines had more than double their displacement. Fast forward 60 years and F1 and Hypercars are both electrified — but in very different ways.

“We are able to share everything we've learned so far in Formula One with our Hypercar program,” said Rushbrook of F1’s 50-50 hybrid systems. “(It helps) with the calibration, the Hypercar tuning, and also (we’ll) put it directly into our road products as well.”

Rushbrook said drivers have embraced the 90-10 gas-electric split in the sportscar Hypercar class, while drivers have panned F1’s 50-50 system. Hypercar driver Sargeant concurred.

"You don't say no to Ford": Hugues de Chaunac meets the press after Ford CEO Jim Farley (far left) announced that Oreca will build the chassis for Ford's 2027 WEC Hypercar. Le Mans, France, June, 2025.

“I think everyone's been pretty happy” with Hypercar drivability, said Sargeant, adding that the Hypercars don’t require constant regeneration that has proved controversial in F1. “It's positive for me; it's nowhere near the extreme you're seeing in F1.”

He’s eager to test the new Oreca Hypercar chassis.

“I've spoken to many drivers with teams that have an Oreca-chassis Hypercar. (They say it has) similar drivability to an LMP2 car,” he said, referring to Hypercar’s junior LMP2 prototype class where Oreca chassis proliferate.

“You don't say no to Ford,” said Oreca president Hughes de Chaunac last year when Ford came knocking. “They are extremely hands-on and are very open to collaboration. They want to win.”

hpayne@detroitnews.com

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: How Ford is prepping to win Le Mans for first time in 60 years