Ford is setting up an in-house race team based in the UK to run its Hypercar programme in the World Endurance Championship from 2027.
The USA manufacturer announced on Thursday that the race programme with a new LMDh developed together with ORECA will be operated by Ford Racing rather than in partnership with an independent team.
Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Racing, said: “Breaking from the traditional model of many manufacturers – and often our own model in the past – Ford Racing will oversee and manage every aspect of our prototype sportscar racing project.
“We are not looking outside our walls to find who can run a programme for us; we are looking within Ford Racing to build our programmes infused with our passion.
“At Ford Racing, competition runs through our veins and, as ‘America’s Race Team’, it seems only right that we carry the banner ourselves.”
Rushbrook added that the move “gives us the ability to react more quickly on track, enhancing our competitiveness” and “allows us to bring technology back to our road cars more effectively and efficiently than ever before”.
Ford has confirmed that the race team will be based in the UK at a new facility in Banbury.
Witney-based motorsport consultancy group Venture Engineering will provide what it called “technical and operational support”.
Dan Sayers, Ford Hypercar Program Manager
Photo by: Ford Performance
The new team will be masterminded by Dan Sayers, who was announced as the LMDh programme manager at the Le Mans 24 Hours WEC round in June.
It will utilise all the global resources under the Ford Racing banner, including its US facilities in Dearborn, Michigan and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Red Bull Ford Powertrains, which is developing the new Ford-badged Formula 1 engine that will come on stream next season, was also name checked.
Rushbrook highlighted the challenges of going it alone in running its new LMDh, which is being developed in conjunction with ORECA Motorsport in France.
“Between now and the 2027 WEC season opening round, we will need to not only build the car itself but every part of the team as well,” he said.
“Every role needs to be filled and that is no small task because we aren’t just filling the positions, we are building a team culture which mirrors that of Ford Racing: passionate and driven by a need to be the best.”
He explained that Ford is already “speaking to top development engineers and technicians to staff our testing and race programmes”.
Red Bull Ford Powertrains
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Ford announced its decision to enter the Hypercar ranks with an LMDh in 2027 at the end of January this year.
It subsequently confirmed at Le Mans in June that it had partnered with ORECA to develop the car, as well as the recruitment of Sayers.
The Briton was brought in from Red Bull, where he was latterly head of the powertrain division set up in 2021 to take over development of the Honda F1 engine, and previously worked for Prodrive on its Aston Martin Racing programmes.
He headed up development of the Vantage GTE and GT3 racers that came on stream respectively in 2018 and ’19.
Ford has yet to confirm the configuration of the internal combustion element of the LMDh powerplant, only that it will be developed in-house.
It has, however, dropped heavy hints that it will be naturally-aspirated rather than a turbocharged engine.
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