Ford has signed Matt Campbell, Nick Yelloly and Tom Blomqvist for its entry into the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship in 2027.
They join the previously announced trio of Mike Rockenfeller, Sebastian Priaulx and Logan Sargeant, with the entire six-strong driver line-up present for the official announcement on Friday at the eve of this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
All three of the American brand’s newest signings bring a wealth of experience in prototype machinery. Both Campbell and Blomqvist have won overall titles in IMSA, while Yelloly’s CV includes GTP race wins with both BMW and Acura and an LMP2 victory at Le Mans.
Ford was able to poach the trio from rival manufacturers amid structural changes to their motorsport programmes.
Both Yelloly and Blomqvist make the switch from Honda’s luxury brand Acura, whose GTP project in the IMSA SportsCar Championship will be “paused” at the end of the year.
Campbell, meanwhile, will move across from Porsche, which pulled out of Hypercar at the end of 2025 but continues to race in the GTP class. The reigning champion was demoted to an endurance-only role this year as Porsche re-accommodated Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor from its former WEC team into IMSA.
Matt Campbell, Nick Yelloly and Tom Blomqvist, Ford Racing
Photo by: Ford
“Having Matt, Nick and Tom on board early is a massive boost,” said Ford’s Hypercar chief Dan Sayers.
“Their combined feedback in the simulator and during our upcoming testing phases across Europe will be vital as we transition from the virtual world to the track. They all have a proven track record of extracting performance from brand-new platforms and providing the precise technical feedback needed to refine our in-house developed control systems.”
Ford is expected to roll out its as-yet-unnamed LMDh prototype in August, ahead of the start of next season in March 2027.
The Blue Oval has partnered with ORECA, one of the four licensed LMP2 manufacturers, for the development of the chassis, following in the footsteps of Acura, Alpine and Genesis.
The car will be powered by a 5.4-litre naturally-aspirated Coyote engine developed by Ford in Dearborn, clubbed with a spec-hybrid system, while the operational side of the team will also be managed in-house by the company.
Ford said further info about the driver pairings and the car’s official name will be revealed at a later date.
Dan Sayers, Ford
Photo by: Ford
Ford already has a presence in the WEC, with Proton Competition entering a pair of Mustang GT3 Evos on a customer basis in the LMGT3 class.
The LMDh project marks Ford’s first factory attempt at outright Le Mans glory since the ill-fated C100 Group C effort in 1982.
It dominated the French endurance classic in the late 1960s, scoring four consecutive wins with various iterations of the GT40s.
It scored its most recent class win in 2016, with the factory Chip Ganassi team triumphing in GTE Pro with the then-new Ford GT.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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