Confirmed: Ford to build new sports car, race it at Le Mans in 2016
Autoweek.com reports Ganassi Racing to field Le Mans effort, and two-car TUDOR Championship team.
Autoweek.com has confirmed what Motorsport.com reported last Tuesday: Ford will build a new sports car that debuts next month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
And Ford and Chip Ganassi's team will race the car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the company's podium sweep of the race in 1966 with the Ford GT40.
Autoweek.com wasn't able to confirm whether the new car will be called a GT40, or even the Ford GT, which was the name of the 2004 and 2005 model Ford sold commemorating the company's 100th birthday. But the story did say the new car won't be a "retro" throwback like the 2004 model was.
The story also didn't confirm the powertrain -- expected to be a V-8 or more likely a twin-turbo Ecoboost V-6 like the current Ganassi entry in the TUDOR United Sports Car Championship runs in the Daytona Prototype class.
Chip Ganassi Racing is expected to field a two-car GT-Le Mans entry for the entire TUSC season in 2016 as well as the Le Mans effort, with Scott Pruett and new team driver Joey Hand in the lead car.
The race car should debut on track at the 2016 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. The drivers of the other team car aren't known, but could be sourced indirectly from Multimatic, the Canadian company that is apparently leading the development of the new race car. There is also speculation that the car could be homologated later as a GT3, making it appealing to potential Ford Racing customers.
Ford has a press conference scheduled for Monday, January 12 at the Detroit show, and the FIA's World Endurance Championship has a press conference scheduled for the following day.
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About this article
| Series | Le Mans |
| Drivers | Scott Pruett , Joey Hand , Chip Ganassi |
| Teams | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Author | Steven Cole Smith |
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