There are two ways to drive a World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar these days: be a very good race car driver and get hired by a team or write a very big check.
Ferrari’s 499P Modificata is a $5 million track day customer version of the car that won the last three 24 Hours of Le Mans races, and McLaren is about to unveil its new WEC hypercar and the MCL-HY GTR customer car it will sell alongside it starting next year.
Cars like these are arguably better than the competition versions because they are not subject to any racing or street regulations. In the case of the Ferraris, the WEC 499P is limited to 671 hp while the 499P Modificata’s powertrain cranks out 858 hp.
Ford is entering the WEC fray next year with a Hypercar and will be competing for top honors at Le Mans for the first time since the automaker’s last win in 1969, when it bowed out of the prototype class after four consecutive victories.
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Ford sells a track day car today based on the Ford GT supercar: the $1.7 million GT MK IV. It has a turbocharged V6 with more than 800 hp, generates up to two tons of downforce and just set the fastest lap time by an American car at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, which put it third on the overall list.
Ford is designing the LMDh-spec (Le Mans Daytona hybrid) car around an Oreca chassis with a V8 engine and a unique body. Givent the expense of the program, and the success it has had with the GT MK IV and GT MK II that preceded it, offering a multi-million track day version seems like it would be a good way to leverage the racing program and recoup some costs.
Ford Racing Global Director Mark Rushbrook was on a recent epsidode of American Cars And Racing’s The GAS podcast and was asked if a customer hypercar might be in the works.
“Transparently right now our focus is on the the factory car and making sure we get our our testing completed successfully this year, homologation, and that we’re ready to go racing in in 2027,” he said.
“It’s an incredibly important program for us and, again, a massive challenge, and doing so much of this work in house no, literally here in Dearborn, that’s where the engine design has been completed.”
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The engine is based on the 5.4-liter Coyote V8 that’s currently used by the Ford Mustang GT3 WEC and IMSA car.
“We have considered and will continue to consider whether a customer program makes sense,” Rushbrook contiunued. “Certainly nothing to announce at this point, but if and when it makes sense for us, just like you see us in customer racing with GT3, [Mustang] GT4 Darkhorse R, then of course we would be considering it for this.”
Rusbrook also discussed the new Nürburgring time set by the Mustang GTD Competition, Ford’s experience so far in Formula 1 with Red Bull and the Mustang Dark Horse SC that’s about to go on sale. You can find The GAS on your favorite podcast platform by clicking here to subscribe and listen to the full interview.
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