Ford Racing has confirmed it will manage its upcoming FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar program internally, bringing operations fully in-house ahead of the manufacturer’s 2027 debut in the series.
The decision ends months of speculation about whether Ford would partner with an external racing team to operate its new ORECA-based LMDh prototype. Instead, Ford Racing will run the program itself, led by Program Manager Dan Sayers, with operations split between facilities in the United States and the United Kingdom.
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“Keeping with our core values, our Hypercar program will be operated by Ford Racing,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Racing. “This gives us the ability to react more quickly on track and enhance our competitiveness. It also allows us to bring technology back to our road cars more effectively than ever before.”
The move marks a departure from Ford’s traditional motorsport approach. Previous factory efforts were run by external partners such as Multimatic Motorsports — which currently fields Ford Mustang GT3s in IMSA — and Chip Ganassi Racing, which operated Ford’s GT Le Mans program from 2016 to 2019.
By running the WEC operation in-house, Ford aims to strengthen its long-term racing infrastructure and technical expertise. “We are not looking outside our walls,” Rushbrook said. “We’re building a team that reflects Ford Racing’s passion and culture — driven to be the best.”
To prepare for the program’s launch, Ford is actively recruiting engineers, technicians, and race personnel across its global facilities in Dearborn, Charlotte, and the UK. The project will also receive support from ORECA, which supplies the chassis, and UK-based Venture Engineering, which will provide additional technical expertise.
The 2027 WEC campaign will mark Ford’s first Hypercar entry and a return to top-tier endurance racing under its own banner. “It is a privilege to be racing as America’s Race Team,” Rushbrook added. “There’s no one better to carry the Blue Oval into the highest level of sports car racing than Ford Racing itself.”
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