Insight: Why the Timing is Right for Ford's Hypercar Entry
Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook on taking the brand to the top class of the FIA World Endurance Championship...
From NASCAR to Australian Supercars to its upcoming re-entry into Formula 1, Ford is arguably the most active manufacturer in motorsport worldwide these days. And January’s announcement that the Blue Oval will enter top-level prototype competition with a Hypercar program in the FIA World Endurance Championship solidified its stance as having the most diverse racing portfolio.
Eleven years after winning the GTE-Pro class in its return to Le Mans on the 50th anniversary of its first overall triumph in the French endurance classic, Ford will actually be pursuing another outright win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its yet-to-be-named LMDh prototype.
According to Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook, the decision to green-light a top-flight prototype program for the WEC beginning in 2027 was more about timing than anything else.
"If you look at our motorsports strategy with where we're racing, with what we have for products on the road, and trying to link everything together, what we've shown is with our four quadrants, four pillars with Formula 1 racing, we own off-road, with our electric racing demonstrators, and racing Mustang everywhere,” says Rushbrook.
"Hypercar/LMDh doesn't necessarily fit into Mustangs or any of the other quadrants either. But for us it's actually an extension of racing Mustangs everywhere.
"Last year, when we were launching and competing for the first time with Mustang GT3, the new Mustang GT4, the Dark Horse R, that's working great for us… The opportunity to race as a factory in IMSA with GTD Pro, to race with Proton [Competition] as a customer team in LMGT3 in WEC. We've now got cars racing all around the world, selling those cars, GT3s, GT4s, Dark Horse Rs.
"It's not like we were looking for more to do but it was, 'OK, what is the next chapter? How do we continue building that momentum?' There's still a lot more to do in GT3, GT4, Dark Horse R, especially the Dark Horse R, to have more Mustang Challenge and Mustang Cups globally beyond just the U.S.”