Ford Wants to Compete for Overall Victory at Le Mans

Ford wants to compete for the overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – depending on the rules. 

Ford’s executive vice president and president of Ford North America, Raj Nair says common prototype rules between IMSA and the FIA could entice the company to compete for overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Discussions are already happening regarding a new set of World Endurance Championship regulations due for 2021, which could see LMP1 sharing a common platform with the next generation of DPi machines.

Nair told the company could be interested in a factory prototype program if a unified global platform happens.

“I think the global aspect of it is going to be important for a lot of manufacturers, but particularly for Ford. We’d really like to see something that’s more common between IMSA and WEC. It’s just the obvious opportunity.

SEE ALSO: Special Edition Ford GT Pays Tribute to Le Mans Winner

“When we talk about affordability, I think the organizers can’t just look at their series in isolation. If you were to look across series and think about what that’s going to do for participation and budget efficiency and getting more cars on the grid and all of that.

“It’s difficult to do, but it’s kind of an obvious solution we’d like more work on, to get to that common IMSA, WEC, ACO, FIA view.”

Ford is committed to running a pair of GTs in both the WEC and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship through the 2019 seasons and Nair said the company would consider a similar arrangement with a prototype program if the technical flexibility is there.

“Obviously the GTLM and GTE is close and we’ve seen what that’s done,” he said. “It’s allowed us to bring four cars to Le Mans, which was well-received. I think there’s a very similar opportunity in prototype, for P1 to have a set of rules that are global, that we can race in both series together, that’s affordable.”