Ford announced on Friday its return to the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2027 in the premier Hypercar category with a prototype which will compete in the World Auto Endurance Championship (WEC). The great-grandson of Henry Ford,

In the year that will mark six decades since Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt won the race in a GT40 Mk. IV, Ford is headed back to the world's greatest sports car race. Not just with a GT car, but with an LMDh-spec prototype, competing in the top class for the overall win.

The Blue Oval brand will field a full factory FIA WEC team to try and capture its first outright win in nearly six decades.

Ford is gearing up to take on the likes of Cadillac, Ferrari, and Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship, whose blue-ribbon race is Le Mans.

After the 1960s, Ford exited from the top-tier prototype class and competed in production-focused class racing around the world. In 2016, it won the Le Mans GT class with a mid-engine GT, and then finished second in the GT class last year with the debut of its Mustang GT3.

Ford will develop a new top-tier sports car to compete for overall victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance Championship Hypercar class from 2027 onwards, aiming to continue where its G

Determined to defeat the Italian marque after several failed attempts in the years prior, Ford developed the GT40 and, together with customer teams, entered multiple examples in the 1966 race. The cars driven to the historic win were a trio of GT40 Mk IIs, and one of those went up for auction in 2018, finally selling for $9.8 million.

Ford first entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in 1964, debuting the now legendary GT40 race car. Up against fierce competition from Ferrari, the GT40 soon became a raging success, going on to claim four consecutive outright victories between 1966 and 1969.

Ford announced plans Thursday to enter an LMDh prototype in the World Endurance Championship in 2027, taking the American manufacturer back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the top category of sports car racing.

Ford is returning to the top flight of endurance racing in 2027, in a bid to recreate its 1960s Le Mans success. The carmaker has confirmed it will compete in the LMDh (Le Mans Daytona) class of the World Endurance Championship (WEC),