Ford has signed Matt Campbell, Nick Yelloly and Tom Blomqvist for its entry into the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship in 2027.
They be a part of the beforehand introduced trio of Mike Rockenfeller, Sebastian Priaulx and Logan Sargeant, with your complete six-strong driver line-up current for the official announcement on Friday on the eve of this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
All three of the American model’s latest signings carry a wealth of expertise in prototype equipment. Each Campbell and Blomqvist have received total titles in IMSA, whereas Yelloly’s CV consists of GTP race wins with each BMW and Acura and an LMP2 victory at Le Mans.
Ford was capable of poach the trio from rival producers amid structural modifications to their motorsport programmes.
Each Yelloly and Blomqvist make the change from Honda’s luxurious model Acura, whose GTP mission within the IMSA SportsCar Championship shall be “paused” on the finish of the 12 months.
Campbell, in the meantime, will transfer throughout from Porsche, which pulled out of Hypercar on the finish of 2025 however continues to race within the GTP class. The reigning champion was demoted to an endurance-only position this 12 months as Porsche re-accommodated Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor from its former WEC workforce into IMSA.
“Having Matt, Nick and Tom on board early is an enormous enhance,” mentioned Ford’s Hypercar chief Dan Sayers.
“Their mixed suggestions within the simulator and through our upcoming testing phases throughout Europe shall be important as we transition from the digital world to the monitor. All of them have a confirmed monitor file of extracting efficiency from brand-new platforms and offering the exact technical suggestions wanted to refine our in-house developed management methods.”
Dan Sayers, Ford Hypercar Program Supervisor
Picture by: Ford Efficiency
Ford is anticipated to roll out its as-yet-unnamed LMDh prototype in August, forward of the beginning of subsequent season in March 2027.
The Blue Oval has partnered with ORECA, one of many 4 licensed LMP2 producers, for the event of the chassis, following within the footsteps of Acura, Alpine and Genesis.
The automotive shall be powered by a 5.4-litre naturally-aspirated Coyote engine developed by Ford in Dearborn, clubbed with a spec-hybrid system, whereas the operational facet of the workforce may even be managed in-house by the corporate.
Ford mentioned additional information concerning the driver pairings and the automotive’s official title shall be revealed at a later date.
Ford already has a presence within the WEC, with Proton Competitors getting into a pair of Mustang GT3 Evos on a buyer foundation within the LMGT3 class.
The LMDh mission marks Ford’s first manufacturing unit try at outright Le Mans glory because the ill-fated C100 Group C effort in 1982.
It dominated the French endurance basic within the late Sixties, scoring 4 consecutive wins with numerous iterations of the GT40s.
It scored its most up-to-date class win in 2016, with the manufacturing unit Chip Ganassi workforce triumphing in GTE Professional with the then-new Ford GT.
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