Ford begins Le Mans Hypercar preparation on a virtual Circuit de la Sarthe

Ford’s Hypercar programme moves towards track testing

Ford is preparing to step from the LMGT3 category into the FIA World Endurance Championship’s top tier next year, joining partner Proton Competition with a clear target: to revive its Le Mans legacy while competing for world championship honours.

The project is approaching a crucial stage, with official testing of the Michigan-based manufacturer’s new Hypercar just days away. Before the prototype reaches the track, however, Ford has been using its Dearborn dyno to put the car’s in-house 5.4-litre, naturally aspirated Coyote V8 through an unusually demanding virtual test.

The dyno chamber has recreated an entire lap of the 13.626km Circuit de la Sarthe, allowing Ford to model every gear change, braking zone and full-throttle section in real time. The objective is to validate the engine’s progress and identify areas requiring further work before track running begins.

Data before the first real lap

“We don’t wait for the racetrack to start learning,” said Christian Hertrich, Ford Racing Powertrain Chief Engineer. “We can’t afford to. Every time we fire up our dyno cell in Dearborn, the room holds its breath. Then the engine catches, the numbers climb and for a few minutes, we’re not in Michigan anymore – we’re at Le Mans.”

Hertrich said the engine work has been running behind the scenes for months, following an approach Ford has carried across its other motorsport programmes. The process is direct: build the engine, interrogate it and allow the data to define the next priorities.

Ford draws on its Le Mans heritage

The current programme is also being shaped by Ford’s previous success. The company’s sporting history began with Henry Ford’s victory in 1901, while the GT40 ended Ferrari’s six-year winning run at Le Mans and then remained unbeaten in the race from 1966 to 1969.

That legacy is physically close to the new project. Hertrich noted that the Hypercar test chamber is located only yards from the facility where the GT40 was developed and refined.

At the same time, Logan Sargeant, Mike Rockenfeller, Sebastian Priaulx, Matt Campbell, Tom Blomqvist and Nick Yelloly have been building experience on the simulator at Ford’s Technology Centre in North Carolina. Their work is intended to ensure the drivers understand the car before its first on-track run.

As Ford joins a tightly contested endurance landscape, the wider championship picture can be followed in our analysis of the WEC title fight. For Hertrich, the message is uncompromising: every dyno cycle and simulator hour matters, because Ford intends to reach Le Mans with no surprises.