Ford steps up WEC preparations with second test car

Ford will expand its LMDh test programme to two cars later this month as it gears up for its entry into the World Endurance Championship Hypercar ranks next season.

The American manufacturer has undertaken the first three tests of its so-far unnamed machine developed in conjunction with ORECA Motorsport with a single chassis.

That will change at Monza when a second example comes on stream as a preface to one focusing on performance testing and one on endurance running.

That strategy mimics that of Ferrari, which introduced a second 499P Le Mans Hypercar at only the second proper circuit test of a design that has gone on to win the Le Mans 24 Hours three times.

Ford Racing Hypercar programme manager Dan Sayers said: “For Monza, it will be one for mechanical performance, let’s say, and one for control systems, and then from then on we will put one on endurance testing."

He explained that the focus so far has been on debugging the complicated control systems of the hybrid racer.

“We have been very cautious not to make any significant changes that might affect the results you get from the control systems,” he said.

The arrival of the second car, he continued, “will make life much easier because the performance team will have something to focus on”.

Ford LMDh, Silverstone test

The Monza test will lead into a first Le Mans-distance simulation at the Aragon circuit in Spain in November.

Ford has expressed satisfaction with early testing of its LMDh, which is powered by a 5.4-litre normally-aspirated V8 based on the architecture of the Mustang’s Coyote V8.

It first ran at Paul Ricard’s activity centre or school track on 5 August before moving onto the full circuit for three days of testing over the course of a week.

That was followed by a four-day test at the Portimao circuit in Portugal before two days last week at Silverstone, which will return to the WEC calendar for the first time since 2019 next season.

“We left Ricard, and I was pleasantly surprised where we were,” said Sayers.

“First test and being able to do the laps - it ran round and worked as we expected.”

Sayers explained that the on-off format of the initial tests at Ricard, close to ORECA’s base at Signes, proved invaluable.

“The schedule was one day, miss one, another day, miss four and then another day, so we had plenty of time to work on the control systems, analyse the data and make sure we were progressing every day.

“It was quite rare to be able to do that, so that was good.”

The Ford completed approximately 1300km at Ricard and a similar distance at Portimao.

“Portimao was good: we are finding issues, areas to develop as you do in testing - we are just going about our thing,” said Sayers.

At Silverstone, the Ford Racing operation moved on to undertaking longer runs for the first time.

The name of Ford’s 2027 WEC contender is due to be revealed at the official launch of the car on Thanksgiving later in November.

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