2019 Goodbyes: Ford GT

From the moment Ford unveiled the GT at Le Mans back in 2015, you knew it’s GTE/GTLM programme was going to be a memorable one.

The car is one of the most iconic GT cars of the modern era, and during its years spent racing in the FIA WEC and IMSA has won a slew of races, many of them big enduros. It changed the way we see current GTE cars, the design for the race car clearly came before the road car, with aero, unlike anything we’d seen. It forced the other marques to reassess their programmes, Aston Martin and Porsche notably developing GTE cars to a similarly aggressive standard as a result.

Driven by a huge selection of world-class drivers on both sides of the Atlantic, run by a world-class team behind the scenes from Chip Ganassi Racing and Multimatic, the Ford GT shone throughout its lifespan. Unfortunately, though, its most memorable wins in Europe at least were draped with controversy.

The first was the 2016 GTE Pro class win at the Le Mans 24 Hours, a dominant Tour de Force which came at a time when BoP cynicism was at its peak, that made The Blue Oval appear villainous in its quest to rekindle the spirit of the 60s when it won at La Sarthe for the first time with the original GT40. It got its wish and finished 1-3-4, its only competition a Ferrari 488 from Risi Competitzione, but at what cost?

The second came just this year at Le Mans, when the customer-run Keating Motorsports GT, running a stunning Wynns livery, won GTE Am, only to be disqualified on the Monday after the race due to a fuelling rig and fuel tank issues. The car’s biggest success in Europe, clearly, came at Le Mans in 2016, during the first year of the programme.

In the USA however, the picture was painted differently. The GT won at Daytona in 2017 and 2018, against fierce GTLM competition from Corvette, Porsche and BMW. The 2018 victory was particularly memorable, Ganassi’s eighth at the Rolex 24 and his 200th as a team owner. The GT then went on to come achingly close to making it three Rolex 24 wins in a row this year, but was denied in the red-flag interrupted final chapter of the race when BMW took a surprise win.

It’s a disappointment that Ford’s GT programme is now over, with no customer efforts stepping up to extend its life cycle. Now we wait to hear just what Ford will do as a factory in motorsport going forward. Will it head to IMSA for DPi 2.0? Will it dive in and race in Le Mans Hypercar? Will it do something completely different or nothing at all? Right now we simply don’t know. But if it takes whatever comes next as seriously as the GT programme and markets it as effectively, it’ll be worth waiting for.

Notable achievements

2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 3 x GTLM victories (Including 6 Hours at The Glen)