Dave Pericak heads up Ford Performance and the new GTE/GTLM race programme is therefore his baby in corporate terms.
There’s little doubt that the programme marks a major shift in direction from Ford I’m terms of corporate commitment to a global motorsport presence – but is this a limited term flash in the pan effort or are we seeing a lasting change in outlook from the Blue Oval?
“The great thing we have going on at Ford right now is that we got commitment from the company with the right leaders at the top to reclaim our heritage in performance vehicles whether that be in racing or the performance vehicles you see on the road where I think we have the most powerful performance line-up that we’ve ever had.
“Look at our most recent products that have come out and people are saying: ‘Wow, look what these guys are doing?’ Whether it be the new Mustang (Pericak was Chief Engineer on the project), the EcoBoost engine tech or a number of other things.
“Through all off that you see the commitment of the company.”
The GT race programme is huge, too full programmes with an aspiration for both to come together at Le Mans where you’ve put yourselves under real pressure 50 years on with history beckoning?
“We’d love to be invited to bring all four, and we’d love too to have the opportunity to go back and repeat our history but another really great aspect of this s that it isn’t just us that’s excited about it, there’s a huge fan reaction and the ACO, IMSA and the FIA WEC are all really excited by it too, by Ford’s return to supercar racing. They’ve done a fantastic job of welcoming us in. I’m confident and hopeful they’ll allow us to bring the four cars for what would be one hell of a return to Le Mans.”
As with any company of Ford’s size there are a lot of landmark moments but usually surprisingly few that break through into the mainstream, certainly the original GT40 was one of those so this relaunch, with a real and significant race programme is a big deal?
“I think it is, and not just with the name. There’s a lot on this car that we haven’t talked to you guys about yet, a lot of Intellectual Property that we are really proud about that we want to talk about but we’re waiting for the right moment, we want to keep the competitive edge.
“Truly though this is not an evolution it’s a revolution. It does build off the history but this is a futuristic machine in every regard and when we start to go through some of the technology that is within this product it will further reinforce the futuristic status of this car.
“I do truly believe that this is a special moment in our history, not just celebrating the past achievements but setting out a whole new chapter, to reset what a supercar is, and to affirm what we at the Ford Motor Company are capable of, and to be able to do that by referencing our history so strongly is very cool.
“A lot of people have asked why we haven’t tried to go for the overall win. At the end of the day this car is all about relevance and we believe that this class is more relevant right now to the cars that we are going to sell, not only the road version of this car but directly to the rest of the Ford line-up.
“The fact that this new GT is such a visual game-changer not just for us but for the GTE class as a whole will be great for the visibility of the whole class I’m certain.”
On production of the road cars, you said earlier there is huge demand, and seeing the car in the carbon I wouldn’t doubt it
“We’ll be building 250 cars per year”
Over how many years?
“We have not said that!”
And that meets full homologation requirements?
“The homologation requirement has recently changed and what it now says is that you have to be in production in the year that you race and it says technically that you should have 100 units built before the end of the last race otherwise the FIA and the ACO have the right to determine whether they still think you’re OK to the regulations (the Ford looks set to fall short of that 100 in 2016 with series production due to begin at a rate of a car per day in October so will depend on their ongoing production commitment to clear the FIA/ ACO assessment).
“I applaud the the FIA and ACO for what they are doing with those regulations. They don’t want somebody to build just ten cars and then quit. They are keeping close tabs on what we are doing.
“They’ve just been out to the production facility where we are putting in the development (in Toronto) and where later in the year we’ll start production, so they have had a good opportunity to see how serious these plans are, to verify our production plans are on track and to go through the documents that relate to the programme. All of that’s happened in a very orderly way. They tell us they are very pleased so we are well on track.”
There’s no doubt that this is a stunning car and an ambitious programme. With what you have said about corporate commitment to Performance what guarantees are there that we won’t see this programme run through and then Ford disappear for another 50 years?
“Well I would hope that wouldn’t be the case. What I can say is this – In terms of Ford Performance, the commitment we have from the organisation says that we’ll be doing things like this for a long time. This is the future of the company. We’re going to continually find improvements in aerodynamics, in fuel efficiency snd everything else.
“By using programmes like this to push the technological barriers, using the state of the art simulator we have in Charlotte right now, that is now being used for road car development, something we wouldn’t have seen until very recently, that’s a race programme bringing real advantages to better, and faster development of cars for the road.
“Let’s be clear. It is NOT about Ford coming and going, we are committed to continuously have new products that showcase our engineering prowess.
“When we announced Ford Performance we said we’d come out with a dozen new products by 2020 and we are on track to do just that. And every tome we bring a new performance car out it gives us the opportunity and the space to talk about new innovations, new technologies and new ways of changing the game.”
And the choice of a full WEC programme?
“People have said to me: ‘Why aren’t you doing what GM are doing with the Corvette and just racing in North America?’
“We’re a global company with a global product and we want to use these programs to help strengthen our brand globally.”
