Lets start with an honourable mention, which needs to go to the Doran Racing-built Ford GT-R MK VII, based on the then current Ford GT platform that took a fighting podium in GTE Am at Le Mans in 2011.
The duo of David and Andrea Robertson, along with David Murry, produced a performance that stands out to this day when looking back at some of the key moments of the GTE era.
Without doubt though, Ford’s story in GTE is defined by the spectacular 2016 Ford GT, which revived the historic Ford vs Ferrari rivalry, both in North America and in the FIA WEC, with a particular emphasis at Le Mans.
Chip Ganassi Racing and Multimatic were tasked with racing efforts in both championships, the car presenting itself as at the cutting edge of GT aerodynamics, with a rasping engine note from its turbo V6 power plant and capable of blinding speed.
The Ford GT era for the factory programme lasted four years, with the headlines being a Le Mans 24 Hours class win in 2016 and two Rolex 24 Hours wins in 2017 and 2018. A Manufacturers championship was also secured in IMSA during the 2018 season. Remarkably though, Ford failed to win a title in WEC competition.
Outside of the factory programme there was a single, somewhat heroic and hugely eye-catching privateer effort in 2019 at Le Mans with Keating Motorsport. The Wynns-liveried car took the GTE Am class win over the line, but was later disqualified with a marginally oversized fuel cell after the original damaged item had to be replaced on short notice. The car would never race again.
The car and its design, engineering, speed and the professionalism of the Chip Ganassi team was truly cutting edge. The various heritage liveries campaigned later in the car’s life also stand out. But it would be fair to say that, outside of the race wins listed above, the defining story of the programme came very early on, with the cars underperforming dramatically at the Le Mans Test Day in 2016, before being granted a performance break ahead of the race.
Ford’s performance was dominant in the race proper, with the sole privateer Risi Competitzione Ferrari 488 in GTE Pro that year Ganassi’s only real threat once the race settled down. It was a true ‘David vs Goliath’-style encounter, though it was Goliath who emerged triumphant on that occasion.
