Le Mans set for Ford v Ferrari pt2 — and once again it's personal

So, more good news in the world of sports car racing this week. Ford has sprung a happy splurge of fresh headlines in confirming its return to Le Mans in 2027, in an all-out attack for its first overall win since 1969.

That’s 10 manufacturers in the top tier if we still count wound-licking Lamborghini, with possibly McLaren still to come. It really is the golden era that keeps on giving.

“It is wonderful news to welcome Ford back to the top level of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in almost 60 years,” gushed ACO president Pierre Fillon. Woah, hold your (prancing) horses! What about the Group C Ford C100 of 1982? Inconvenient history, given how ill-starred that campaign proved. Details, details… Far better to sweep that one away, while also overlooking the Cosworth DFV-powered victories of 1975 (Mirage) and ’80 (Rondeau) too.

Admittedly, we’d be pushed to call those ‘Ford victories’. So yes, channelling the spirit of Christian Bale (sorry, Ken Miles!), 1966 and all that makes much more sense. They were the best of times, after all. Until now, at least.

“It is a brand that has always had a close affinity with this very special race, and history shows that Ford does not compete to finish second,” continued Fillon in his statement for the official Ford press release that gave us the news – with scant detail on the how and with whom. “The renewal of its famous rivalry with Ferrari is truly an exciting prospect.”

“When we race, we race to win”

Stop right there. Did you notice? A quote in the press release from Ford’s executive chair Bill Ford, just above Fillon’s did it too. Actually, not once, but twice. This is… different.

Car manufacturers almost never mention rival brands in their formal communications. Drawing any attention to another car company is a corporate no-no. Yet here Ferrari is mentioned not once, not twice, but three times in Ford’s release.

There’s no Aston Martin. No Toyota. No Porsche. But Ferrari… that’s a different story. The biggest story, as it happens.

And it’s a clear sign that the rivalry that was pumped back to life so successfully by the Le Mans 1966 movie a full five years ago (time flies, eh?) is the key selling point of Ford’s return. This is what it’s all about.

We’re often told competition sells. Perhaps it’s true after all.

Bill Ford even goes so far as to goad Ferrari in what he says – which is bolshy given the 499P’s two for two score at Le Mans so far.

“When we race, we race to win,” he states (why am I picturing Tracy Letts, who played his uncle Henry Ford II so pompously in the movie, speaking these words?). “And there is no track or race that means more to our history than Le Mans. It is where we took on Ferrari and won in the 1960s. It is where we returned 50 years later and shocked the world and beat Ferrari again.”

The reality is, as much as many of us love the rest of the WEC, Daytona, Sebring  and the rest of the IMSA rounds, when it comes to it, Le Mans is the only one that really counts. That one race is why Ford is coming back to the top tier – and just maybe it wouldn’t be doing so if its old nemesis hadn’t returned too.

Expect sparks to fly come 2027 – assuming Ferrari doesn’t pull the plug on its sports car before the showdown even lines up, citing job done.

Now that really would be typical, wouldn’t it?