Ford is returning to the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 2016 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ford's overall win in 1966. A of its will compete in the GT Endurance class (LM GTE Pro).
The automaker is hoping to mark the anniversary of their legendary 1966 Le Mans win 鈥� in which three GTs took first, second and third place and upset rival Ferrari 鈥� by taking home a trophy again next year.
鈥淲hen the GT40 competed at Le Mans in the 1960s, Henry Ford II sought to prove Ford could beat endurance racing鈥檚 most legendary manufacturers,鈥� said Bill Ford, the company's executive chairman, in a statement.
鈥淲e are still extremely proud of having won this iconic race four times in a row [in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969] and that same spirit that drove the innovation behind the first Ford GT still drives us today.鈥�
Ford will field two competition teams, both operated by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, and run the full FIA World Endurance Championship and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship schedules before together tackling the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The GT race car will make its competition debut in January 2016 at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Florida; the production car is similarly set to go on sale early next year. The Ford GT supercar will be .
