Photos: Ford Hypercar brings its V8 roar to Monza ahead of 2027 WEC debut

Ford’s hypercar is at Monza this week, and for the first time the manufacturer has two cars running together. The test is the next step towards Ford’s 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship debut. Logan Sargeant is among the drivers on duty. The team completed a couple of short runs on Tuesday morning before starting a long run, and testing continues on Wednesday.

Two cars

Until now, Ford had tested one car at a time. The programme ran three single-car tests, starting at Paul Ricard in early August and followed by Portimão and Silverstone. The second test car is the third chassis built for the yet-to-be-named Hypercar. Programme manager Dan Sayers has said that running two cars lets the team split the work. One car can concentrate on control systems while the other is used for pure mechanical set-up work. Ford intends to run two cars at every test from now on. Ford Racing global director Mark Rushbrook told GT REPORT in March that the plan is to build six cars in total, two of which will race. “That’s the right way to do it so that you maximise your learning, your development and your competitiveness,” he explained.

American V8

Under the skin sits an ORECA-developed chassis, with power coming from a naturally aspirated 5.4-litre Coyote V8 paired with the standard LMDh hybrid system. You hear it before you see it, as the V8 fills the Monza park with an unmistakable American hum. The engine is designed and developed in-house by Ford Racing in Dearborn, Michigan. Sayers, who came to the project from Red Bull Ford Powertrains, has brought Formula One know-how with him. The engineers who worked on the F1 hybrid controls carried that learning directly into the LMDh programme. You hear it before you see it, as the V8 fills the Monza park with an unmistakable American hum.

Six drivers, pairings still to come

Sargeant is one of six drivers confirmed for 2027, alongside Matt Campbell, Nick Yelloly, Tom Blomqvist, Mike Rockenfeller and longtime Ford associate Sebastian Priaulx. Yelloly and Blomqvist both come from Acura, while Campbell joins from Porsche, having signed off a decade with the German manufacturer by winning Petit Le Mans earlier this month.

For Sargeant, the drive carries extra weight as an American. “My dad’s had a Ford truck since I was born,” he told GT REPORT in April. “To have the opportunity to win at Le Mans with Ford will be amazing.”

Rockenfeller was at the wheel for the car’s very first rollout at Paul Ricard, and he liked what he felt straight away. “When I jumped in, I felt the car was born right,” he told GT REPORT earlier this month.

The road to Le Mans

The official car reveal is on 26 November, in the middle of an extensive testing programme. After Monza, Ford goes to Imola and then holds its first dedicated endurance test at MotorLand Aragón in November. The programme then heads to COTA and the brutal Sebring track, which Sayers picked out as ideal for durability running. The race debut comes at the 2027 season-opening Qatar 1812km, but the real target is Le Mans. Ford won the 24 Hours outright four times in a row with the GT40 between 1966 and 1969 in a legendary battle with Ferrari. In 2027 it returns to fight for overall victory once more, with Ferrari waiting in the top class just as it was in 1966.