This was not a shot in the dark. The Ford Hypercarâs first kilometres come after months of work on the engine, simulator and honing Ford Racing team procedures. Their journey to the 95th 24 Hours of Le Mans on 9â13 June 2027 has begun. A Hypercar leaving the workshop for the first time, plus six drivers aiming for the same project goal amount to over 1,000 kilometres in three days. To an outsider, the Ford Hypercar’s first date at the Paul Ricard circuit may seem like the beginning. In fact, it’s the culmination of months of preparation. To get the car track ready, Ford Racing spent many hours working on the engine in the dyno cell in Dearborn, making sure the car would be operational from the outset. The first outing may be the first chapter, but there was a prelude to the story of Ford’s journey to the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship to take on Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Genesis, McLaren, Peugeot and Toyota. Thousands of hours of preparation for the first outing A race car doesn’t come into being when it leaves the pit lane. The Ford Hypercar was a reality long before it entered the track at the Paul Ricard circuit. A few weeks earlier, the 5.4-litre V8 naturally aspirated engine, developed in-house, was fired up for the first time in France. The American manufacturer worked alongside chassis builder Oreca to integrate the powertrain, while fleshing out its sporting programme in view of its FIA World Endurance Championship entry in 2027. All that remained was to test the car on a real circuit. Dan Sayers, WEC Hypercar Program Manager at Ford Racing sums up the philosophy: ‘Reaching Paul Ricard and getting the car through its shakedown and three