First Laps for Ford's Hypercar as Paul Ricard Test Gets Underway

Text: Rick Kiewiet

Images: Ford Racing

Ford Racing's Hypercar contender for the FIA World Endurance Championship has been pictured on track for the first time, with the American manufacturer releasing images from testing at Paul Ricard as it builds towards a 2027 debut.

The car, still unnamed and wearing a camouflage livery, ran its first proper track test on 17 August, following a shakedown programme that began on 5 August at the driving centre adjacent to the circuit. Ford said the shakedown work proceeded smoothly, with the team methodically working through activation and verification of each control system ahead of the on-track running. That process followed extensive simulator and dyno work, along with a successful fire-up of the car's V8 engine in the test chassis last month.

The prototype pairs an ORECA-built chassis with a 5.4-litre Coyote-based V8 developed in-house by Ford. Early images show the car without the front fin common to other ORECA-based Hypercar designs. Testing is taking place close to ORECA's Le Castellet headquarters, with Ford planning further running across Europe ahead of homologation before the start of the 2027 season.

Matt Campbell, Mike Rockenfeller and Tom Blomqvist were on hand for the initial shakedown phase, with Campbell and Logan Sargeant sharing driving duties for the first track test. Blomqvist is due to join them behind the wheel in the coming days. All six of Ford's signed Hypercar drivers are expected to take part in the test programme as it progresses.

Ford confirmed Rockenfeller, Seb Priaulx and Sargeant as its first three drivers back in January, before adding Campbell, Blomqvist and Nick Yelloly — the latter arriving from Acura's GTP program — in June.

Ford's Hypercar push forms part of a wider ambition to add a fifth overall win at Le Mans and to challenge for the World Hypercar Manufacturers' title. The marque joins fellow newcomer McLaren in expanding the WEC's Hypercar grid for 2027, though its test programme has begun several months later than the McLaren MCL-HY, which completed its rollout in Italy back in May. Ford Hypercar program manager Dan Sayers has previously said he is not concerned by the later start.