Earlier in this year, Ford announced that it would enter the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in the Hypercar class.
On the eve of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the manufacturer revealed that they had signed gun motorsport director Dan Sayers.
Sayers had success in WEC over several years, previously as the Aston Martin Racing technical director with Prodrive. In more recent times, he has been the program director of Red Bull Ford Powertrains in Formula 1.
Sayers has been with Ford for less than two weeks and reckons he has seen enough to know this program will be a successful one.
“I’ve been in the role now nine days, I’ve met some of the team in the States, seen some of the tools that Ford and Ford Performance have got, and I think everything’s there to take the fight on and be successful,” he said.
“In terms of excitement, I think it doesn’t get much better than coming to race at the world’s biggest circuits with Ford, challenging for the outright win, the competition is fierce, but to take this challenge on is hugely exciting.”
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The team’s Hypercar will be racing on track in just over 18 months’ time.
Sayers knows that time is of the essence if he wants success.
“I think the biggest challenge is probably similar to the last job I had, which is just time,” he explained.
“Time is short. 2027 is just around the corner, and that is one of the biggest challenges.
“But again, the team at Ford Performance, the tools that Ford Performance have got, I think everything is in place.
“We’ve got to make some key decisions quickly, we’ve got to recruit some key positions, key partners. But again, if we can carefully execute them, then we have everything we need.
“I want to win; I want to win with Ford. That for me is key and like I said earlier, I think the Ford Performance team, everyone I’ve met and the tools that Ford Performance has got, I think we’ve got what it takes, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Oreca will be the chassis supplier for the Ford Hypercar program. The manufacturer already supplies the chassis for the Alpine squad in WEC and the Acura team in IMSA as well as incoming brand Genesis.
Hugues de Chaunac, the president of Oreca, also sees real potential in the project and has his eyes on a 24 Hours of Le Mans victory.
“Believe me, the motivation is very high,” he said.
“I think that we have two main reasons for the success of Ford in Hypercar. The first one is our experience that we want to share with Ford, for the expertise we have, the passion, so we want to bring everything.
“The second main reason is, I have to say, I’ve been really surprised to see the will of everybody in Ford. I feel a big will, huge motivation, from the top executives, to the group of engineers, and everybody.
“Le Mans is Le Man. Winning Le Mans is so important, and when you get out from any Ford meeting, you are just pushed by this incredible will and the motivation. It’s a really big strength for the future.
“I’m sure that Ford will get this (Le Mans) trophy.”
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