Ford returns to Le Mans race in 2016 with GT supercar

Ford Motor Co. will return to endurance racing next year as it celebrates the 50th anniversary of its historic top-three sweep in the 1966 24 Hour of Le Mans.

The automaker today confirmed that it will compete in the 2016 Le Mans race with a version of its GT supercar, which goes on sale next year in limited volume.

“When the GT40 competed at Le Mans in the 1960s, Henry Ford II sought to prove Ford could beat endurance racing’s most legendary manufacturers,” Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chairman, said in a statement. “We are still extremely proud of having won this iconic race four times in a row, and that same spirit that drove the innovation behind the first Ford GT still drives us today.”

The GT race car will make its debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January. Two GT teams operated by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates will participate in the full 2016 schedules of the FIA World Endurance Championship and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The teams will enter four GTs in the Le Mans race, with drivers to be announced later.