Ford Racing Completes First 1,000km Test of LMDh Hypercar at Paul Ricard

Overview

• Ford ran a shakedown plus three days of on-track testing at Circuit Paul Ricard on Wednesday, covering more than 1,000 kilometres to confirm basic systems integration and identify only minor teething issues.
• The prototype is an LMDh Hypercar built on an ORECA chassis and powered by a Ford-developed 5.4-litre Coyote-derived V8 paired with the standard LMDh hybrid electronics and drivetrain architecture.
• All six confirmed drivers — Matt Campbell, Logan Sargeant, Tom Blomqvist, Mike Rockenfeller, Sebastian Priaulx and Nick Yelloly — took part in the test as the team started to collect driver feedback and set up data for sim correlation.
• Ford will move immediately to a three-day simulator session in North Carolina before scheduled track tests at Portimao in early September and further runs at Silverstone, Monza, Imola, Aragon, COTA and Sebring as part of homologation work.
• Team leaders stressed the programme is early and that homologation rules and Balance of Performance assessments will determine on-track competitiveness, a process that could change setup, power calibration or weight before the planned Q1 2027 WEC entry.