Ford GT: The Secret Shakedown

It was arguably the most talked-about event at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans aside from the race itself: US manufacturer Ford announced its return to Le Mans and commitments to both the WEC and the Tudor United Sportscar Championship for 2016. So far further details of the programme have been thin on the ground, but the testing phase for the new Ford GTE is already well underway as recent spy shots have shown.

In fact, it appears that Ford pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes: An official video from Ford reveals that the new GTE machine was already on-track some three weeks before it was even announced at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The short clip shows Ford and development partner Multimatic putting the car through its paces at Calabogie Motorsports Park in Canada, a short drive from Multimatic’s HQ in Markham, Ontario. The new Ford GT certainly looks and sounds the part, and endurance racing fans all over the world will be looking forward to the car’s competitive debut at the 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.