Uncertainty also will affect the array of aces in Ford’s corner. Image by Michael Levitt/LAT


Finally, spare a thought for CGR’s factory Ford drivers. I’m confident the team’s peerless squad of mechanics and engineers will be busy next year, running cars for another brand, at minimum. But having the plug pulled, especially on the IMSA side, with so few top-tier seats likely to open up next year, will make it hard for Ryan Briscoe, Joey Hand, Dirk Muller, and Richard Westbrook to slot in among their GTLM rivals, or in DPi, where rides with Acura, Cadillac, Mazda, and the CORE autosport-run Nissan effort are anything but plentiful. Most of what’s been found involves four-race endurance roles at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, and Petit Le Mans.

Within a week of the Mid-Ohio DPi meeting, my phone started lighting up with calls about the Ford factory drivers being alerted to the program’s conclusion and their immediate efforts to seek new homes. That was followed by an immediate request for them to hold off on the employment search, as a new glimmer of hope to stay with the team appeared. A week or so later, the hold was rescinded and the upcoming end to the GT program was confirmed.

On the WEC side, in a matter of days after BMW confirmed its M8 GTEs will fall silent after Le Mans, the series has lost four GTE-Pro cars from the 2019-2020 ‘super season.’ Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Porsche will race among the depleted numbers in the absence of BMW and Ford.

In North America, BMW is expected to stay, which is huge for IMSA. Added to Corvette’s ongoing presence, plus Porsche’s anticipated return, it should have six full-time cars to keep GTLM in a viable state.

What’s harder to ignore is in the span of a week, IMSA and WEC have gone from having three shared manufacturers in their factory GT racing categories to just one with Porsche.

It tells me that the ACO and WEC need to get their act together and either commit to Hypercar or, as RACER recently revealed, possibly scrap Hypercar in favor of DPi 2.0 and give manufacturers like Ford something to build around in the coming years.

Knowing how DPi 2.0 could serve two sports car championships, upcoming decisions on hybrid power could dictate more than just Ford’s interest to stay and play.

LMP1 is on life support. DPi is thriving, to a degree. GTE-Pro/GTLM is on shaky ground. LMP2 is booming across the Atlantic and dying in the U.S. GT3/GTD isn’t allowed in the WEC, but comprises IMSA’s most populated class. BMW’s done in WEC in a few weeks, Ford’s done altogether in October. Hypercar feels about as real as Bigfoot riding a unicorn. And, if all I’ve learned is accurate, the ACO might uncouple itself from the WEC and realign directly with IMSA.

Welcome to the state of endurance racing in 2019. It’s a confusing mess which, in the case of BMW and Ford, has delivered its first big casualties.




Ford, Ford GT, Le Mans, IMSA, Insights & Analysis, Le Mans/WEC