Ford announces return to Le Mans with special video

It's official: After months of speculation, Ford finally confirmed its plans to return to Le Mans in 2016 with the Ontario-built GT as its weapon of choice.

The Blue Oval's return to the Circuit de la Sarthe for the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans race has been rumoured since before the new GT, built by Markham, Ont.-based Multimatic Motorsports, was even unveiled, and will coincide with the 50th anniversary of Ford’s 1966 overall victory at Le Mans in the new car's predecessor, the GT40.

Ford said the GT—no word yet on the number of cars that will enter, though it did confirm two teams will field GTs—will compete in the LM GTE Pro class, alongside Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin entries.

The GT will compete in the full 2016 schedules of the FIA World Endurance Championship and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, making its competition debut in January 2016 at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.