WEC
Le Mans-winning engineer Leena Gade joins Ford’s WEC Hypercar programme
Gade will return to the WEC as part of Ford’s 2027 Hypercar team
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Mar 5, 2026, 12:57 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Engineer Leena Gade, Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
Ford has bolstered its preparations for its upcoming Hypercar programme in the World Endurance Championship by signing Le Mans 24 Hours-winning engineer Leena Gade.
The Briton will immediately begin work on Ford Racing’s new Oreca-based LMDh prototype, which will debut in the Hypercar class of the WEC in 2027.
The Blue Oval said her “deep understanding of the Circuit de la Sarthe and long-distance strategy makes her a cornerstone of Ford’s competitive ambitions.”
Born in the UK to immigrant Indian parents, Gade is best known for her role as a race engineer in Audi’s now-defunct LMP1 programme. During her uber successful stint in the WEC, Audi claimed outright wins at Le Mans in 2011, 2012 and 2014, along with multiple LMP1 world titles.
After Audi withdrew from the championship at the end of 2016, Gade moved to the United States and worked across different championships. In 2018, she joined Schmidt Peterson Motorsport (now Arrow McLaren) in IndyCar to engineer James Hinchcliffe's car, before working with Multimatic on Mazda’s DPi car in IMSA SportsCar Championship.
She was later appointed as the president of the FIA GT Commission.
Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3
Photo by: Shameem Fahath / Motorsport Network
Gade is one of the several high-profile engineers to join Ford a year before it enters the WEC’s top class in 2027.
The American marque has also hired Grant Clarke as trackside engineering manager. Clarke joins Ford after serving as the lead race engineer for McLaren in Formula E, and brings endurance racing experience from previous roles at TF Sport and Prodrive.
Further, Jean-Phillipe Sarrazin will move across from Porsche to Ford following the end of the German manufacturer’s Hypercar programme in the WEC. Sarrazin has spent most of his career in sportscar racing paddocks, most recently serving as the race engineer for the #6 Porsche 963 LMDh that won the 2024 Hypercar title. His CV includes stints at well-known teams such as Prema, G-Drive, Algarve Pro and Ligier.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article WEC postpones 2026 opener due to Middle East conflict
Next article Imola to hold 2026 WEC Prologue test in April
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Rachit Thukral
Cadillac signs Ricky Taylor, Antonio Felix da Costa in refreshed 2027 WEC line-up
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
15 h
Cadillac signs Ricky Taylor, Antonio Felix da Costa in refreshed 2027 WEC line-up
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
Latest news
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 6 h
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
6 h
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
6 h
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
13 h
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe