By now, you've probably seen the Ford GT LM GTE racing car. It's the twin-turbo, mid-engine, buttressed battle axe on wheels that'll be hauling ass down Mulsanne next year. You know, the one with that gigantic, curved diffuser—basically a carbon platypus bill with Afro pick dentures—flowing from underneath the rear end. Like it? Good, because you'll be seeing plenty of that kit on the WEC grid in 2016.

The competition-spec Ford GT rear aero is designed the FIA/ACO's revised GTE class regulations, which were finalized on Thursday and take effect next year. New rules allow for a moderate power bump, roughly 20 hp, and a 55-pound reduction in minimum weight; turbo motors will be tightly restricted, as will non-compliance waivers. Bodywork rules, however, will be less stringent.

"The [changes invoce] 'freedom boxes,' those areas that we're allowed to open up from the road car," an engineering consultant for Ford's Le Mans program tells us. "That includes length of the diffuser, where it starts, and what you can do with the front underwing. All those rules have changed now. I'll be surprised if the Ferrari 488 rear doesn't look like that, too."

Basically, consider the Ford GT LM a preview of how GTE rear aero will look in the future. Results?

"We figure the cars will probably do 3 seconds a lap quicker around Sarthe, at least that's what our simulators say."

We dig the GT LM. We dig massive, functional carbon. We dig faster racecars. Consider us sold.

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