At the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France Friday (June 9), Ford Performance publicly unveiled the new Ford Mustang GT3 for the first time. The new car will race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship at minimum starting in 2024. Customer cars will also be available for a number of other championships around the world in due time as Ford is mandated to produce at least 20 Mustang GT3s.
The Mustang GT3 is based on the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse, which is a high-performance variant of the new seventh-generation Mustang. It will be powered by a 5.4-liter Coyote-based V8 engine built by M-Sport, which is best known for running’s Ford’s factory team in the FIA World Rally Championship. Power output will be dependent on balance of performance, but 500 horsepower is a baseline.
“Ford and Le Mans are bound together by history. And now we’re coming back to the most dramatic, most rewarding and most important race in the world,” stated Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company. “It is not Ford versus Ferrari anymore. It is Ford versus everyone. Going back to Le Mans is the beginning of building a global motorsports business with Mustang, just like we are doing with Bronco and Raptor off-road.”
In WeatherTech, the Mustang GT3 will be eligible for both the GTD Pro and GTD classes. The car is already guaranteed a spot in the GTD Pro class as Multimatic Motorsports will field a two-car factory operation starting at the 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona. It will be the first time that Multimatic Motorsports has fielded a team in WeatherTech. The Canadian team has previously fielded Mustangs in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with substantial success and was heavily involved in the Ford GT program, but did not race the Ford GTs.
Ford Performance has an agreement with Proton Competition for the team to field two Ford Mustang GT3s in the new LMGT3 class in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2024. The Mustangs would replace the team’s Porsche 911 RSR-19s that will no longer be eligible to race at the end of the season.
“This is a very important program and an exciting moment for our organization,” stated Christian Ried, team principal and driver for Proton Competition. “The Mustang is a great brand and this is an important step for our team. We look forward to joining with Ford starting in 2024.”
At press time, this entry would be dependent on Ford being accepted as a manufacturer in the new class, which will replace GTE-Am. However, with the LMP2 class getting dropped from the WEC with the exception of Le Mans starting next year, it will be much easier than originally thought to snag a spot on the full-season grid.
The announcement also coincided with a new logo for Ford Performance, seen above. This will be used going forward with all of Ford’s performance programs. That would include NASCAR, the NHRA, sports car racing and rallying.
The Ford Mustang GT3 was developed at the same time as the new Ford Mustang GT4. That car will be unveiled at a later date.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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