In an article on SportsCar365.com Friday (Nov. 15), Ford Performance global motorsports director Mark Rushbrook announced a substantial shakeup in their factory driver lineup for the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Only one of the four full-time drivers in 2024 will be back with the team.
Car No. 64 will be led by Mike Rockenfeller, the only full-time returnee to the fold. He will be joined full-time by Sebastian Priaulx. Ben Barker will drive in the Michelin Endurance Cup races.
Rockenfeller finished sixth in GTD Pro points in 2024. The season was a struggle at times, especially early on when the Mustang had issues with the trunk coming off. Late in the year, Rockenfeller and Harry Tincknell finished second at VIR and Indianapolis.
Priaulx joined Multimatic back in July, leaving AO Racing despite leading the GTD Pro points at the time. Before leaving AO Racing, Priaulx earned class victories at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and on the Streets of Detroit. He also finished second in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and third at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Despite missing the last three races, Priaulx was credited with 12th in points.
Car No. 65 will have Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch (pictured above at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) driving full-time. Dennis Olsen will join the team for the endurance races.
Mies and Vervisch were the endurance drivers this past season. Rushbrook was impressed with their form this year.
“[Mies and Vervisch’s] outstanding performances at these events earned them well-deserved full-season spots on our team,” Rushbrook explained. “When it comes to racing, the stopwatch doesn’t lie.”
Olsen and Barker drove full-time for Proton Competition in the Mustangs in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMGT3 class, but in separate cars.
Both drivers had tough seasons. Olsen ended up 15th in LMGT3 points with a third-place finish at Le Mans. Barker was 22nd in points with a best finish of sixth at Circuit of the Americas.
“I’m excited about this driver lineup,” Rushbrook stated. “It is a fast lineup that will allow us to build on our performance in 2024, and I look forward to seeing what this team will accomplish in the coming season.”
Tincknell, Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller will not be back with Ford Multimatic Motorsports in 2025. Rushbrook is thankful for their contributions to the program and believes that they were pivotal to the Ford Mustang GT3’s development.
Of the three, Mueller is likely to stay in the Mustang fold in some way. Where that will be has not been announced. Hand will continue in the Ford fold as well.
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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.
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That car looks like a modded genuine contemporary Mustang.
IMSA is evolved from NASCAR racing in the 60’s, stock cars that are turned into racing cars.
Cup racing is altogether not the same.