Ford Mustang GT3 takes podium on Le Mans debut
The Blue Oval is targeting well-heeled driving enthusiasts with a high-powered version of its legendary muscle car, taking on the might of Europe’s supercars.
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This should be in every petrolhead’s dream garage: a brutal V8-powered race car that you can drive to the podium at Le Mans.
Built to contest endurance races at the world’s top events, the Ford Mustang GT3 is a $1.2 million machine designed to beat exotic GT cars.
Sure, you could take home a flash Ferrari, Lambo or McLaren road car for the same money.
But the Mustang GT3 isn’t designed to be carefully polished and driven to “Cars and Coffee”, it’s at home roaring down the Mulsanne at Le Mans, Conrod Straight in Bathurst, or the banked oval of Daytona.
It’s a car that you or I could buy, then get a driving coach and a racing licence and compete on the world stage.
Bill Ford, executive chair of the Ford Motor Company and great grandson of Henry Ford, said the Mustang race car was more relatable than exotic rivals.
“There’s a real connection between Mustang and customers,” he said.
“The one constant to our entire history is Ford Motor Company is we’ve always raced.
“We were born on a racetrack – the company was – so this is very much what we do.”
Built by Canada’s Multimatic – the same company responsible for the previous-generation Ford GT race car and F1-powered Mercedes-AMG One – the Mustang GT3 is a thoroughbred.
Powered by a 5.4-litre V8 mounted much lower and further back in the chassis than the road car, it drives the rear wheels through a six-speed paddle-shift gearbox mounted in the back of the car.
The Mustang GT3 starts life as a road going chassis from the Ford plant before racing suspension and carbon fibre bodywork are added to its shell.
The race car made its Le Mans debut last weekend, when three examples with three drivers each took to the track.
Drivers in endurance racing are graded according to their experience.
New racers or wealthy folk funding a race car generally have a bronze grading, while up-and-coming drivers often have a silver driver rating.
You need one of each at Le Mans, and the third seat is usually occupied by professional platinum or gold-rated drivers with impressive trophy cabinets.
Ford’s three-car challenge included the bright blue “Barkstang” led by British racer Ben Barker, the black “Olstang” of Norway’s Dennis Olsen and the yellow “Miestang” captained by Germany’s Chris Mies.
All three have significant racing history in Australia.
Mies is a two-time winner of the Bathurst 12 Hour with Audi, Olsen won the same race in 2019, and Barker won with Porsches in Australia while agitating for a career in Supercars.
Mies raced for Audi for more than a decade before jumping over to the thumping V8-powered Mustang.
“The noise is one thing, but the vibrations we feel inside are something else,” he said.
“You jump into the Ford and it’s rumbling, insane. You can feel the vibrations from the engine. It’s super cool.”
The richly textured snarl of the Mustang at full noise is like a rock concert alongside the string quartets and electro-synthesisers of European rivals.
It also looks larger and more imposing than comparatively delicate McLaren and Ferrari machines, the Ford’s furrowed brow and focused headlights ramping up the aggression.
Ben Barker’s Mustang set the fastest GT3 class lap in qualifying with a 3:55.263 tour of the track unmatched by any rival in the event.
Millions of people tuned in to watch the start of Le Mans.
Front-running “Hypercars” crewed by former F1 stars such as Jenson Button, Romain Grosjean, Mick Schumacher and Antonio Giovanazzi get most of the attention at the start.
It can be hard to relate to spaceship-like machines such as the Penske Porsche 963 of Australia’s Matt Campbell.
But everyone has seen and heard a Ford Mustang or Porsche 911 in the real world, and many can recognise the shape of a McLaren 720S or the new Ferrari 296.
Barker put a galloping pony among the pigeons by dicing with much more delicate McLaren and Ferrari contenders at the start of the race.
The blue car led Ford’s hopes, contending for class victory until it suffered damage during an ill-conceived passing attempt by a faster car.
Mechanics from Ford’s Proton Competition team got it back on track, though the car lost too much time to challenge for a trophy.
The black and yellow Mustang crews picked up the mantle, running at the sharp end of the race.
Crashes, mechanical failures and penalties take their toll on the field throughout the night.
Like the sun illuminating the racetrack, a clearer picture of the GT battle emerged at dawn.
Out front was the sole remaining Porsche 911 entered by Australia’s Yasser Shahin and led by Austrian veteran Richard Lietz.
Five cars fought tooth and nail for the remaining places on the podium – a BMW, a Ferrari, the two Mustangs, and a pink “Iron Dames” Lamborghini with an all-female driving crew.
The last couple of hours of racing unfolded on a perilously slippery track with tired cars and drivers.
Teams put their best pilots in to run along a tightrope, going as fast as possible while knowing that the smallest error could be disastrous.
A determined Olsen hustled the black Mustang to a debut podium in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, followed home by a fourth-placed Mies in the yellow car.
Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, said the result “shows that Mustang can come and compete on the global stage against the best sports cars in the world”.
Multimatic executive Larry Holt agreed the car was “right at home at Le Mans”.
BMW’s Augusto Farfus is second, behind Lietz in the orange Porsche driven and sponsored by Shahin.
The South Australian is the perfect example of how this type of racing should work.
An accomplished driver on the local scene, he used a financial windfall – the sale of his business – to fund a campaign in the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans.
And his winner’s trophy will shine brighter than any supercar parked in the garage.
Originally published as Ford Mustang GT3 takes podium on Le Mans debut
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