- Search Cartoons
- Comic Archive
-
Payne
Store
Henry Payne RSS
Mustang Challenge conquers Le Mans, with Ford’s CEO at the wheel
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 14, 2025
Le Mans, France — This historic track has seen three Ford GT-40s cross the finish line abreast when Ford beat Ferrari in 1966, but it has never seen 38 Ford Mustangs thunder down the pit straight and take the green flag.
With Ford Motor Co.’s CEO in the middle of the pack.
#17 Ford CEO Jim Farley drives for Competition Motors during the Ford Mustang Challenge Invitational Race 1 in Le Mans, France on June 13, 2025. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
Ford brought its Mustang Challenge Series featuring the 500-horsepower, V8-powered, race-prepped Dark Horse R across the pond for its European debut at Le Mans on Friday, with CEO Jim Farley among an accomplished field of Challenge drivers plus celebrities like Formula Drift legend Tanner Foust and Malcom in the Middle-turned pro NASCAR truck driver Frankie Muniz.
Farley acquitted himself well in Race One on Friday, jumping 10 places to finish 19th behind Muniz.
“We‘re an unapologetically American company racing in Le Mans like an American company should,” said Farley in an interview afterwards. “I won’t deny that when we’re all together on the pace lap warming up tires on the Mulsanne (Straight) going back and forth was really an emotional moment.”
That emotion was tempered with a touch of humility.
“All my competitors were customers, so I had to be really careful,” he laughed. “I don’t want to be that guy, you know? I picked up 10 spots, but I’m proud that I did it in a really clean way.”
Ford CEO Jim Farley stands by his #17 Competition Motors Mustang while he signs autographs and takes pictures with fans at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France on June 12, 2025 Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
The race was a triumph for a brand that has scored many at the famed French track, including overall wins with the GT40 from 1966-1969 and a 2016 GT3 class win in the Ford GT. The Mustang Challenge shared the spotlight with the Porsche Sprint Challenge, which featured Porsche 911 and 718 sportscars. Ford’s Mustang is the best-selling sportscar in the world with sales in over 100 countries.
“I was pinching myself getting ready for the race,” said Farley. “It was a really magical moment for the company and for me to have, frankly, I met all the families and the people here from all over the world just to have this experience being in a Mustang, hearing down-shifts into Arnage (corner) from fifth to second gear in a normally aspirated V-8 engine. Ford is probably the only company that could pull this off other than Porsche.”
There are few executives that could pull off competing with top drivers at Le Mans. Farley is an experienced race driver with racing experience on U.S. tracks — and Le Mans.
Indeed, he is one of the few drivers in the world who can claim to have raced Le Mans’ daunting, 8.5-mile, high-speed circuit in both a GT40 and a Mustang. Farley placed second at the Le Mans Classic in 2022 in his 1966 GT40.
Ford CEO Jim Farley drives #17 in the Ford Mustang Challenge during practice at the Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational in Le Mans, France on June 11, 2025. Ford has 40 entries in the invitational, including 15 Mustang Dark Horse R cars in the top Dark Horse class. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
“They’re totally different. The Mustang is a road car that’s converted for racing, and it’s fantastic. The GT40 was the prototype race car of its day,” he said. “It’s cramped, it’s hot, and when it rains, it’s really uncomfortable. The visibility is terrible. It’s 4 inches off the ground, so you feel everything.”
Much of Le Mans’ course is public roads — including the famed Mulsanne Straight where the GT40 was the first car in 1966 to hit 200 mph on what was then a continuous 3.7-mile straightaway. With cars cresting 240 mph decades later, Le Mans punctuates the straight with two changes to slow cars down. But Farley said his GT40 still reaches 180 mph.
“At 180 miles an hour, the front end lifts,” he said. “So you have to be very, very delicate in your input. The Mustang (Dark Horse R) is much more stable, but on braking, the GT40 is more nimble and can change direction faster, because it’s about half the weight.”
Farley will be back for Race 2 of the Mustang Challenge on Saturday morning, and he likes his chances.
“I picked up about six seconds, and I know there’s a couple people that I passed that are like, you know, pretty sure they want to pass me back,” he smiled. “It’s going to be a good duel tomorrow, starting 19th. I would love to move up a couple more spots as a 62-year-old Detroiter, try to put some points on the board for this ol’ Michigander.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.