![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/01\/28\/PDTN\/39ff2ea7-1247-44e9-8c3c-c00271d061e0-MustangGT3-render.jpg?width=660&height=349&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\nIt is a rare meeting of these V-8-powered legends head-to-head on track with factory backing \u2014 and continues the Ford vs. Corvette rivalry kindled last decade when Ford entered its GT supercar in IMSA\u2019s now-defunct GTLM class.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be campaigning the Mustang GT3 in the IMSA GT Pro series as a factory effort with two cars for the 2024 season,\u201d said Ford Performance boss Mark Rushbrook in an interview from Daytona Motor Speedway ahead of the company\u2019s announcement. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a Mustang built to the limits of what we can do in terms of engine, aerodynamics, chassis. We\u2019re just so excited about it; you know what Mustang means to our company.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mustang also races against the Chevy Camaro in the NASCAR Cup at the Daytona 500 \u2014 but the badges are essentially decals on a spec chassis\u00a0that has little to do with the production pony cars. By contrast, the IMSA series has attracted such a diversity of manufacturers because it encourages\u00a0them to show off their signature production technologies.<\/p>\n
The GT3 ‘Stang, for example, will be stuffed with a steroid-fed version of the 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 found in the production, $37,000 Mustang GT coupe. The Corvette C8.R racer features the same screaming, dual-overhead-cam engine bound for the 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06.<\/p>\n
“I couldn’t be more thrilled than to have Ford join us in the GTD\u00a0class,” said Corvette Racing brand ambassador Doug Fehan, who pioneered Corvette’s assault\u00a0on international endurance racing in the late 1990s. “GT is the cornerstone of racing across the globe, and we are entering the richest period of GT racing ever.”<\/p>\n
Ford and racing have been intertwined since the early 1900s, when Henry Ford raced to get investor attention for his early car companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in racing for the halo that it gives Mustang and Ford, but also \u2014 just like we’ve learned so much in the Ford GT program that was transferred to other Ford road cars \u2014 we will continue learning on the racetrack to make (our) products better on the street,\u201d Rushbrook said.<\/p>\n
He is excited about the ‘Stang and ‘Vette rivalry \u2014 but also the chance to run against the world\u2019s best. Rushbrook expects race organizations from North America\u2019s IMSA to Europe\u2019s World Endurance Challenge to soon formally announce that GT classes will run under the same rules worldwide \u2014 just as they have done with a\u00a0hybrid-powered prototype\u00a0LMDh class that has already attracted performance giants like Cadillac, Porsche, BMW\u00a0and Audi.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many different global series,\u201d Rushbrook said. \u201cWhen they adopt the GT3 rules, then manufacturers and our private customers can race our car in IMSA and SRO in America. It can go race the 12 hours of Bathurst in Australia. It can race the 24 Hours of N\u00fcrburgring. It can race all around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
That dovetails with Ford\u2019s strategy to make the sixth-generation Mustang its first truly global offering \u2014 sold in 146 countries. Fans will see it run side-by-side against its global peers on track \u2014 including France\u2019s 24 Hours of Le Mans, the summit of international endurance racing.<\/p>\n
“This is an important part of Mustang and Corvette’s global strategy,” said veteran race watcher Steven Cole Smith, currently contributing editor to Autoweek and Grassroots Motorsports. “It’s one thing for manufacturers to race their cars, but when they can build race cars like the Mustang and Corvette GT3s and sell them to customers, they can also make money at it.”<\/p>\n
Multimatic Motorsports, the Canadian\u00a0specialty manufacturer that built the 2016, Le Mans-winning Ford GT, will engineer the Mustang GT3. Multimatic engineered a lesser, Mustang GT4 class car that will be competing in Daytona this weekend in IMSA\u2019s Michelin Pilot Challenge.<\/p>\n
Rushbrook said the Mustang GT3 will use a similar chassis and engine to the GT4 car, but will turn up the wick with 100-plus more horsepower, more advanced aerodynamics, more track width.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really liked the way the global racing bodies have created a ladder of classes to give us two different Mustangs to offer for sale to customer racers,\u201d Rushbrook said.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Ford Performance chose not to use the supercharged, 5.2-liter, 760-horsepower V-8 in its current showroom halo, the Mustang GT500.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rules allow you to use any engine from a Ford vehicle. In this case, we believe a naturally-aspirated V-8 engine is the best engine,\u201d the Ford Performance chief said. \u201cYou don’t want the complexity or weight of a turbocharger or supercharger.\u201d<\/p>\n
A mid-engine Corvette \u2014 or Ferrari, for that matter \u2014 is inherently superior to a front-engine Mustang. So GT3 rules allow for so called BOP (Balance of Performance) that levels the playing field by regulating power and weight.<\/p>\n
While the Ford brand has ditched its sedan lineup for SUVs, it has elevated its \u201cicons\u201d \u2014 the Mustang coupe, F-150 pickup, Bronco SUV. All three models compete in racing: the F-150 Raptor in the Baja 1000, the Bronco Raptor in King of the Hammers, and Mustang in NASCAR, GT4 and GT3 racing.<\/p>\n
Like the company’s founder, Ford\u2019s current CEO is a talented driver. When he\u2019s not signing checks for Ford to go racing, Jim Farley is on track in his own Lola T298 vintage racer.<\/p>\n
Might the 59-year-old CEO get a crack at the Daytona 24 Hour in the Mustang GT3?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would love to and would probably do a pretty good job,\u201d laughed Rushbrook. \u201cHe’s a racer for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
But for now, Ford is sticking with Le Mans-winning hot shoe Joey Hand as the Mustang GT3\u2019s development driver.<\/p>\n
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Detroit’s sportscar icons are going to war at Daytona. Ford announced it will enter a fire-breathing, V-8-powered Mustang GT3 race car to go head-to-head against Corvette in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. The pair will\u00a0join a who\u2019s who of the supercar universe \u2014 Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin \u2014 in the 2024 IMSA (International […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28661"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28662,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28661\/revisions\/28662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}