{"id":32102,"date":"2024-01-24T19:37:39","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T23:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=32102"},"modified":"2024-01-24T19:38:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T23:38:38","slug":"we-race-to-perfect-the-machine-how-ford-is-embedding-motorsports-in-its-core-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/we-race-to-perfect-the-machine-how-ford-is-embedding-motorsports-in-its-core-business","title":{"rendered":"‘We race to perfect the machine.’ How Ford is embedding motorsports in its core business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlotte, N.C. \u2014<\/em>\u00a0The stars were out at the Ford Performance Season Launch in Charlotte this week. Fifty racing luminaries from Red Bull Formula One driver Sergio Perez to NASCAR champ Ryan Blaney to off-road wizard Vaughn Gittin Jr. to Funny Car drag racer Bob Tasca III showed off the breadth of the Blue Oval\u2019s international racing ambitions as it embarks on the 2024 racing season.<\/p>\n

On the doorstep of the racing world\u2019s epic season openers at Daytona \u2014 the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona on Jan. 27 and NASCAR\u2019s Daytona 500 on Feb. 18 \u2014 the event was an opportunity to digest the historic announcements Ford Motor Co. made over the last year as it embeds motorsports into its core, production business model in ways that performance icons like Porsche and Ferrari have done.<\/p>\n

Leading the parade is the thundering, V-8-powered Mustang, the world\u2019s best-selling sportscar, and an icon as important to Ford\u2019s future as the screaming, flat-6 cylinder Porsche 911 is to the German automaker.<\/p>\n

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Ford CEO Jim Farley with the new Mustang GT3 at Multimatic, the race shop building the track beasts for the Dearborn automaker. Griffith Bean, Endurance Photography<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Mustang flies the Ford flag in multiple race series: International Motor Sports Association, FIA World Endurance Challenge, NASCAR, Xfinity, NHRA drag racing, Mustang Challenge, Australian Supercar, GT4 and Formula Drift. This year, the Mustang GT3 race car will debut at IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Racing\u2019s Rolex 24, taking on Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette, McLaren, Lamborghini, BMW, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Lexus and Acura in the world\u2019s most watched sportscar series.<\/p>\n

Sold as a customer racing car, the GT3 program is a break from Ford\u2019s past as a factory-only team that won Le Mans in 1966 and 2016 (with, respectively, the Ford GT40 and GT).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do we race? To perfect the machine. We want to move our racing beyond a marketing expense and shift from a factory orientation to a customer orientation,\u201d said Ford CEO Jim Farley at a media tour at Mutimatic, the race shop building GT3 race cars for Ford in Charlotte. \u201cWe have shrink-wrapped our company around iconic models like the Mustang. From Aussie Supercar to drift racing to WEC to IMSA, Mustang is at every race track in every corner of the world. What other nameplate does that?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ford Performance Season Launch – Farley and Henry Ford racing history. Wes Duenkel, Ford<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Racing is in Ford\u2019s blood going back to its founding when Henry Ford secured investors by winning a 1901 race in his Sweepstakes racer. That DNA has been passed on to his great grandson, Ford executive chair Bill Ford Jr. \u2014 a passionate race fan who attended the Charlotte celebration \u2014 as well as Farley, an accomplished sportscar racer who has competed in his 1968 GT40 at the vintage Le Mans classic in France.<\/p>\n

At a time when government regulations are forcing automakers to make electric vehicles, Ford sees racing as a way to separate itself from the homogenization of the industry around self-driving, battery-powered models.<\/p>\n

\"FordFord Performance Season Launch – F1 driver Sergio Perez and Farley. Wes Duenkel, Ford<\/em><\/p>\n
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\u201cWe don\u2019t make commoditized vehicles!\u201d said Farley before extolling the virtues of the Mustang\u2019s V-8. \u201cIf we are the only ones on the planet making a V-8, then so be it. We will continue to invest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comment brought a roar from the hundreds of Ford enthusiasts and employees at the Season Launch event.<\/p>\n

NASCAR star Blaney followed Farley on stage to underscore the point. Motorsports put a premium on high-horsepower gas engines that can withstand long, open-throttle runs, complete efficient pit stops, and entertain fans. Blaney drove a 5.7-liter, 670-horsepower Team Penske Mustang V-8 to his first title in 2023.<\/p>\n

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Ford Racing Season Launch 2024 – the Mustang GT3 uses a 5.4-liter V-8 engine derived from the production Mustang GT. Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t a lot of people making V-8s anymore, but at Ford that\u2019s what we\u2019re all about,\u201d he said to more huzzahs.<\/p>\n

The event\u2019s other big cheer came for F1 Red Bull star Perez. Ford and Red Bull, the premier team in the world\u2019s premier motorsport, have partnered for the 2026 F1 season when the sport goes to a 50-50 gas-electric hybrid powertrain. Ford will supply the battery technology for the powerplant in the early stages of development at Red Bull\u2019s headquarters in England.<\/p>\n

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Multimatic engineers outfit the Mustang tub with a rollbar. Bob Chapman, Ford<\/em><\/p>\n
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Unlike the global Mustang GT3 and GT4 customer cars that will ring Ford\u2019s cash register, the F1 partnership has a traditional, marketing-and-technology-transfer focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cFormula One has blown up across the U.S.,\u201d said Farley, standing next to the Mexican driver, in reference to the unprecedented three U.S. Grand Prix events now on the F1 calendar. \u201cWe can offer battery technology to them, and we get aerodynamic and digital telemetry learning from them.\u201d<\/p>\n