{"id":32146,"date":"2024-02-02T10:09:18","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T14:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=32146"},"modified":"2024-02-02T10:09:18","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T14:09:18","slug":"ford-vs-everyone-automaker-opens-new-chapter-at-daytona-with-mustang-gt3-gtd-supercar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/ford-vs-everyone-automaker-opens-new-chapter-at-daytona-with-mustang-gt3-gtd-supercar","title":{"rendered":"Ford vs. Everyone: Automaker opens new chapter at Daytona with Mustang GT3\/GTD supercar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daytona Beach<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Standing in front of the lean, mean Mustang GT3 racing machine in the Ford Motor Co. garage at Daytona International Raceway, Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. recounted his ah-ha moment when he realized Mustang could take on the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in Dubai in November 2014 as part of our international tour announcing that we were taking the sixth-generation Mustang global,\u201d Ford said over the cacophony of race mechanics preparing the GT3 for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. \u201cAfter our announcement, I was swarmed by passionate Mustang owners wearing Mustang jackets and shorts from Eastern Europe and the Middle East \u2014\u00a0countries that we didn\u2019t even sell in it yet!<\/em>\u00a0That\u2019s what Mustang is about. We want to re-ignite people\u2019s love affair with cars.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was hard to understate the size of Ford\u2019s ambition at this year\u2019s 24 Hours of Daytona, the launch of the international sportscar racing season.<\/p>\n

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Bill Ford Jr. (left) with Mustang GT3 driver Dirk M\u00fcller inside the Ford garage at the 2024 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. M\u00fcller and his teammates would take the Mustang to first place in class in its race debut before mechanical problems se them back.<\/em><\/p>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n

If 1966 was Ford v Ferrari, then 2024 is Ford v Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin Mercedes, Acura, Corvette McLaren. To borrow a Detroit mantra, Ford vs. Everybody.<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s big guns were all here. Its executive chairman was in the pits (shades of Henry the Deuce at the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hour) and working the crowd at the Ford infield display; its ground-shaking V8-powered race car was pounding around the track, and its 800-plus horsepower, bi-wing, $300,000 Mustang GTD supercar was the most outrageous car in an infield midway that showcased everything from BMWs to \u2018Vettes to the Lamborghini Revuelto.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, we\u2019re racing in the international GT3 class. We\u2019re the world\u2019s best-selling sportscar,\u201d smiled Mustang marketing guru Jim Owens when asked why Mustang was mixing it up with six-figure, luxury brand cars like Porsche 911, McLaren 720S and Aston Martin Vantage.<\/p>\n

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Ford Mutang at Rolex 24. #64: Ford Multimatic Motorsports, Ford Mustang GT3, GTD PRO: Harry Tincknell, Mike Rockenfeller, Christopher Mies. Courtesy of IMSA<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But the GTD betrays Ford\u2019s larger goal: it wants to prove it can make cars every bit as capable as European supercars even as it sells in much greater volume in 144 countries worldwide.<\/p>\n

The GTD is based on the GT3 race car, but doesn\u2019t have to conform to IMSA racing regulations that regulate horsepower and suspension technology in order to maintain a balance of performance between competitors, encourage close competition, and keep costs down. Whereas the GT3 race car is limited to 495 horsepower, the GTD\u2019s supercharged V-8 pumps out a healthy 880 horses while also boasting active suspension and aerodynamic tricks outlawed in endurance racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll turn similar lap times as the Mustang GT3 race car,\u201d said Larry Holt, chief technical officer for Multimatic that builds both the GTD and the race car.<\/p>\n

The GTD is aimed squarely at the Porsche 911 GT3 RS\u2019s 6:44.8-minute lap around the N\u00fcrburgring race track in Germany. Thirteen miles long with 154 turns, the high-speed N\u00fcrburgring is the world\u2019s most formidable race track and the benchmark for production car performance.<\/p>\n

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Ford Mustang marketing guru Jim Owens talks about the Ford GTD with Rick Jeffrey, 63, of San Francisco at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re aiming for a sub-seven minute lap,\u201d said Mark Rushbrook, Ford Performance chief, of the lap time few production missiles have ever achieved.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s impressed Dr. Brett Rosenberg, 49, of Jupiter Florida, who circled the GTD at the Ford display. Rosenberg owns a garage-full of Porsche sportscars including a 2019 GT3 RS and is well aware that that GTD is going to N\u00fcrburgring to challenge Porsche. Orders for the limited edition GTD will soon open and Rosenberg may apply.<\/p>\n