Ford Mustang GT3 Racer Takes the Dark Horse to Le Mans
New race car is based off road-going Dark Horse; starts competing at Daytona 24 Hours in January.
Ford on Friday morning officially unveiled the Mustang GT3. Set to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year—and unveiled in France, just ahead of the 100th anniversary race this weekend—the GT3 succeeds the Ford GT in the global GT3 class, a car that saw a class victory in 2016.
The Mustang GT3 uses the upcoming 2024 road model as its base, specifically the top-performance Dark Horse. It uses a unique 5.4-liter version of the Coyote V8, developed by M-Sport, the company that Ford has previously partnered with for its World Rally Championship entries. Multimatic, the Canadian company which built the Ford GT, will also play an integral role in Mustang GT3 development.
The race car sees big changes for track duty, including carbon fiber body parts, a huge rear wing, a rear-mounted transaxle gearbox, and a unique suspension setup. Ford also debuted a new, simpler Ford Performance brand identity with the race car, all part of a retro-hued livery designed by motorsports designer Troy Lee.
“For a project like the Mustang GT3, we turned to two of our most trusted partners in the motorsports world to help bring this vehicle and program together,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports. “I know we’ll all be as thrilled as Ford fans when Mustang begins racing at the highest levels of GT racing in 2024.”
Ford is focusing on a customer program for the Mustang GT3, and has already signed the first in the form of Germany-based Proton Competition. Proton intends to field a pair of Mustang GT3s in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, including the famed Le Mans. Ford Performance itself will also campaign a two-car team in IMSA’s GTD Pro class, with Multimatic Motorsports managing. The cars’ first race will be next January at the Daytona twice-around-the-clock endurance.
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Kyle began his automotive obsession before he even started school, courtesy of a remote control Porsche and various LEGO sets. He later studied advertising and graphic design at Humber College, which led him to writing about cars (both real and digital). He is now a proud member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), where he was the Journalist of the Year runner-up for 2021.
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