Ford “Over the Moon” With Third in Mustang GT3’s Le Mans Debut

Photo: Drew Gibson/Ford

Multimatic’s Larry Holt said he’s “over the moon” with the first podium finish for the Ford Mustang GT3 coming in the car’s 24 Hours of Le Mans debut, following “total reliability” for the three Proton Competition-entered cars in LMGT3.

Dennis Olsen, Giorgio Roda and Mikkel O. Pedersen drove their No. 88 Mustang GT3 to a third place class finish in last weekend’s French endurance classic, marking the best finish to date for the Multimatic-built car in its first year of competition.

The three drivers shared the podium with Ford Motor Company executive chairman Bill Ford.

“I’m over the moon with this result,” said Holt, the Executive Vice President of Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations Group.

“Le Mans is the biggest sports car racing challenge in the world. I’ve had some great results here and I’ve also had some bad years here and I have to say that this is right up there with the greats.

“It wasn’t a win but a third-place podium, followed by a fourth place and total reliability gives us a lot to be happy about.

“We’ve engineered this car over the past 18 months and run it since Daytona. We’ve had ups and downs but when we ran at Le Mans last Sunday, I knew that it was going to be good.”

Having started 17th in class on the grid, the No. 88 Mustang GT3 climbed 13 positions in the opening hour with Ford Performance factory driver Dennis Olsen at the wheel.

“Once we got started with the race, driving through the field, I realized the package that we had underneath us,” said Olsen.

“It gave me motivation to go the extra mile and to take risks even in all the conditions we experienced in the race – like going flat-out in the wet.

“I wanted this outcome to happen. It was a pretty good last stint, and I’m very happy to be on the podium with Bill Ford himself. It was a proud moment for me.”

The result came after a challenging start to the WEC campaign for both of the full-season Proton Mustang GT3s, which had a combined best class finish of eighth prior to Le Mans.

“We’ve all been growing together,” Olsen added. “We all had to get to know each other in the beginning of the year, but we spent the time we had efficiently.

“Now, here we are on the podium at Le Mans. It’s Ford Performance, Multimatic Motorsports and Proton Competition sharing this as one group. I’m very proud of everyone.”

In addition to the No. 88 car, Proton’s third, Le Mans-only entry driven by Christopher Mies, John Hartshorne and Ben Tuck came home fourth in class., whereas the No. 77 Mustang GT3 of Ben Barker, Ryan Hardwick and Zach Robichon was classified in 46th overall.

The American manufacturer returned to Le Mans for the first time since 2019 following the conclusion of the factory Ford GT program that delivered a historic GTE-Pro class win in 2016.

“Today’s podium performance shows that Mustang can come and compete on the global stage against the best sports cars in the world,” said Ford Performance global motorsports director Mark Rushbrook.

“It is such a fantastic feeling to be able to do it in the first outing for Mustang at Le Mans.

“It’s a great testament to our company, our employees and all our fans who are celebrating Mustang’s 60th anniversary this year and all the great partners we have with Proton Competition, M-Sport and Multimatic Motorsports.

“We’re racing and winning all around the world, but to have a podium here at Le Mans is such a special moment.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John