Mies: Driver Chemistry Key to Ford’s GTD Pro Title Fight

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford

Chris Mies believes that driver chemistry within Ford Racing’s factory lineup has been paying dividends around the world and also in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with the German and co-driver Fred Vervisch in the thick of the GTD Pro title battle.

The pilots of the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3 EVO enter this afternoon’s TireRack Battle on the Bricks tied for fourth in the points standings, just 67 points behind Paul Miller Racing’s Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen.

Five different teams and manufacturers remain in the hunt, in what’s turned into the most competitive class title fight with two races to go.

“We came from a three-digit point gap, reduced it quite a lot at Road America and VIR,” Mies told Sportscar365. “We’ve made good progress, and it’s very tight now.

“The first five cars in the drivers’ championship are very tight car.

“It will be two intense last races, I think. Hopefully we can stay out of trouble, have another good weekend, like we had the last two, and come out in front in the end.”

Vervisch added: “I think we’ve done an amazing job with the whole team, with the two cars and the 64 [car] helping us as well, because they had more bad luck.

“That made us still being in the mix, quite close. I really hope that we have a good race here so that we have a crazy finale.

“You think about the championship but also not. We need to just deliver and do as good as we can.”

The duo are coming off a four-race sequence of improving results, which began with a fifth place class finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, followed by a fourth at Road America and a third place finish in the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway.

Mies and Vervisch then teamed with fellow works driver Dennis Olsen to score pole and a second-place result in last weekend’s Suzuka 1000km, at the wheel of a Miedecke Motorsport/Team MPC Mustang GT3 EVO.

Both Mies and Vervisch believe that extra shared seat time in the car, even in a different series such as Intercontinental GT Challenge, has paid dividends for their IMSA GTD Pro title push.

“I think it’s always nice to come up out of a good weekend,” said Vervisch. “SRO and IMSA is quite different. But it gives a good vibe and we clearly see the car is improving; the EVO is working.

“We, as drivers, which is really nice, we know each other very well now and know what we want and not want.

“Now we’re driving again together [this weekend]. With Dennis on the other car, it’s all like one car.

“I think it only helps to work for the brand, for Ford. I feel it’s positive.”

Mies, Vervisch and Olsen also shared a Mustang GT3 EVO at the Nürburgring 24, while Mies and Olsen gave the car its Bathurst 12 Hour debut in February.

“This is nothing against Ben (Barker, No. 64 co-driver to Olsen), but I think the way things have evolved since the Nürburgring project, and obviously winning Daytona 2025, we just work well together,” said Mies.

“We have all the same vibe and understanding and what we want from the car. It matches and works well.”

Ford Drivers Went into Suzuka With “Low Expectations”

Vervisch admitted that he, Mies and Olsen entered last weekend’s IGTC round with “low expectations” given it was a new team to the car, a new chassis that was built up in the Suzuka paddock.

“It came out of the container and we didn’t shake it down,” said Vervisch. “There was rain also in the first practice, so that wasn’t ideal to see if everything worked.

“I think we took it session by session, day by day. We grew together and helped them as much as we could because we’re now quite experienced with the car.

“That really helped a lot with the outcome of the weekend. When we were on pole in qualifying… We took every opportunity we had and we did it.

“I think in the race we started to believe that we could do a really good job. Before the race we were just hoping we could do a podium, but there were other brands that were also very strong.

“The team was good and made no mistakes; we made no mistakes and at the end we finished P2, which was a nice result.”

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