Tincknell Convinced Mustang GT3 Will Achieve “Big Things”

Harry Tincknell says he’s convinced that Ford’s new Mustang GT3 program is destined to achieve “big things” as the Blue Oval gears up for its factory assault on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Tincknell was named as one of four factory drivers who will take on the full season in the GTD Pro class with the Ford Multimatic Motorsports team, having been an integral part of the Mustang GT3’s development.

The British driver expressed confidence that he and full-season co-driver Mike Rockenfeller will be in a position to take the fight to the likes of Lexus and Corvette before long based on his experience in testing, as well as his past involvement with Ford and Multimatic.

“We did a lot of testing for durability stuff at Sebring in the summer, we’ve done a lot in Europe as well with the Goodyear and Pirelli [tire], and we’ve moved the car forwards with every single test,” Tincknell told Sportscar365.

“IMSA is an incredibly tough schedule for new cars, you have the ‘36 Hours of Florida’ [Rolex 24 at Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring] and straight away you have to be bomb-proof.

“Of course we’ll do our best to get the best results possible, but we are going into the unknown a bit with the Balance of Performance and stuff like that.

“But I am 100 percent confident that we have the car, the team and the OEM support to achieve big things. When that success comes… I don’t know if it will be a bit later in the season, but it will come.”

Tincknell was also part of Ford’s previous factory sports car racing effort with the GT from 2016-19, achieving multiple wins in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s GTE Pro class.

He also has close ties with Multimatic owing to his involvement in the Mazda DPi project from 2018-21.

“Honestly, there’s a real Ford family feeling that comes from the top down, starting with Edsel and Bill [Ford] and Jim [Farley, CEO],”  Tincknell added. “I felt like I never really left.

“The Ford GT program was a special program in general, but for me, besides one race with Nissan [with the ill-fated GT-R LM NISMO], it was my first proper factory program and actual promotional stuff with the OEM and it will always have a place in my heart.

“I think there was an unwritten understanding that when the next program comes along, we’ll give you a call.

“And that being run and designed by Multimatic, there are a lot of the same people as there were on the Ford GT program in the WEC, and some Mazda people as well, I feel very integrated in that set-up.”

Mustang Characteristics Suitable for Gentleman Drivers

As well as its sheer performance, Tincknell was also keen to highlight the Mustang GT3’s strength in allowing gentleman drivers to get close to the pace of the pros, something he has observed during the car’s development.

He noted that this will be a major advantage for Ford in the WEC, where Proton Competition will run two examples of the car in the all-new LMGT3 class in which one Bronze-rated driver is mandatory.

“The general characteristics of the car are that it has very good traction, very good in line braking,” explained Tincknell. “It’s quite easy to drive; we’re noticing a lot of the Bronzes are closer to the ultimate pace in the Ford compared to other manufacturers’ cars.

“We did a test in Barcelona on the day after the last round of GT World Challenge Europe, and there were guys driving the car who were maybe two or three seconds off their pro the day before who were suddenly within a second, which was amazing.

“It’s not a car where you really need to attack; it rewards being smooth and precise. A gentleman driver wouldn’t attack as much as a pro, but in this car if a pro driver attacks too much they don’t get anything from it. So it naturally closes everything up.

“In the WEC, the Bronze driver usually makes or breaks the race, as I’ve experienced doing GTE Am stuff the last couple of years, especially if there’s no safety cars. It’s very important that you have the complete package on that side.”