Ford Plotting Global Expansion of Single-Make Mustang Series

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford

Ford is plotting a global expansion of its Mustang Challenge and Mustang Cups, with the first overseas series set to appear in Australia next year.

The Detroit manufacturer, which debuted Mustang Challenge featuring the Ford Mustang Dark Horse R in 2025, added a Mustang Cup, sanctioned by USAC, this year, which serves as a stepping stone into the IMSA-sanctioned series.

Plans are now underway to introduce a Mustang Cup to Australia next year, with additional regions actively being evaluated according to Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook.

“We’ve been very open about our ambition,” he told Sportscar365. “I love hearing all of the Dark Horse Rs on the track at Laguna Seca.

“I can’t wait until June at the Le Mans [Invitational]. I’m going to literally go out to Mulsanne just because I want to hear those Coyote engines screaming down the Mulsanne.

“Adding the Mustang Cup in [the U.S.] has been a good addition for us. But we want to do it globally as well. There’s been so much interest in Australia, especially with Andrew Miedecke and his family and what they’re doing.

“We have six Mustang GT4s in the country now, two more on their way, so a total of eight there and there’s a lot of interest from the drivers in the country to come and race at Le Mans with those cars.

“That’s the next logical step for us to go to Australia with that series. But we want to do more.”

The international race debut of the Dark Horse R will come at Le Mans next month, with the inaugural Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational, where more than 35 cars are expected, uniting drivers from around the world.

According to Chris Ward, Ford Performance’s global one-make series manager, interest has been “super strong” for the car in a number of overseas markets.

“We have proactively shipped a car to the UK, Europe and Australia, not as any indication that those would be the next markets, but those are three cars we had available and we wanted to test the temperatures in market for the car,” Ward told Sportscar365.

“Now we’ve got the job to do. We don’t want to expand too fast, too soon. We have some work to do in-house to strengthen and further grow our customer racing department, which we’re actively on.

“But we’re really, really excited about the response to the car globally.”

Rushbrook admitted that a European Mustang Challenge or Cup “would make sense” as the next step after Australia, although, like Ward, stressed that it is taking a measured approach to the growth of the single-make series.

A European series would not likely appear until 2027 at the earliest, which could coincide with its Hypercar debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Rushbrook revealed that it wasn’t Ford Performance’s initial plan to have both Mustang Challenge and Cups but now sees it as a prime opportunity for its sports car ladder system.

“We initially thought it was just going to be one spec series,” he said. “But as that opportunity came to add Mustang Cup [in the U.S.] and to provide two steps within the spec series, that makes sense in different countries and it may be one or the other or both.”

Rushbrook on Newly Unified Ford Performance Operation

For Rushbrook, who now oversees Ford Performance’s production car unit in addition to its motorsport programs as part of a strategic alignment, the move is expected to bring even more synergies to the ever-expanding organization.

“When I came to [Ford] Motorsport Racing, as it was called at the end of 2013, there were eight people in the team,” he said. “Now we’re in motorsports, we’re just over 100 [people], which still isn’t enough, which is why we’re hiring more people.

“The total size of our [Ford Performance motorsports and road car] team is 250 and growing quickly.

“The reason we’ve combined is that a lot of it is in the innovation of tech transfer, to make sure we really are taking everything we learn in racing and making sure it gets into our performance cars and trucks or vice-versa.”

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