Image: Ford
On-track testing of the Ford Mustang GT3 is set to begin this month according to Ford Performance global motorsports director Mark Rushbrook, who confirmed plans for a partial global rollout beginning in 2024.
Development of the Multimatic-built car, which was first revealed in the digital launch of the new-generation Mustang platforms last September, has continued in recent months, with the build of the first chassis understood to be nearing completion.
Speaking with Sportscar365 at Daytona International Speedway last weekend, Rushbrook outlined the initial testing plans that will be undertaken by Multimatic Motorsports.
“We’ll test throughout the program before homologation,” he said. “We’ll have two cars. We will test in North America and in Europe.
“[Multimatic’s] got a great footprint in the UK with their shop there and everything.”
Rushbrook indicated Ford will be focused on the North American and European markets only in the car’s launch year, stating that it would be “global” but “not fully global” at first.
“We will have a priority to have the factory cars in IMSA,” Rushbrook said.
“But we wouldn’t want to only do that. We’ll have customer cars for North America but we’ll also have customer cars in Europe for the first year.”
He said having customer cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s new LMGT3 category will also “absolutely” be a priority in 2024.
“When we look at all of the places these cars race, both GT4 and GT3, it’s important for us to be in all of the places with that,” he said.
“We’re not doing the program just to be a factory program in IMSA. We’re not doing the program just to go to WEC and Le Mans.
“It’s important to us but what we really love with the GT convergence is the stability that we can take that same car to race in IMSA and WEC and at Le Mans.
“With what Stephane Ratel and his team has done globally with SRO, there are so many great series they have around the world that we can take Mustang — as the best-selling global sports car in the world — and race it around the world.
“That is important to us and we couldn’t do that before with the GT. Now we can with this Mustang.”
Rushbrook wouldn’t confirm the number of factory drivers the manufacturer will employ, although indicated they would like to have a surplus to accommodate customer teams’ needs as well.
“Our plan is to have a roster of drivers,” he said. “We’ll have the four full-time guys for the IMSA program. ‘X’ will be something greater than four as we do need drivers for the endurance races.
“But we also want to have a stable of drivers so we can support customer teams that need and want them.”
New Mustang GT4 Delivery Schedule Outlined
Rushbrook confirmed the new Mustang GT4, also based on the seventh-generation production car, will be available to customers later this year.
He expects for Multimatic to produce between 30-50 units across the initial production cycle.
“We should complete homologation in the third quarter of this year and we’ll have customer cars already in build to deliver later in the year,” Rushbrook explained.
“We did the digital reveal in September when we showed the new road car and we’ve had incredible interest around the world for it.”
Rushbrook said they’re considering running a “test race” with the car before the end of this year.
“We’ll see if that happens or not,” he said. “We’re not committed to running it specifically with Multimatic or with a customer team, we’ll just see how it develops.”
Intercontinental GT Challenge
HRT Switches to Ford in New Long-Term Partnership
