Ford’s Mies Entering Bathurst With Measured Expectations

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford

Christopher Mies is entering this weekend’s Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour with measured expectations, admitting he doesn’t expect to fight for overall victory in the Ford Mustang GT3’s debut at Mount Panorama.

The two-time race winner, who is making his first Bathurst start since 2023, has teamed up with fellow Ford Racing factory driver Dennis Olsen and Australian Supercars star Broc Feeney in HRT Ford Racing’s Pro class effort.

While being billed as one of the most high-profile efforts in the Intercontinental GT Challenge season opener, Mies believes that it will be very much a learning year for the German squad, particularly as the Mustang GT3 has no previous experience on the track.

“It’s our first year so I wouldn’t expect that we fight for the outright win straight away but I also believe the car will be very good there,” Mies told Sportscar365.

“The car belongs at this kind of track. We’ve seen it at the Nordschleife. It’s kind of similar from the layout.

“Obviously we have just one car. It’s probably not as big [of an effort] if we had two cars here. We have to go through the setups and the time on track is limited.

“I think we will be good. But to be honest, we need to see how good the competition is and we need to do our thing, with no mistakes and hopefully find a good setup right away.”

Olsen, who has returned to Mount Panorama since being part of the winning crew in 2019 aboard an Earl Bamber Motorsport-run Porsche 911 GT3 R, echoed Mies’ sentiments, although is hopeful the top speed of the Coyote V8 could put them into contention.

“It’s going to be a big challenge for us,” he told Sportscar365. “It’s the first time with a Mustang GT3.

“Last time when I raced there, we raced against another car that was quick on the straight and that made our life very difficult to get that lead.

“This time around we should be the quick ones on the straight.

“But we’re coming here with a bit of an open mindset, as none of us have been here with the car.

“I have full confidence in the team and Ford Racing and Multimatic, which is also supporting us in the background to put is in the right window to be able to be competitive.

“It’s going to be challenging to come back for both Chris and me. It’s been a little while since we’ve been here, so we’re going to try our best and try to recover.

“The track has a lot of evolution throughout the weekend, so it’s really step by step to build the pace up.

“It’s quite easy to make a big mistake early on. That could end your weekend.

“We’ve got to do step by step and get familiar with the car around the circuit, as well as finding the right setup.”

Mies Has “No Doubt” That “Animal” Feeney Will Be Up to Speed Quickly

Mies, who claimed back-to-back Bathurst 12 Hour wins in the first two editions of the race that featured GT3 machinery in 2011-12, said he has full confidence in their third driver Feeney, who will be making his Mustang GT3 debut.

The reigning GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS champion, who also won the Sprint Cup portion of the Supercars season last year, will be making his first official start in a Ford ahead of Triple Eight Race Engineering’s switch to the Supercars Mustang this season.

“He has GT3 experience and every year he drives GT World Challenge Australia, so it’s not like he’s jumping into cold water,” said Mies.

“Obviously in Supercars, he’s an absolute animal behind the wheel. He knows how to drive cars. He knows the track probably better than Dennis and I do.

“I have no doubt he will be on pace straight away.”

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