Ford Mustang GT3

Ford Mustang GT3
	The Ford Mustang GT3 being driven at the 2024 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
Category	IMSA SportsCar Championship (GTD Pro & GTD); FIA World Endurance Championship (LMGT3); GT World Challenge Europe
Constructor	Ford (Multimatic)
Designer(s)	Anthony Colard (Design Manager, Ford Performance)
Technical specifications
Engine	Ford Coyote 5.4 L (330 cu in) V8 naturally aspirated, Front-engine
Transmission	Xtrac racing transaxle with ESA shift 6-speed sequential manual
Power	550 hp (410 kW)
Weight	1289 kg
Fuel	TotalEnergies (WEC); VP Racing Fuels (IMSA)
Competition history
Notable entrants	Multimatic Motorsports; Proton Competition;
Notable drivers	Mike Rockenfeller; Joey Hand; Christopher Mies; Harry Tincknell
Debut	2024 24 Hours of Daytona

The Ford Mustang GT3 is a racing car designed and developed by Ford Performance and Multimatic Motorsports according to GT3 regulations.^[2]^[3] In 2022 it was announced that the Ford Mustang GT3 is in development. The car is the race variant of the seventh-generation edition of the Ford Mustang. It was unveiled as part of the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 9, 2023. Its first race was the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona. It competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the FIA WEC as well as other major GT races such as the 24 Hours of Spa. The German racing team Proton Competition has been confirmed as the first customer team to run the Ford Mustang GT3.^[4]

Powertrain

The Ford Mustang GT3 car is powered by 5.4-litre naturally aspirated Ford Coyote-based V8 which was developed by Ford Performance and their long-term partner in the World Rally Championship M-Sport. For better weight distribution they moved the Six speed Xtrac racing transaxle with ESA shift to the rear axle. Also, there are Bosch Motorsport MS6.4 ECU, Four-plate AP racing clutch as well as MEGA-line E-clutch actuation built into the car.^[5]

Chassis

The chassis is based on the seventh-generation Mustang. It features a FIA homologated fully-integrated compliant racing cage as well as other safety devices. It has Multimatic five-way adjustable DSSV dampers, a double wishbone suspension on both axles and Alcon brake discs.^[5] The Ford is equipped with a highly developed aero-package and has quickly replaceable parts of carbon fiber bodywork which caused some issues in the races when boot lids and diffusers came loose or completely fell off the race cars.^[6]

Teams

Team	Competition	Entries
Gradient Racing	IMSA SportsCar Championship (GTD class: from 2025)	IMSA: #66
Haupt Racing Team	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie / Nürburgring 24 Hours (SP9 class) (from 2025)	DTM: #68, #TBC GTWC Europe: #TBC NLS/N24: #TBC
Proton Competition	FIA WEC, GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup,^[7] IMSA SportsCar Championship (GTD class)	WEC: #77, #88 GTWC Europe: #64 IMSA: #55
Multimatic Motorsports	IMSA SportsCar Championship (GTD Pro class)	IMSA: #64, #65

Successes

In its first season the Ford Mustang GT3 experienced a couple of tough races. Even though some problems^[6] the #64 Ford run by Multimatic Motorsports achieved a second-place finish at Virginia International Raceway in the GTD Pro class. On the same race weekend the Mustang by Proton Competition also achieved the first pole position for a Ford Mustang GT3 car.^[8]

However, the biggest achievement was the podium at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans when the #88 scored a third place at the famous race.^[9]

Racing results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in italics indicates fastest lap.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	Rds.	Rounds										Pos.	Pts.
Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	Rds.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pos.	Pts.
2024	Ford Multimatic Motorsports	GTD Pro	Mike Rockenfeller Harry Tincknell Christopher Mies	64	All All 1-2	DAY 6	SEB 7	LGA 9	DET 11	WGL 5	MOS 4	ELK 10	VIR 2	IMS	PET	8th*	2176*
	Ford Multimatic Motorsports	GTD Pro	Joey Hand Dirk Müller Frédéric Vervisch	65	All All 1-2	DAY 9	SEB 8	LGA 8	DET 6	WGL 10	MOS 7	ELK 8	VIR 4	IMS	PET	9th*	2070*
	Proton Competition	GTD	Giammarco Levorato Corey Lewis Ryan Hardwick Dennis Olsen	55	All All 1-2, 5 1	DAY 20	SEB 16	LBH 5	LGA 7	WGL 17	MOS 12	ELK 8	VIR 8	IMS	PET	13th*	1731*

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in italics indicates fastest lap.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	Rds.	Rounds								Pos.	Pts.
Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	Rds.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pos.	Pts.
2024	Proton Competition	LMGT3	John Hartshorne Christopher Mies Ben Tuck	44	4 4 4	QAT	IMO	SPA	LMS 4	SAP	COA	FUJ	BHR	NC*	0*
			Ben Barker Ryan Hardwick Zacharie Robichon	77	All All All	QAT 11	IMO 9	SPA 9	LMS 17	SAP 7	COA 6	FUJ	BHR	14th*	18*
			Dennis Olsen Mikkel O. Pedersen Giorgio Roda Christian Ried Ben Keating	88	All All 1-4 5, 7 6	QAT 9	IMO Ret	SPA 8	LMS 3	SAP 13	COA NC	FUJ	BHR	9th*	37*

References

^ "Anthony Colard: designer des Mustang GTD et GT3" [Anthony Colard: designer of the Mustang GTD and GT3]. Pony 'N Snake. September 3, 2024. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
^ Ford (September 3, 2024). "Ford Mustang® GT3 Race Car". www.ford.com. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
^ Multimatic Motorsports (September 3, 2024). "Ford Mustang® GT3 Bred to Race". www.multimaticmotorsports.com. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
^ Ford Media (June 9, 2023). "Ford kehrt 2024 mit dem Mustang GT3 in den GT-Rennsport und zu den 24 Stunden von Le Mans zurück". media.ford.com. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Ford Performance and Multimatic Motorsports (August 5, 2024). "FORD MUSTANG GT3: BRED TO RACE" (PDF). www.multimaticmotorsports.com. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Purcell, Alexandra (May 11, 2024). "FIA approves fix for Ford Mustang GT3". fordauthority.com. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
^ GT World Challenge Europe (September 4, 2024). "Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3". www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
^ MediaProton (August 25, 2024). "Proton Competition holt in Virginia die weltweit erste Pole für den neuen Ford Mustang GT3". proton-competition.com. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
^ MediaProton (June 16, 2024). "Podium in Le Mans für Proton Competition und den Ford Mustang GT3". proton-competition.com. Retrieved September 4, 2024.