Along with the debut of the all-new S650 generation 2024 Ford Mustang, The Blue Oval also revealed that it was set to embark on a major motorsports push with a variety of new Dark Horse-based models – including the Ford Mustang GT3 and GT4. That announcement conjured up tremendous interest in both new racers, and in the months since, Ford has revealed its factory driver lineup, a host of new liveries for the race cars, and pointed out that in testing, the “underdog” GT3 – specifically – has seriously impressed everyone thus far. Now, however, it seems as if those efforts have hit a bit of a snag ahead of the car’s debut at this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, according to Motorsport.com.
On the eve of the debut of Ford’s latest pony car-based racer, the Blue Oval team was reportedly slapped with a 15 kilogram – or around 33 pound – increase in its minimum weight requirements. The change was reportedly implemented after qualifying last Sunday and the beginning of free practice sessions over the past week, which are leading up to the start of the event this Saturday.
Ford wasn’t alone in these balance of performance (BOC) adjustments, but it did received the sharpest penalty, it seems. The purpose of this forced weight increase is to level the playing field, which is somewhat curious given the fact that the two Mustang GT3 factory cars wound up placing just ninth and 13th out of 13 cars during last week’s qualifying session. However, in subsequent track sessions, the same cars consistently ranked in the top three. Regardless, it seems as if Ford’s factory teams are now more focused on finishing the race rather than winning it.
“We are not complaining because this is a BoP category and when you come into a championship it will take a while for the organizers to work out where you should be,” said Mike Rockenfeller, who will compete in the #64 GTD Pro car with Harry Tincknell and Christopher Mies. “First of all we need to focus on ourselves and make sure we have a good race in terms of reliability. It is probably wrong to say we don’t have a chance – if we can get to the last four hours without having problems and then make the right calls on strategy, you never know.”
We’ll have more on the Mustang GT3 soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Mustang news and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
Comments
Ford went and showed off! corvettes ran with a 2×4 under gas pedal like they always do! Just BS games you have to play with IMSA!!
Hey, it’s IMSA after all. They make more changes than NHRA does with it’s Pro categories.
Got to make sure the Europeans are happy lest they pick up their toys and go home.