The Dark Horse-based Ford Mustang GT3 represents The Blue Oval’s competitor in the highest echelon of international sports car racing. Although it took a while for Ford Performance to find its footing with the new racer this season, it bounced back in a big way at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, landing a podium finish after the grueling day-long race. However, while Ford has found success in so far IMSA and the FIA WEC, that might be as far as the automaker plans to go.
In a recent report from Sportscar365, Ford Performance head Mark Rushbrook explained that The Blue Oval has no plans to advance its sports car racing program to include a GTP / Hypercar class entry, despite the sanctioning body’s announcement that it would extend the platform through the 2029 season. However, the possibility isn’t off the table, either.
“I believe motorsports everywhere around the world is very strong right now, especially sports car racing,” he said. “A lot of that is due to the organizations working together with convergence and stability. That’s what made GT3 possible for us. It also made prototype or Hypercar possible for many other manufacturers.”
He added, “If you look at the racing that’s going on there, it’s great racing, both on the IMSA and WEC sides. It makes sense for them to extend [the regulations]. By definition, it makes the runway longer. It doesn’t mean we’re taxiing to the runway.”
Rushbrook said that he feels Ford Performance is right at home in the GT3 and GT4 divisions. As such, he doesn’t see the need to expand into Hypercar competition, at least not yet.
“Yes we want to win but yes we also want to compete against the best,” he said. “That’s part of the challenge of GT3 is that there’s many manufacturers there. And it’s similar in prototype. It’s just a great space right now.”
In a similar vein, Ford CEO Jim Farley recently announced that the automaker ruled out the possibility of owning and operating its own Formula One team, further confirming that The Blue Oval is quite happy with its current racing efforts and doesn’t need to expand its programs.
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