The Ford Mustang Dark Horse R joined the seventh-generation Mustang herd as the latest track-ready pony car following the successful debut of the GT3 and GT4 racers. Ford Performance swiftly introduced the Mustang Challenge series, an all-Mustang Dark Horse R racing division designed to showcase the pony car’s power and speed. Turns out, The Blue Oval has some lofty goals for the series and plans to introduce it on a global stage.
In a recent report from Racer, Scott Bartlett, Ford Performance global sports car marketing manager, spoke on the ongoing success of the Mustang Challenge, and where the automaker plans to take the series. The Mustang Challenge offers a relatively approachable starting point for racers interested in running a Ford Mustang program, serving as a springboard for future competitors in the GT4 and GT3-spec classes.
The goal is to reach as many potential competitors as possible, and to do that, the Mustang Challenge could soon be launched in several markets overseas.
“It’s the start of our aspiration to grow this. It’s not just a U.S.-only series that we plan on having, Dark Horse is global, so the series behind it needs to be global,” Bartlett said.
He added, “We want to go across the Atlantic and across the Pacific in some cases. [Ford CEO] Jim Farley and [Ford Performance head] Mark Rushbrook want to see growth in Mustang Challenge around the world in Australia, Europe, and wherever there’s demand. We need demand, infrastructure and partners. We are actively working on what a support network would look like in different markets.
“We’re working towards growth, because Dark Horse R will be going international for sure, beyond just Le Mans.”
Comments
Jim’s insane obsession continues.
How many “Mustangs” would have to be sold to pay for the annual cost of campaigning the these cars?
The delusion that “racing success results in sales success” is a marketing relic further made irrelevant by that fact Mustang sales are in the tank and dropping fast.
Ford is a light truck company. Aspirations to be more than that are folly.
GM should do the same thing. What’s that you say they don’t have anything similar? LOL