In the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Proton Racing fields two Ford Mustang GT3 race cars – and the duo brought home a decent finish when the checkers fell on the annual Lone Star Le Mans race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on September 7th, 2025.
Things got off to a strong start for the Ford Mustang GT3 teams, according to a report from Racer. Things kicked off with a front row lockout in qualifying. Giammarco Levorato, driving the No. 88 Mustang and Ben Tuck in the No. 77 Mustang traded the fastest times in the Hyperpole session, but Levorato edged out his Ford Racing teammate to seal the LMGT3 pole position. Tuck, meanwhile, started second, right beside the No. 88 Mustang.
“After I completed my first lap, they told me I was P2 and the sister car was P1,” Tuck said. “I didn’t even know they’d snuck into the session! It’s amazing for the brand, Proton and Multimatic. We’ve shown good pace in the last couple of races, but it just hasn’t clicked.”
The effort marked the first LMGT3 pole position for Ford Racing on its home turf at COTA – and it was the manufacturer’s first pole in the WEC since Spa in 2019. Their front-row lockout put Proton in high spirits before the green flag dropped, but unfortunately, it didn’t last. The No. 77 Mustang – tag-teamed by Tuck, Bernardo Sousa, and Ben Barker – was wrapped up in an early-race incident. The trio was able to recover, running well until tire strategy proved their undoing in the latter stages of the race.
Competitors that opted for Goodyear slicks became faster as the track, which had been drenched for much of the race, began to dry. Barker and the N0. 77 Ford Mustang GT3 fell victim to racers wearing slicks, falling to sixth place in the LMGT3 division, unable to keep up with competitors on an alternate tire strategy. The No. 88 Mustang, meanwhile, finished eighth.
It's unclear if any brand intends to debut something new there.
A truly custom ride in every regard.
The latest comments about that tech from a Ford exec.
An all-electric counterpart to the existing GLC.
He actually uses it on a farm, too.
View Comments
I watched the last part of the COTA race and looked like FORD had a real chance at winning, then reality hit me what was really happening in any endurance race is if you want to win you most 1st finish, and the real winners were the teams that were using the FORD Mustang as a pace car then shown there hand in the last few laps and left the Mustang in the dust, or spray in the last laps.