Ford Mustang GT3 Race Car Unveiled, Ready for Le Mans, IMSA, and WEC in 2024
Ford is returning to endurance racing next year with this 500+ hp, Coyote-powered beast.
Ford's been pretty light on details regarding its next-gen Mustang GT3 race car since development was announced last year. We've seen short videos of track testing sessions and a few cryptic tweets from Ford CEO Jim Farley, but nothing specific—until today. On the eve of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ford has unveiled the Mustang GT3 in full and detailed plans to race the car in IMSA and WEC starting in 2024, including Le Mans next year.
Based on the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse road car performance trim, the Mustang GT3 is powered by a 5.4-liter Coyote V8, tuned to GT3 spec. That means it will produce between 500 and 600 horsepower, with the whole car weighing between 1200 kg and 1300 kg. Unlike the roadgoing Mustang, the GT3 gets double wishbone suspension, a rear-mounted transaxle, a carbon fiber body, and an extreme aero treatment.
In IMSA here in the US of A, Ford Performance will back a factory team managed by Multimatic Motorsports running in the GTD Pro class. In WEC, the Mustang GT3 will be campaigned by longtime German customer team Proton Racing, running with cars like the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, the Porsche 911 GT3 R, and the Ferrari 296 GT3. That means the Mustang will be entered in the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, almost three decades after it last competed there.
And it's a mixed bag for those hoping for a Clash of the Titans-style battle between Ford and Chevrolet at the Circuit de la Sarthe next year. Chevy recently confirmed it was ending its factory Corvette Racing team in 2024 as it preps a new Z06 GT3.R model that will be solely run by customer teams in WEC and IMSA. While the two cars will end up facing off, it sounds like direct manufacturer involvement in that particular battle won't happen.
The Ford Mustang GT3 project is being completed with several partners. Canadian automotive engineering firm Multimatic will help build the car, with Ford's WRC partner M-Sport assembling the engines. As a part of this announcement, Ford Performance also has a new logo, considerably simplified versus the old version. It's featured prominently on the car seen in these pictures.
The Mustang GT3 will see its first race at the 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona in January of next year. Ford—or at least Farley—has also mused publicly about building a road-legal version to create the ultimate performance Mustang. We'll keep our tip lines open for any word on that. Until then, enjoy the music:
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