Ford back at Le Mans in 2024 with new Mustang GT3

With 2024 marking a change in sports car racing regulations from the current LM GTE Am class to the more widely accepted and cheaper GT3, Ford has revealed its challenger for next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Showcased on the eve of the endurance race’s 100^th anniversary this weekend, the Mustang GT3 marks the Blue Oval’s return to top flight GT competition at La Sarthe for the first time since 2019 with the modern interpretation of the GT.

Joint effort

Backed by Ford Performance and built by long-time partner Multimatic Motorsport as well as M-Sport that runs Dearborn’s World Rally Championship (WRC) programme with the Puma Rally1, the GT3 is based on the Mustang Dark Horse and sports a race tuned normally aspirated 5.4-litre Coyote V8, carbon fibre body, a rear axle mounted gearbox and a GT3 required aero package.

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“Ford and Le Mans are bound together by history. And now we’re coming back to the most dramatic, most rewarding and most important race in the world,” Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley said.

“Going back to Le Mans is the beginning of building a global motorsports business with Mustang”.

Big task

At the same time, Ford Performance’s Global Director for Motorsport, Mark Rushbrook, remarked, “For a project like the Mustang GT3, we turned to two of our most trusted partners in the motorsports world to help bring this vehicle and program together.

“I know we’ll all be as thrilled as Ford fans when Mustang begins racing at the highest levels of GT racing in 2024,” he said.

First buyers already snapped

In addition to debuting the GT3, Ford also revealed that long-time former Porsche prominent at Le Mans, Proton Competition, had signed on as the first customer team to race the Mustang in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

“This is a very important program and an exciting moment for our organisation. The Mustang is a great brand and this is an important step for our team. We look forward to joining with Ford starting in 2024,” Proton Competition boss and multiple former Le Mans competitor, Christian Ried, said.

Before its assault on Le Mans, the Mustang GT3 Dark Horse will make its maiden appearance earlier when it heads out onto the banks of Daytona in January for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, round one of the North American IMSA GT series.

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