Sixty years after the first Ford Mustang rolled off the production lines in 1964, three Mustang GT3s are racing this year in the 2024 World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Le Mans, France, better known as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This year’s race is a collaboration between Ford, Multimatic Motorsports, M-Sport, and Proton Competition, a highly successful Germany-based racing team. While three Mustangs raced at Le Mans previously, this year’s concentrated effort in the World Endurance Championship program is the first such focused campaign.
Why does racing a Mustang GT3 at Le Mans matter?
CEO Jim Farley explains Ford’s perspective in entering Mustang GT3s in Le Mans this way, “The Ford Mustang has raced in circuits across the world for decades, and now is the time for us to race our iconic coupe at the most important race in the world.”
In addition to responding to the competitive itch in Ford’s bloodlines, the Le Mans race cars can also help the company’s road car marketing efforts. During the June 13-16 event at Le Mans, Ford is also debuting the Mustang GTD, “a roadgoing version of the Mustang GT3.” The Mustang GTD, which can run quarter miles in under 7 seconds, is a limited edition Mustang with an estimated price tag well north of $300K.
Ford’s strategy for Le Mans and beyond
Ford’s greater plan is to foster excitement for Ford racing in a range of competition series worldwide, competing with Mustangs, Ford GT4 race cars, and more. Ford’s involvement with the Formula1 Red Bull team is another example of the company’s interest in motorsports competitions.
“We race to win and also to build our Ford Performance community, and our hope is that fans at Le Mans get as much excitement from the off-track experiences as they get from attending the race itself. This is an exciting time to be a fan of Mustang,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports.
