Yahoo Autos Ford Performance fills out global Mustang GT3 factory driver squad
Adding to the previously announced full-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship squads of Joey Hand/Dirk Müller and Harry Tincknell/Mike Rockenfeller, Ford Performance has announced five more drivers that will make up the factory team of drivers for GT3 programs around the world. Ben Barker, Chris Mies, Dennis Olsen, Andy Priaulx and Frédéric Vervisch will be deployed to Ford’s factory and customer teams in global GT3 competition.
Mies and Vervisch will drive the new Mustang GT3 at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and are getting seat time in the car at Daytona today. Mies will join Tincknell and Rockenfeller in the No. 64 Mustang, with Vervisch stepping into the No. 65 with Hand and Müller. Both cars will compete in the GTD PRO category, run by Multimatic Motorsports. That will be the first of many races in the first year of the Mustang GT3, as teams contest the FIA World Endurance Championship and GT World Challenge Europe as well.
“This is such an important and special year for Mustang — it will celebrate its 60th anniversary and we take Mustang racing globally,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports. “To take an icon like Mustang racing, we need a lineup of the best and most experienced GT racers, and our nine sports car factory drivers represent just that.
“Together with our partners at Multimatic Motorsports and our first customer teams Proton Competition and Dinamic GT, we are ready to take on the best in the world at the most iconic race circuits. I can’t wait to get started at Daytona in January.”
Ford’s group of nine sports car factory drivers will bring their endurance racing experience and knowledge to the various Mustang GT3 programs around the world. With teams slated to go racing in the three series previously mentioned and plans for more race series later in 2024, the sports car factory drivers are available to all of Ford’s customer teams, which so far include Proton Competition and Dinamic GT, subject to scheduling. The full driver lineups for these programs will be announced by the customer teams next year.
British driver Barker has competed regularly in WEC and GTWC-E, in addition to taking four class wins at the Bathurst 12 Hours. German racer Mies is a double ADAC GT Masters champion, a double winner of the Bathurst 12 Hour and also boasts two victories in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Olsen has spent the past two years in DTM. He also has an Intercontinental GT Challenge Championship victory under his belt.
Priaulx is best known for his three FIA World Touring Car championships, but he has also been part of the Ford and Multimatic Motorsports family since 2016 when he signed up to race alongside Tincknell in the Ford GT in WEC. Since the GT program concluded in 2019, he has been immersed with Multimatic, working on a number of special projects. He will act as a “super sub” and will be a pillar of knowledge in this factory squad. Belgian driver Vervisch, has been winning since the start of his career. He is also a two-time Nürburgring 24 Hours winner and a multi-championship winner in his Formula 3 career.
The Rolex 24 At Daytona will mark the competition debut of the Mustang GT3, the first GT3 car produced by Ford in conjunction with Multimatic.
