Multimatic’s Mustang GT3 Ponies Up for Ford at VIR

• Harry Tincknell and Mike Rockenfeller stood second on the podium in the GTD Pro class.

• Their teammates, Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller finished fourth, completing the team’s best showing of the season.

• The challenges of VIR’s high-speed, precision course indicate Multimatic may have turned the corner and a first win is just around the corner.

A no-nonsense leader, Larry Holt directs the bold effort by Ford to drop its new Mustang GT3 into the cauldron of the IMSA WeatherTech Championship, where 10 other manufacturers have far more experience in the now universal GT3 formula.

Prior to the sprint race at VIRginia International Raceway, Holt gave a Sunday morning sermon to his Multimatic Motorsports crew. The team was preparing to start its eighth race and was still looking for its first podium finish, a sheepish showing given the backing of Ford Performance.

“Today’s the day we’re going to execute,” said Holt, the vice president of Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations and the hands-on director of the factory-backed IMSA entries.

By the end of the 2 hour 40-minute Michelin GT Challenge, Harry Tincknell and Mike Rockenfeller stood second on the podium in the GTD Pro class. Their teammates, Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller finished fourth, completing the team’s best showing of the season, which came in a race for the WeatherTech’s GTD cars only.

“We’re racing against some cars that have been racing for six or seven years and our learning curve is huge,” said Tincknell. “It feels great to be here and it’ll feel even better to be one step higher on the podium.”

Holt’s prerace sermon was timely. On Saturday, Giammarco Levarto’s hot lap during GTD qualifying earned the first Mustang GT3 pole worldwide. He was driving a sister car run by Proton Competition in the class requiring at least one silver or bronze driver.

Given their strength on the straights aided by the weight adjustments of the BOP, which can only help tire wear, the cynics might suggest the Mustangs have been better at blocking than passing.

Does the Mustang GT3 now have the handling to match its chutzpah, which comes in the form of its V8 torque and horsepower? Due to a relative lack of downforce, the Mustang has been lagging in the twisty sections. But the challenges of VIR’s high-speed, precision course indicate Multimatic may have turned that corner.

“You look at the layout on a track map,” said Tincknell, “and I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was going to play to our strengths. But the car really worked well through the esses. You can see that by all the Mustangs running up there. I think we’re improving at every track across the board, but certainly this one was a good one.”

After wrecking his Mustang and knocking a Corvette Z06 GT3.R off course on the opening lap at Road America, “Rocky” was conservative in his closing stint, focused on keeping the faster Aston Martin Vantage of Ross Gunn behind him. He had a shot to challenge Snow in the BMW down the long straight on the final restart with less twenty minutes remaining, but decided to hold serve.

“I was checking more in the mirror because the Aston Martin boys were really fast,” said Rockenfeller. “We could see that. My goal was really to stay in second. If there would have been a chance, I would have loved to take the opportunity. It looked like the BMW had it under control all race long.”

Gunn turned the race’s fastest lap, followed by Tincknell and Mueller, each quicker on their fastest laps than Snow in the winning BMW. The winners started from the pole and proceeded to win a second straight race at VIR and first in the GTD Pro class for Paul Miller Racing. Tincknell started third, then took second from the Corvette of Antonio Garcia. A decision to short pit on the first stop kept Rockenfeller in second.

The No. 65 Mustang of Mueller emerged after the pit stops in second initially, but had to serve a penalty for refueling below the minimum time prescribed by IMSA. Due to penalties to other teams and the mechanical gremlins that struck both Corvettes, Mueller was able to claw his way back to fourth. Proton’s No. 55 Mustang fell to eighth in the GTD class at the finish after an off-course excursion by Corey Lewis.

It wasn’t the first time this season the Multimatic Mustangs have been in the front-running, but much of that has resulted from Holt’s decision to be aggressive on pit strategy and try different approaches, particularly in the endurance events.

Proton Competition’s Mustang GT3 entry at Le Mans finished third, a good indicator of how longer events can level the playing field in GT3. The WeatherTech season’s final two races are a six-hour at Indy and the Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The Mustangs still need to be more efficient at powering out of the corners, but if the mid-corner speed displayed at VIR is maintained on the track surfaces at Indy and Road Atlanta, the combination of pit strategy and overall speed could lead to the top step of the podium.

“That first win is just around the corner,” said Tincknell.

No pun intended.