We all need a place to start. No matter your ambition in life, it requires that first step or you are never going to reach the podium.

For a race car driver, that first step is usually in a go kart with the support of your friends and family. But then what? How do you move from dreamer to champion?

We are passionate about motorsports, and we want to encourage people to fulfill that passion. That’s the genesis behind the Ford Performance Driver Development Program: a way to help inspire and grow the next generation of our sport.

And now, we have seeded the future with seven of the most skilled young drivers in racing to create our first team of Ford Performance Junior Drivers.

Marco Signoretti (Canada), Erik Evans (USA), Nathan Vanspringel (Belgium), Robert Noaker (USA), Sam Paley (USA), and Jenson Altzman (USA) are members of the inaugural program.

All six showed real promise on the track but had to face a panel of Ford Performance leaders to answer questions across a broad spectrum of their racing lives, from how they interact with engineers at the racetrack to how they handle media or high-pressure scenarios. All passed the test with flying colors.

Additionally, Ford Performance partner Haupt Racing Team in Europe is supporting two silver rated drivers for 2025. Salman Owega (Germany) and Finn Wiebelhaus (Germany) have been named Ford Performance GT3 Junior Drivers and will receive support more relevant to their career progression as they race Mustang GT3.

Yes, there are other programs in the industry that help to develop young talent. Some that can even take you from entry level up to Le Mans. But none with our approach.

We are the only manufacturer with the strategy that can develop a driver – and a race team or marketing partner – from entry level one-make Mustang Cup racing to the highly competitive and professional Mustang Challenge, all the way through to international GT4 racing and into GT3 at Le Mans.

And all on the same vehicle platform: Mustang.

No one else can offer that familiarity and the increasing challenges up the motorsport pyramid.

One goal of the Ford Performance Driver Development Program: To better prepare drivers for how intense racing – at any level – can be.

Of course, we keep our eye on the stopwatch. We are all competitors, but the experience is about more than winning.

That’s why drivers involved in the development program will compete in race series around the globe under the mentorship of some of the best minds in motorsports.  

Ford Multimatic Motorsports factory driver Mike Rockenfeller will mentor the Junior Drivers in North America, while his counterpart, touring car and sports car legend Andy Priaulx, will do the same in Europe.

But Rocky and Andy aren’t there to talk only about braking points and line adjustments. They and our team of specialists in engineering, marketing, communications, plus physical and mental fitness professionals, are there to help make the driver over the course of their career – not just a lap.

It’s this continuous feedback loop, plus the additional tools and skills, that we feel sets our program apart.

Tamara Falkenstein is Ford Performance manager of driving experiences.

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2025 Ford Performance Junior Driver Team

Marco Signoretti

Erik Evans

Nathan Vanspringel

Robert Noaker

Sam Paley

Jenson Altzman

2025 Ford Performance GT3 Junior Drivers
Salman Owega
Finn Wiebelhaus