This month, we will be challenged by three 24-hour and one six-hour endurance race – all of which are some of the most prominent events in motorsports. “Junemageddon” has been on our calendar for over a year now.
The 24-hour races and the experience of competing at Le Mans, Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps in consecutive weeks will be a challenge for everyone involved. But the European tour with the Mustang hitting each historic track? That will create stories to tell for a lifetime. And it all starts at home for us.
Each Mustang can be connected back to Michigan, which makes this whole program extremely special. Just think: The Mustang GT3 race cars all came down the exact same assembly line as the Mustangs you can buy from your local Ford dealership today. That’s what makes the GT3 category so special: You get this unique tie between the production cars and the race cars.
Having spent 61 years carving its legacy on roads and tracks, Mustang is much more than just an American icon. It has captured the hearts and minds of customers and fans all over the world. Today, this includes our return to DTM – which connects Mustang GT3 to a rich 30-year history of Ford racing in the series.
Our Ford factory victory at this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona proved reliability, durability and performance. It helped us develop all the tools, software and processes to be successful, which is a big benefit that comes from running a factory team in GT3. We’re very customer-focused, but with the factory team we can accelerate learnings and the development of the car. A lot of that was done in 2024, setting up what has been a very successful 2025.
We have confidence in what we’ve done. The factory team success was immediate this year, right at the start of the season in Daytona. We have the opportunity to share that success alongside great customer teams in Europe with Proton Competition and Haupt Racing Team, and in North America with Gradient and Dollahite, providing them a high level of support alongside our longtime collaborators Multimatic and M-Sport. The quality of their organizations leaves no doubt they will bring very competitive cars to the grid.
With our customer teams, we’re seeing growth in development every single weekend. In the FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 category, we’ve fostered success through our relentlessness. Proton Competition, which was our first customer in 2024, played an instrumental development role in the early stages and they have been delivering valuable insight and results since. As the team leading our overall WEC effort, they are consequently also heading up our Le Mans program. We showed promise at the Circuit de la Sarthe last year, and we have learned so much together since then.
Proton Competition successfully translated their 2024 momentum into the Mustang GT3's highest European finish so far: second place at Spa-Francorchamps. This result propels us toward Le Mans, where we target a second consecutive podium and have our sights firmly set on the top step.
June 14-15: 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pre-race ceremony for the 24 Hours of Le Mans creates this intense dichotomy – it amplifies that feeling of stress and nervousness. Despite investing an overwhelming amount of preparation and passion into the program, you wonder, "What did we miss?" But you also experience this rush of pure excitement, because anything is possible. The next 24 hours may be the highlight of your career and create memories you’ll cherish forever.
We will have two Mustang GT3 race cars in the field this year. Competing in the LMGT3 class will be the Proton Competition entered No. 77 driven by Ben Barker, Ben Tuck and Bernardo Sousa. Their team car, the No. 88, will have Dennis Olsen, Giammarco Levorato and Stefano Gattuso behind the wheel. That is a winning combination in both machines. A lot can happen in 24 hours, but we have a team – engineers, drivers and mechanics – that can return us to the top step of the podium.
Le Mans is set to deliver another special highlight: the Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational. I cannot wait to see 40-plus Mustang Dark Horse R race cars running down the main straightaway and through the esses as a part of the Mustang Challenge’s first foray out of the United States. The spectacle and the opportunity for our Mustang Challenge teams and drivers will be incredible – these guys get to race at Le Mans, which is a dream come true for any fan of motorsports. Alongside our Mustang GT3 customer program for the 24-hour featured event, we’ll be able to deliver a powerful display of Mustang firsthand to customers across the world.
When the sun comes up at Le Mans, something special fills the air. It replaces all that exhaustion with excitement and hope. It reemphasizes the fact that with a team united by a shared passion for motorsports, the seemingly impossible becomes achievable. It’s time that we make our own memories while extending the rich Mustang racing legacy with each opportunity.
June 21-22: 24 Hours of Nürburgring and Six Hours of The Glen. When most manufacturers are either celebrating or licking wounds post-Le Mans, we’re staying on the throttle. We will, simultaneously, race the IMSA classic Six Hours of The Glen in New York and our second straight 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in Germany. Ford Multimatic Motorsports will be chasing its second consecutive win – third of the season – in the GTD Pro class at The Glen while our German partner, Haupt Racing Team (HRT), is running on the Nordschleife.
HRT is heading a huge program with us in Europe. We have established Mustang programs in series like DTM, ADAC GT Masters, GT World Challenge Europe and the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) – 10 full-time Mustang GT3 entries across all the series, which is our largest stable to date. They, too, have seen success with three podiums across GT Masters and NLS.
HRT Ford Performance will deploy three Mustang GT3 race cars to take on “Green Hell.” We’ve assembled six drivers, including two former 24 Hours of Nürburgring winners, to push Mustang GT3 to the absolute limit. The team has been working relentlessly in preparing for the Nordschleife since its NLS debut and we’ve been collecting valuable lap data to develop Mustang GT3 for nearly 16 miles of treacherous twists and turns.
June 28-29: 24 Hours of Spa. If two consecutive 24-hour race weekends and a six-hour event across an ocean isn’t enough, we’re going for three. On June 28-29, HRT will take on the 24 Hours of Spa on the incredible Spa-Francorchamps circuit. June is a grind on personnel and machines. But that helps us make a better Mustang for the street.
We have strategically expanded Mustang GT3 through great customers and the growth of this platform has demonstrated how well-received it is globally. We started with eight cars in the first year of Mustang GT3 – since then it’s expanded to about 20.
We built a car that can compete – it’s proven to be reliable and durable, powered by the rock-solid Coyote V8. We like to say the Mustang GT3 is Built Ford Tough and Built Ford Proud. The best we can do to offer a winning formula is to deliver the most reliable car that we can, much like for Mustang customers on the road. It allows our customers to make trackside tweaks alongside our Ford Performance, Multimatic Motorsports and M-Sport engineering core. But they have a car that’s foundationally fast, reliable and consistent.
Once you have the foundations, then you can fight and battle for wins.
The lead-in to a big race like Le Mans always brings such a whirlwind of emotions. You know you’re about to embark on an adventure. You don’t know what kind of adventure it will be, but good or bad, we are here to compete with the best in these crown-jewel endurance racing events. But win, lose or draw at Le Mans, we won’t have to wait long for our next chance to add another endurance title to the Ford trophy case back in Dearborn.
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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company’s Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. Ford develops and delivers innovative, must-have Ford trucks, sport utility vehicles, commercial vans and cars and Lincoln luxury vehicles, along with connected services. The company does that through three customer-centered business segments: Ford Blue, engineering iconic gas-powered and hybrid vehicles; Ford Model e, inventing breakthrough electric vehicles along with embedded software that defines exceptional digital experiences for all customers; and Ford Pro, helping commercial customers transform and expand their businesses with vehicles and services tailored to their needs. Additionally, Ford provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. Ford employs about 175,000 people worldwide. More information about the company and its products and services is available at corporate.ford.com.
About Ford Performance
Ford Performance is based in Dearborn, Mich. It is responsible for Ford’s performance vehicle development and major racing operations globally, including NASCAR, IMSA, World Endurance Championship, SRO, FIA World Rally Championship, Supercars Championship, Ultra4, SCORE-International, FIA Rally-Raid, Formula Drift, NHRA, Rebelle Rally, Thailand Super Series and our latest commitment in Formula 1 with RedBull Ford Powertrains. Ford Performance also maintains a constantly evolving fleet of electric performance demonstrators to showcase the limits of electrification technology. In addition, the organization also oversees the development of Ford's racing engines, as well as the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts. For more information regarding Ford racing's activities, please visit Performance.Ford.com or follow @FordPerformance on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
Contact:
Jay Ward
Director, Global Ford Performance Motorsport Communications
(+44) (0)7500 224191
Jward35@ford.com
