Ford expands sports car factory driver lineup

Ben Barker, Chris Mies, Dennis Olsen, Andy Priaulx and Frédéric Vervisch join previously announced drivers Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, Harry Tincknell and Mike Rockenfeller on the Ford Performance Mustang GT3 team in 2024.

Mies and Vervisch at 24 Hours of Daytona

📷 Courtesy of IMSA. Ford Mustang #64 during IMSA-Sanctionned tests at Daytona.

German racer, Christopher 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. Mies will complete the lineup for the Ford Multimatic Motorsports team in next month’s Rolex 24 at Daytona joining Tincknell and Rockenfeller in the #64 Mustang

📷 Courtesy of IMSA. Ford Mustang #65 during IMSA-Sanctionned tests at Daytona.

Belgian driver, Frédéric 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. Vervisch will drive the new race car at Daytona International Speedway today, in preparation for next month’s Rolex 24 at Daytona where he will complete the #65 lineup with Hand and Müller.

Three more works drivers

📷 Courtesy of Ford Performance. Ford Mustang GT3 testing in Barcelona.

British driver, Ben Barker offers well-rounded endurance racing experience to Ford Performance and its customer programs worldwide, competing regularly in WEC and GTWCE and notably taking four class wins at the Bathurst 12 Hours.

Dennis Olsen, who hails from Norway, was a championship-winning karter as a child, before moving into single-seater racing then GT competition. He has a wide-range of experience and spent the past two years in DTM. He also has an Intercontinental GT Challenge Championship victory under his belt.

Andy 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, sharing his vast experience with the younger drivers.

Daytona to celebrate 60th anniversary

📷 Courtesy of IMSA. #65: Ford Multimatic Motorsports, Ford Mustang GT3, GTD PRO: Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller

Daytona will mark the official sports car racing debut for the new Ford Mustang GT3, which takes centerstage as the iconic Mustang enters its 60th anniversary year. Starting in Daytona, the Mustang will compete on six of seven continents of the world at legendary tracks such as Le Mans and Interlagos.

“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 line-up 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 performance, Proton and Dinamic

📷 Courtesy of Ford Performance. Ford Mustang GT3 testing in Barcelona.

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 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA), GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE) with Dinamic GT, the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with Proton Competition running two Mustang GT3 (#77 and #88) and plans for more race series later in 2024, the sports car factory drivers are available to all of Ford’s customer teams subject to scheduling. The full driver lineups for these programs will be announced by the customer teams next year.

Ford, together with long time partner Multimatic Motorsports, will be providing technical and engineering support to Proton to help run the Mustang next year.

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