Ford Racing is in the midst of a resurgence under the leadership of Global Director Mark Rushbrook.

Since the launch of the Mustang GT3 in 2022, the brand has taken on new life through its on-track efforts—reestablishing itself in the sports car landscape while also stepping back onto motorsport’s biggest stage with its return to Formula One.

That momentum has created a growing buzz around the American manufacturer’s racing ventures, and Rushbrook is embracing the journey.

“It’s been an incredible journey so far,” said Rushbrook. “There’s still a lot of journey left, a lot of things that we need to do, but to have the company truly leaning into Ford Racing as a business—so yes, we are racing around the world in many, many different series—but we’re running it as a business.”

“It’s combined together the racing with the performance production vehicles that we have: the Raptors, the high-performance Mustangs, the experiences, the licensing and merchandising and branding, and everything that we’re doing. We are leaning into it harder than ever before, maybe similar to what Henry Ford did in 1901 when he won a race and used that to start the company based upon motorsports.”

“We’re doing the same thing now, and to see it all come together here in Sebring, it has been incredible. Because, yes, we have four Mustang GT3s here, two of them factory, two of them customer. We had eight Mustang GT4s racing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge race. We had over 20 Mustang Dark Horse Rs in the Mustang Challenge race. We’ve got a Mustang Corral here, Mustang Village, Ford Racing Village. We’ve got Raptors across the street showing people what those are.”

“So this is a great example across three or four days where we’re showing a lot of what we’re doing—not everything—but the journey to get back to Formula One, three and a half years to get to the grid just last month in Melbourne, and what we’re doing with that car and everything off-road. There’s a lot going on, but there’s a lot of great people inside of Ford Racing that are working really hard to make all this happen.”

Expanding The Ford Sportscar Reach

Ford Racing continues to expand its sports car presence with the Mustang platform. This weekend, the brand is set to debut a brand-new single-make series in the “Land Down Under”: Mustang Cup Australia.

Since reintroducing the Mustang to sports car racing, Ford has remained committed to reigniting the spark that once defined its presence in the paddock decades ago.

Now, with the addition of another one-make series and a Hypercar program on the horizon, that development continues to grow on a global scale.

“What we have with the Mustang—it is a global sports car. We’re able to sell it as a street car to customers around the world, and we love that we can do that. Once we had the seventh-generation Mustang coming to the street and we committed to doing all these Mustangs for racing—with Mustang GT3, Mustang GT4, and the Dark Horse R—we knew we wanted to race all of those globally.”

“And it’s great that sports car racing came together to allow us to do that. Instead of having GTE and GT3, now it’s all together with GT3 only. So we want to race Mustangs around the world at all different levels.”

“But specifically for real customer racing—for the one-make series—to have the Mustang Challenge here now in its third year in North America, where we love the success of that program, with the Mustang Cup here. Now we want to grow it globally, racing those cars just like we do selling street cars.”

“So it certainly makes a lot of sense, because it’s a very important market for Ford Motor Company. We’ve got a headquarters for Ford Australia there—I think it’s 1,400 people working there. They do a lot of great engineering and product development work on the Rangers and Ranger Raptor. But it’s also an important market for us to sell cars.”

“When we saw the success and acceptance of the SRO Mustang GT4—we’ve got 10 cars there now—we knew that would be a good place to take the one-make series with the Mustang Cup. So we’re excited that it’s starting this month over there, and we look forward to the success of that.”

“But our ambition is to continue, where it makes sense, Mustang Challenge and Mustang Cup globally. Every year, hopefully, we’re adding one more of those series.”

The Importance of Customer Racing

A major pillar of Ford’s modern motorsports strategy lies in customer racing—a philosophy that extends far beyond simply putting more cars on track.

With two customer teams in IMSA—Gradient Racing and Riley Motorsports—alongside several others competing across the United States and internationally, Ford’s customer programs are just as critical to its growth as its factory efforts.

“Yeah, we want to be able to race as a factory where we can, where it’s appropriate to do that. So to be able to do that here in IMSA with Mustang GT3 and GTD Pro is fantastic. But we also want—we’re a family company, right?—so we want to have a family of customers, of racers, and that allows us to reach even further than what we can do with a factory program.”

“So to have two customers here running Mustang GT3s, all the GT4s and Dark Horse Rs, but then also globally with HRT as a customer team, it’s great for us to be able to get that extension.”

“Then, as an example, when we did the Evo for this year, for 2026, we had two years of racing under our belt as a factory, but also all the customer input, because they go to a lot more tracks than we do as well, especially HRT. What they’re able to do in NLS and DTM and SRO, and going to Nürburgring Nordschleife alone, with the experience they get there and feeding that directly to us—we knew the right things to improve for the GT3 Evo for 2026.”

“Whether it was in the braking, the aerodynamics, the kinematics, the drivability of the car, so that it is a great car for our factory pro drivers as well as our bronze customer drivers.”

Fine-Tuning Performance Across the Globe

Over the offseason, Ford made a strong push to evolve its Mustang GT3 program, introducing a new EVO kit—the car’s first major update since its debut in 2023.

While the Mustang GT3 has already found considerable success over the past three seasons, including a class win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona last year, Ford Performance continues to focus on refining the platform to unlock even greater results.

“Yep, so to homologate a GT3 car—or any car—but in GT3, there is a performance window that you need to fall within in terms of aerodynamics and in terms of the powertrain.”

“I would say it’s relatively straightforward—not necessarily easy, but straightforward—to homologate a car and to be within the box and to be legal. But then it’s being able to really sweat the details: where exactly do you want to be in the box?”

“There’s that homologation window—it’s a subset of real life. You also race the car in many conditions on track that are not experienced in the wind tunnel or in the homologation testing.”

“That’s why, by having all the teams that we have with all those different conditions, we’re able to take their feedback, their learning, and what their recommendations are to make the car better. By refining the kinematics to make it that little bit easier to drive in those hard conditions—bumpier conditions, different turns that we see on the different tracks—we assimilate all that information, make those decisions, and then put them on the track.”

The Road to Hypercar

One of the most exciting projects in Ford Racing’s pipeline is the Blue Oval’s upcoming debut in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2027.

A fully in-house effort, Ford is making significant strides as it prepares for its return to the top class of endurance racing, with the ultimate goal of standing on the overall podium at Le Mans once again.

“Yeah, first of all, we’re very excited about this program—the ability to race with so many other great manufacturers, a great formula with LMDh and LMH that’s been combined. So we’re looking forward to being on track with the very best manufacturers and competing in WEC at the biggest 24-hour race at Le Mans.”

“But it’s a massive effort to do that in combination with everything else that we started at the beginning—with our Formula One program, with our off-road programs, with everything else. But we are committed to Hypercar.”

“We’re doing all of the engine design and development work in Dearborn with our Ford Racing engineers. We’ve had the engine on the dyno and are continuing development of that. We’ll get that engine into the first test car in the middle of the third quarter this year.”

“And then it’s pretty intense work that we need to do on track to advance the development of the car, to finish everything, and homologate it. So it’s been a great journey so far. There’s a long way to go until we get that across the finish line and then ready to race for WEC in 2027.”

Ford’s commitment extends beyond a single entry. The manufacturer will field at least two cars to comply with WEC’s two-car mandate, while building a larger fleet to support development.

While preparing multiple cars presents challenges—especially for a new program—Mark Rushbrook and Ford Performance are embracing the workload, planning for a total of six cars.

“Yeah, I mean, ultimately we’re going to build six cars, and we’ll be competing with two, but that’s the right way to do it so that you maximize your learning, your development, and your competitiveness.”

“It is so competitive—you need to have two strong cars with two driver lineups to support it.”

While the full driver lineup is not yet complete, Ford has already unveiled a strong trio for its first entry. Mike Rockenfeller, Seb Priaulx, and former Formula One driver Logan Sargeant will spearhead the program.

“Yeah, the pairing that we’ve had with Rocky (Mike Rockenfeller) and Seb (Priaulx) for two years together has been incredible. Watching them with Mike, with what he’s had for sports car racing experience, including prototype, they bring so much to the game, and in many ways mentoring Seb, who is much younger and very fast. That combination was very important for us.”

“So as we saw them working together in the same car in IMSA, to now be able to take that to Hypercar—it was very logical for us to take the two of them up there together.”

“When we first sat down with Logan Sargeant and really got to meet him, he demonstrated that he’s very quick in the car, but sitting down with him and really learning who he is as a person and his DNA, it was great to see that. He’s going to be a great match, a great fit for that.”

“That’s what you need for a great team lineup. Yes, you have to be fast, but you also have to be a team. It’s not about going out and who’s fastest between the three—they know that they need to work together, and all three of those drivers completely get that.”

“So we’re excited about that lineup. We’re excited about what’s coming together for the second car and looking forward to making some of those announcements.”

While WEC is the initial focus for Ford’s Hypercar program, questions remain about a potential future entry into IMSA’s GTP class. For now, however, the priority remains clear—execute the WEC program successfully.

“Yeah, right now everything is working very well with what we’re able to do here. In IMSA, you are permitted to race a GT3 as a factory car. In WEC, you’re not. So that is one advantage that we have here.”

“And if you look at this weekend as an example, it’s Ford everywhere—with GT3, GT4, Dark Horse R, Mustang Challenge, Raptors—we feel like we’re getting a very good presence here at the track already.”

“Our intent right now, what we’ve announced with Hypercar, is that we will be racing back in 2027. We’re not saying anything beyond that at this point. We just have to finish the homologation of the car, get ready to race in 2027, and we’ll see what the future holds beyond that.”

Hybrid Knowledge Transfer

With hybrid systems being utilized in both Ford’s Formula One powertrain and its Hypercar engine, there is always the potential for crossover. While each system features distinct characteristics, both can provide valuable insight and understanding.

“Yep, so the rules in Formula One are very tight rules, but everything is bespoke by team or by power unit, so it is a bespoke electric element of that hybrid system.”

“Whereas in LMDh, the formula that we’ve chosen, it is a spec system that we need to use. So that is a difference—we can’t take anything that we learned about the battery cell chemistry or the motor itself from Formula One to Hypercar.”

“But as we develop our own combustion engine for Hypercar, combined with the spec hybrid system, we can learn the calibration—everything that we’ve learned in Formula One. Yes, it’s a different engine and a different hybrid unit, it’s a different car, but a lot of energy management—we can share that, and it will positively help our hypercar program, but also longer-term, our road car programs for what we sell to customers.”

Verstappen in a Ford Sports Car?

One of the more intriguing possibilities surrounding Ford’s expanding motorsports efforts is potential involvement with Formula One star Max Verstappen.

While Verstappen remains focused on Formula One as he continues his pursuit of another world championship, the opportunity for the Red Bull driver to step into an iconic machine like the Mustang GT3 remains a realistic possibility.

“Yeah, Max (Verstappen) is incredible, obviously, as a world champion and what he does in a Formula One car, but also who he is outside of the car.”

“He clearly has that passion for sim racing, for GT sports car racing. So that continues to be a point that we discuss—what is the right time, when, where, how do we do something with him in that space. It’s something we’d be very interested in pursuing.”

Showcasing the Brand on the World Stage

Last year, the Le Mans Invitational put Ford in the global spotlight as IMSA’s Mustang Challenge took to the track at the famed Circuit de la Sarthe in France.

While the series will not return to Le Mans in 2026, there remains a strong possibility that Ford’s one-make racing platform could visit other iconic venues in the future for similar premier events.

“Yeah, that was fantastic last year, what we were able to do in many ways in terms of the customer racers—what they were able to experience, something on the bucket list that they want to do—but also the story that it tells to the fans on site and the fans around the world that are watching it.”

“And absolutely, yes, we will do more of those at some iconic, epic tracks and continue telling that story.”

Leadership Driven by Racing

Last weekend, Ford CEO Jim Farley competed in the season opener of Mustang Challenge in the United States.

It’s a rare sight to see a company’s top executive behind the wheel, but Farley embodies the core values that drive Ford and its motorsports efforts.

“Yeah, we definitely, as a company, were founded based upon racing. To have a CEO now at the company that is a racer himself—that absolutely understands cars and racing, but also the business, the automotive business and the racing business—and all the support we have from the Ford family, they completely get it as well.”

“Our entire executive leadership team right now—it is unanimous throughout the leadership structure—the importance of Ford Racing as a business, what it really means for our customers and our employees.”

“So yes, Jim is a racer, and yes, he supports what we’re doing in motorsports—but not because he is a racing fan. It’s because he understands the business, and he holds us accountable for running Ford Racing as a business—not just spending money to get on track because it’s fun, but truly using it for the right innovation and tech transfer reasons, and the right marketing as well.”

A Full-Throttle Future

The future is bright for Ford Racing. With involvement across sports cars, NASCAR, NHRA, off-road racing, and now Formula One, there is plenty for Mark Rushbrook and the Detroit-based team to be proud of.

“Yeah, I cannot pick one single thing, because for me it is the combination of everything. And it’s not just randomly choosing different things, but how they all fit together.”

“So yes, I love the fact that Ford is back in Formula One with a great partner like Red Bull. Yes, I love the fact that we’re working on the hypercar that we’ll show later this year and will be racing next year. And yes, I love coming here and seeing all these Mustangs and great fans.”

“But for me, it is the full arsenal that we have to race in so many different places, but to bring it to the street in a Mustang GTD, in the Raptors, in a Mustang Dark Horse—it’s that whole package. That’s wonderful to see it come together.”

 

 

Featured Article Image Courtesy to Ford Racing