Ford Mustang GT is Ready to Race the World

Ford Motor Company has used the 2016 SEMA Show to introduce their newest Ford Mustang race car – the GT4 – which is FIA approved to race all over the world as the automaker looks to benefit from the huge success of the new Mustang in overseas markets.

The Ford Mustang has become the bestselling sporty car in the world, leading the USA, Australia, the UK, Germany and a long list of other countries. With this popularity of the road car comes more interest in the aspect of racing a Ford Mustang, so for those folks who want to go road racing under the FIA banner, Ford Racing has rolled out the new Mustang GT4.

“The new Mustang is a global vehicle,” says Mark Rushbrook, motorsports engineering manager, Ford Performance. “Now, its growing fan base has a GT4 competition model to race and support around the globe.”

Ford Mustang GT4
The new Ford Mustang GT4 is a turnkey racecar based on the current Shelby GT350R-C, which won the championship this past season in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. Like the GT350R-C, the new Mustang GT4 has a modified version of the flat plane 5.2L V8 from the new Shelby GT350 road car, along with chassis and suspension features from Multimatic Motorsports. This includes adjustable race-ready dampers, new rear lower control arms, new front and rear stabilizer bars and 18 inch lightweight wheels wrapped in road racing slicks. Of course, the Mustang GT4 package also includes the dramatic front splitter and the huge rear wing, along with a uniquely vented hood and a redesigned rear diffuser.

The key difference between the new Ford Mustang GT4 and the championship-winning Shelby GT350R-C is that while the Shelby has a manual transmission, the new GT4 has a 6-speed sequential transmission with paddle shifters. It also has a roll cage designed specifically to meet FIA rules, an antilock braking system controller and a Motec data logging system.

Anyone who buys a new Ford Mustang GT4 can go racing in the GT4 class of any FIA series in the world, provided that they meet the various licensing requirements. At the same time, the new Mustang GT4 is eligible to run in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenger in the Grand Sport class – so we are likely to see these cars racing both at home and abroad.

While this is clearly a low-production, race-only package, introducing cars like the Ford Mustang GT4 allows the Mustang name to continue to grow on a global level. The Camaro is already involved in European GT racing, so introducing a Mustang that can compete in the FIA ranks should open up another American option for those looking to race all over the world.