Mustang Endurance | “The Marathon” Ep. 5 | Ford Performance
The Rolex 24 at Daytona is a long race it starts at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday and ends 24 hours later on Sunday at 1:40 p.m. when the green flag drops it starts a grueling test of endurance
For liability but in some way the green flag also represents a bit of an endcap for the teams that have spent almost 2 years of non-stop work to design build and test the new Mustang GT3 it’s been a long road to get here developing and improving every aspect
Of the car to be reliable fast durable and to endure a race like Daytona like the 24 hours of Le Mans or the 12 hours of Sebring qualifying for the Rolex 24 at Daytona starts the week before the race with a roar
Before the 24 a dedicated testing and qualifying session that sets the pace for the next 8 days the roar also sees a new customer team for the first time with proton competition entered in the GTD class in their number 55 Ford Mustang GT3 the first time they rolled this car was Friday
Very impressed with how quickly they come along and and the drivers have come along quite naturally it’s really cool for me to drive this car here at Daytona I mean American car I’m an American driver so for me it’s a dream come true and I mean it’s just my second day in the
Car and already I’m really really impressed yeah the mustang has been great to us you know we we had a nice welcome with the car uh car looks amazing coming here to Daytona driving that beast it’s
A real pleasure we work throughout the roar now to dial in the car get the setup rides and we are in a really happy place now with a car and we’re sharing everything so it’s basically the same as
Running one team you know I I think it’s great to have three of us three different cars working on completely different sometimes directions at the end of the day we can sit down talk about it and make the best package come race ready at the end of the Roar the Ford multimatic Motorsports
Mustang GT3s number 65 and 64 qualified ninth and 13th in GTD Pro while the number 55 proton entry qualified 15th in GTD it is a 24 hour race so where you start is definitely unlikely to be
Where you finish to finally be here with a team this as strong as it is you know six drivers in the factory team plus a customer car everyone’s excited to have us here and to have Mustang back in a top series of uh sports
Car racing on the world stage it’s very very exciting the Rolex 24 at Daytona first session of the uh official race week so we’re into the finals of the tweaks and changes all three cars across the two Factory cars and the GTD car were quite different on
The setup our car now we’re basically back to back in s setup and a soft setup so one thing is the weather now is a lot warmer that’s really going to affect tire wear this might be the warmest uh 24-hour I’ve seen that I’ve been to the idea here is to try and
Chase the racetrack a little bit and see what what we need to do setup wise lap time should be way slower just because you have less power less down force and less grip just all because of temperatures when the green flag drops here it places a marker in time the first
Direct measure of its performance against the world but no matter what happens this is the first race ever for the Mustang GT3 I mean if you’re not excited anymore you should be here honestly I’m really really happy to see everybody coming here
Drivers from all over the globe from all categories of Motorsport are ready to take on one of the toughest tests in Motorsports anywhere on the planet not too bad with made our way forward there yeah I mean this race is always going to be about
Learning come up on but they were like one Tred at the a few hours into the race the number 65 Fort Mustang GT3 was forced to enter the pits for repairs to its rear duct which did not survive the turbulent
Air there has been damage to the back of the 64 Mustang something has hit it on the left hand side the really the biggest thing that happened to it was we got checked up from the rear 64 which then bumped into the 55 caused both of them to have diffuser damage both had
To pit for noses diffusers Ford factory driver Dennis Olsen Dennis things seemed to be going so well for you but now the car is back in again Marco got hit on the last restart we lost the
Rear life so we’re going to try to uh change the diffuser but hopefully there is still damage on the center floor so we can connect it again retired from that and you know 64 lost a lot of laps
Four different times house in the car for a couple stints about 8 hours in the car which about is what we expected found to happen the first race you know to have something not go perfectly but
I will say the rest of the car has gone really good to finish this race would be would be big for us be big for forward tic everybody to see that all the parts will go the distance
Two hours left to go in the race the number 65 Ford Mustang GT3 is forced to retire due to a mechanical issue through the rear wing at the end of this long event one Mustang GT3 the number 64 car endured the challenge
Finishing sixth in the GTD Pro in the debut for the new car racing is a horror sometimes it’s the toughest race of the Imp schedule to start with a brand new car we came here to finish we
Came here to learn we definitely did both and it’s uh I think a testament to the to the people to keep pressing forward through the race and I think at the Finish there was there was a lot of relief a lot of smiles but it just builds the team makes us even stronger
To keep going forward together obviously over the moon to get that first finish and for the 64 to run reliably throughout clearly there’s a lot of work to do but as mad as it sounds for
The biggest race of the year I feel like this was our warmup race and our season will start Sebring when the team first started this challenge years ago with drawings and plans they knew it wasn’t going to be easy they knew that racing is hard racing can be unfair it breaks cars it
Breaks people and it breaks Hearts but they’ve raced their first marathon they’ve accepted the challenge of one of the toughest Motorsport events in the world head on and they will ready for the next one evolved stronger always moving forward this is the end of the beginning
Of the development story of the Mustang GT3 and it’s the start of a global program of competition
All of the testing and preparation has led to this – our racing debut with Mustang GT3, our first Marathon at the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA. Tune in to Episode 5 of Mustang Endurance. Dive into the heart of endurance racing, witnessing the team’s strategy, grit, and determination. #MustangEndurance #BredtoRaceFP
SUBSCRIBE: http://ford.to/SubscribeFordPerformance
Connect with FORD Performance: http://ford.to/FordPerformance
Facebook: http://ford.to/FordPerformanceFB
X: http://ford.to/FordPerformanceTW
Instagram: http://ford.to/FordPerformanceIG
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fordperformance
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@fordperformance
Ford Performance Vehicles: Ford GT, Ford GT Mk IV, Ford GT Mk II, Mustang GTD, Mustang GT3, Mustang GT4, Dark Horse R, Mach 1, Shelby GT500, Shelby GT350R, Shelby GT350, F-150 Raptor, F-150 Raptor R, Bronco Raptor, Ranger Raptor, Puma ST, Explorer ST, Edge ST, Focus RS, Focus ST, Fiesta ST
Ford Performance Drivers: Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer, Ryan Preece, Riley Herbst, Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Harrison Burton, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell, Todd Gilliland, Cody Ware, JJ Yeley, Conner Jones, Matt Crafton, Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes, Hailie Deegan, Frankie Muniz, Bob Tasca III, Tim Wilkerson, Chad Green, Chelsea DeNofa, Adam LZ, James Deane, Tony Stewart, Donny Schatz, Cameron Waters, James Courtney, Thomas Randle, Anton De Pasquale, Will Davison, Andre Heimgartner, David Reynolds, Tim Slade, Brad Lovell, Jason Scherer, Bailey Cole, Vaughn Gittin Jr., Loren Healy, Cameron Steele, Johnny Campbell, Curt LeDuc, Shelby Hall, Adrien Fourmaux, Gus Greensmith, Scott Maxwell, Sebasitan Priaulx, Andy Priaulx, Marco Signoretti, Jack Roush Jr., Chad McCumbee, James Pesek, Chris Polovoorde, Joey Hand, Clint Bowyer
Ford Performance Teams: Team Penske, Stewart-Haas Racing, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Wood Brothers Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Live Fast Motorsports, DGR-Crosley Racing, Tasca Racing, Tim Wilkerson Racing RTR-Motorsports, Tony-Stewart Racing, Dick Johnson Racing, Tickford Racing, Kelly Grove Racing, Blanchard Racing, Lovell Racing, Rock Royalty Racing, Fun-Haver Off-Road, Desert Assassins, M-Sport, PF Racing, Multimatic, Roush-Yates Engines, Chris Polvoorde Racing
About Ford Performance
The official channel for all things Ford Performance! Our videos are here for your entertainment, and you are welcome to use the share and embed links for all our videos, but the videos themselves are property of Ford Motor Company. You are not permitted to download any video and re-upload under any circumstances without written consent from Ford Motor Company.
https://www.youtube.com/user/FordRacingTV
