New Ford Mustang racers ready to take on the world

The new-look Ford Mustang ‘S650’ will make its Australian debut at next month’s Bathurst 1000, only weeks after the new muscle car was revealed to the world.

The American brand took the wraps off the seventh-generation Mustang in Detroit last week and alongside the road-going models was a virtual preview of what’s to come on the track. No less than six racing versions of the new ‘S650’ Mustang were previewed - the Gen3 Supercar, Le Mans-bound GT3, GT4, NASCAR, NHRA X and club-level Dark Horse R.

New hi-tech 2023 Ford Mustang revealed.

The new-look Mustang Supercar has been revealed.

Speaking to Australian Muscle Car the day after the reveal, Trevor Worthington, the Australian engineer who is now vice president of all Ford internal combustion powered models as well as Ford Performance, made it clear what a significant moment this is in the brand’s racing plans.

“You saw last night how the Mustang is incredibly important to us,” Worthington said.

Gallery: 2023 Ford Mustang Supercar

In a boost for Ford Australia, the Supercar will be the first of the six racing Mustangs to appear in public, with a preview at Bathurst before teams hurriedly build them in time for the start of the 2023 season.

Ford had always intended to run the new-look Mustang when the Gen3 rules officially began in 2023, but used the current ‘S550’ shape for the public reveal last year as well as all on-track testing. But now the cat (or pony) is out of the bag, the new look will be quickly implemented.

The 2023 Ford Mustang Supercar will make its local debut at Bathurst in October.

But that’s not the only reason for Australian Ford fans to feel good about the brand’s future in motorsport. No less a figure than Ford’s global president and CEO, Jim Farley, made it clear that racing in Supercars is important to the brand and referenced the luring of Walkinshaw Andretti United to the Ford camp as a major achievement.

“This is a big deal for us,” Farley said about the new Mustang Supercar.

Farley went on to explain that racing the Mustang in so many categories is a major achievement for both the brand as a whole, but the model specifically.

“That’s why we’re investing in global motorsport,” he said. “We’re the only one who can do it [race in so many countries]. Miata [the US name for MX-5] and Mazda did and [the Porsche] 911 did it, but no-one else has a V8, so they can’t go racing in your country, they can’t do NHRA and we can do all those things… There’s no other car like this on the globe.”