New Ford Mustang Supercar to debut at Bathurst 1000

Ford Performance Motorsports has confirmed its 2023 Gen3 Supercars challenger, based on the new seventh-generation Ford Mustang, will be officially unveiled at the Repco Bathurst 1000 over October 6-9.

Announcing the S650-series Mustang-based racer's debut shortly after the road car's Detroit motor show unveiling this week, Ford Performance Motorsports boss Mark Rushbrook said:

“The commitments that we’re racing [the new Mustang] globally is very significant. And obviously the Australian Supercars series is a great place to be on track, to be able to tell the story about our company, our people and connect with fans.

“The Mustang is an icon and we want to get as many people seeing that car racing,” said Rushbrook.

According to Ford’s vice-president of ICE product programs Trevor Worthington, there was never any doubt whether the new-generation Mustang would size-up against its arch-enemy, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, in the 2023 Supercars season – which it will do at least six months before it enters Aussie showrooms in late 2023.

“The question really is where is the best bang for the buck and, you know, in the case of Mustang and Australia, it’s V8 Supercars… we're absolutely committed,” said the former Ford Australia chief engineer.

As well as continuing Ford’s fight in Supercars, the new Mustang will also battle it out in both GT4 and GT3 racing and even return to 24 Hours of Le Mans.

What won't happen is an attempt at an outright Le Mans win, with Worthington ruling out an entry in the top-flight LMDh class because a ‘silhouette racer’ – not least one with a hybrid powertrain – would have little connection with the V8-powered Mustang.

“We believe that way that we can reach the world, our fans, our customers, in a very direct, relevant way is with a product that's based on a real car,” he said.

As well as the Mustang GT racers, Ford’s motorsport division also launched track-ready S and R versions of the new 373kW Mustang Dark Horse, which has been confirmed for Australia.

Sadly, Rushbrook confirmed that the Mustang Dark Horse S, which is street-legal and can be registered for road use, won’t be produced in right-hand drive and therefore won’t be sold in Australia.

It will be prepared for competition use and fitted with a stripped-out interior, roll cage and safety kit suitable for use in grassroots racing, and could become a bargain-priced Porsche 911 GT3 RS rival – at least in left-hand drive markets.

Worthington, meanwhile, added that the more extreme track-only Dark Horse R could provide the basis for a one-make race series in Australia, similar in concept to the popular Toyota 86 Series – if backers were found to help host it.

“It's [Dark Horse R] relatively affordable,” he said. “It’s going to have really, really good performance and it would be a great spectacle to watch a whole bunch of them banging into each other, or racing.”

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