Two years ago, Ford announced the birth of the Mustang GT3 customer racing program. Last year, the car made its debut to lackluster results, grabbing more headlines for shedding its bodywork than for running at the front of the field at any point.
What a difference a year makes — the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona was the stage for the Blue Oval’s fresh start. Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ new-look trio of Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch, and Dennis Olsen finally gave the Mustang GT3 its first win — anywhere in the world — after a fruitless first season across IMSA, FIA WEC, and GT World Challenge America.
Ford’s veteran stalwart Mike Rockenfeller expressed concerns that his pole lap in qualifying wouldn’t translate to real results come race time, yet at the end of a rough and tumble race, the factory-backed Mustangs were on the podium.
Olsen and Mies kept their heads cool near the end, as Olsen overtook the No. 4 Corvette of Nico Varrone on the race’s final restart and withstood pressure from the likes of Laurin Heinrich and Alexander Sims to secure that precious first win for Ford.
“It’s simply amazing,” Mies said of Ford’s dramatic turnaround. “When I saw the car for the first time online, I immediately got into contact with Ford and with Multimatic. I said, ‘I want to be part of it.’ I wanted the change, let’s say, after a long stint with another brand (Audi).
“We came here exactly a year ago, leading the race back then, which was fantastic for a new car. But like everyone, we had some little issues. We solved them over the year. Coming back one year later together with Ford Performance and Multimatic Motorsports is incredible.”
The No. 64 Ford of Rockenfeller, Sebastian Priaulx, and super-sub Austin Cindric sandwiched the No. 3 Corvette of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, and Daniel Juncadella which finished a highly-spirited second.
And that should bring us to the biggest flashpoint of the race: Paul Miller’s two cars, versus the No. 4 Corvette. Tommy Milner and the No. 4 crew lost out on a real chance at the win after an ill-mannered exchange between the No. 48 car — which was no longer in contention after Max Hesse was swept up in the “big one” late Saturday night — became a pain in a battle for the lead between Milner and the No. 1 BMW of Connor De Phillippi.
Augusto Farfus was the direct target of Milner’s ire. To borrow a famous Murray Walker quote, the Corvette ace told his BMW counterpart he was going for first place — and he was — but the BMW would be an impediment to Milner and it escalated into Milner and De Phillippi colliding at the exit of the International Horseshoe.
“The situation with the Corvette and our sister car was very difficult. My intention was to support my teammate in the sister car in the fight for victory. I was aware that it was hard racing. The situation that led to the collision between the Corvette and Connor De Phillippi behind me was very unfortunate, but I had nothing to do with it directly. I stayed on my inside line,” Farfus said.
In the last 15 minutes, with Kelvin van der Linde now fighting for a podium, Nico Varrone in the No. 4 Corvette ran into the No. 1 BMW and sent the South African spinning out, eventually consolidating fourth place for the new M4 GT3 EVO in its American debut.
A partnership between Bartone Bros. Racing, RealTime Racing, and Germany’s GetSpeed produced a solid first IMSA result — fifth for the black No. 69 Mercedes-AMG GT3. The quasi-defending champions at DragonSpeed would finish sixth with the No. 81 Ferrari 296 GT3.
Rexy made a stirring comeback and fought for the lead up until the final hour, but the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R suffered front-end damage in all the skirmishes, had to make an unscheduled stop, and sunk to eighth behind the No. 4 Corvette.