2023 Ford Mustang Supercar makes debut at Bathurst

Ford has opened the secure (or ought to that be storage?) doorways, providing the general public a primary glimpse at its new racing Mustang.

The 2023 Mustang GT Supercar has been publicly unveiled at Bathurst, forward of its first laps this afternoon. The brand new GT will likely be piloted by Dick Johnson on its first laps of The Mountain, earlier than it joins the grid in 2023 alongside the Chevrolet Camaro.

Mr Johnson is a Ford legend, having gained the Bathurst 1000 thrice. His identify adorns the Ford manufacturing unit racing crew in Supercars, though 5 different groups may also run the automotive within the 2023 season.

Though computer-generated pictures of the automotive had been revealed alongside the road-going Pony, that is the primary time the next-generation racer has been seen in public, and would be the first time any of the Mustang racing secure has turned a wheel in anger.

The Supercar has been developed by Dick Johnson Racing, and is designed to extra intently mimic the highway automotive than the marginally awkward present physique, which has been draped over bones initially designed for the Falcon sedan.

Energy within the new Mustang GT Supercar comes from a 5.4-litre racing model of the Coyote V8 from the GT highway automotive revealed in Detroit. On this guise it pumps out upwards of 447kW and 650Nm, despatched to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential transmission.

To make racing in Supercars more cost effective, new Gen3 automobiles are required to have the identical dimensions because the highway automobiles they’re based mostly on for all key physique parts, together with the doorways, roof, home windows and bonnet.

These components should due to this fact be interchangeable with their respective highway automotive, in a return to the class’s heritage. The automobiles should even be 100mm decrease, 100mm wider and 100kg lighter, with general downforce decreased by 200kg.

The transaxle and rear suspension can carry over from Gen2 automobiles, however the automobiles will need to have a chassis that’s “hybrid prepared”.

The discount of aerodynamic aids additionally permits for nearer racing, which needs to be entertaining.

This yr is the final time we’ll see a Holden Commodore competing within the Supercars championship; Chevrolet Racing will subsequent yr compete with the Camaro regardless of it not at the moment being bought regionally.

As a part of the seventh-generation mannequin’s reveal final month, Ford previewed plenty of track-only racing Mustangs that can compete globally in a wide range of racing sequence.

Along with the Supercars model, Ford confirmed off renders of the GT3, GT4, NASCAR, and NHRA Manufacturing facility X racing homologated variations.

The Blue Oval stated it’s returning to factory-backed GT3 racing with the brand new Mustang GT3 IMSA racer that can debut on the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2024. It’ll be obtainable for purchasers to buy.

The brand new Mustang GT4 will debut throughout the 2023 season and will likely be obtainable for international GT4 lessons in IMSA, SRO and FIA GT. It’ll be obtainable for purchasers to buy too.

Ford additionally stated newly-designed fashions will debut within the NASCAR Cup sequence and NHRA Manufacturing facility X racing within the “coming years”.

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