The Ford Mustang Supercar has been officially approved by Supercars for entry into the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship after successful completion of homologation tests.
The Supercars Championship will include at least six Ford Mustangs, with 2018 Champion Scott McLaughlin and DJR Team Penske teammate Fabian Coulthard joined by four Tickford Australia Mustangs including 2014 Bathurst winner Chaz Mostert.
The Mustang’s racing development was a collaborative effort for Ford, including its Ford Performance, DJR Team Penske and Tickford Racing Australia.
The Ford Mustang’s testing included private shakedown tests with expertise on hand from Ford Performance, DJR Team Penske and Tickford Racing. The driving was conducted by newly crowned champion Scott McLaughlin from DJR Team Penske.
Brian Novak, Ford Performance Motorsports Supervisor, spoke of the collaborative effort in achieving the homologation of the Mustang Supercar for the 2019 season.
“This has been a huge effort from everyone involved, and a credit to the professionalism and commitment of the teams,” said Novak.
“We’ve worked hard to deliver a Mustang that is capable of winning races and claiming championships, which is Ford Performance’s reason for being, and the Mustang Supercar has also benefitted greatly from the talent of the teams – DJR Team Penske and Tickford Racing – to culminate in what should be a formidable package.”
“We’ve all worked tirelessly to reach this milestone, because as we saw with the climax of the 2018 season, Supercars is an extremely fierce category with an extremely high level of competition."
“It takes serious talent and skill to be a success in this sport, and now we’re looking forward to seeing the race car revealed, and then heading to the track for Adelaide next year.”
Ryan Story, Managing Director of DJR Team Penske, is also looking ahead, with an eye on the future development process that can begin following the successful homologation of Mustang.
“The Mustang project has now been ongoing for over 18 months, so getting the tick of approval through the VCAT [V8 Supercars Aerodynamic Testing] process is a great milestone,” Story said.
“That is only step one for us, however, as we must now get the race cars built and ready to perform for the 2019 season.
“We’re very proud of Mustang in our first effort as Ford’s Supercars homologation team, and are very much looking forward to doing the ‘Blue Oval’ proud in coming years.”
The Ford Mustang’s inaugural race will be Round 1 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, the Superloop at Adelaide 500 from February 28 – March 3, 2019.
