The evolution of the Mustang GT3 will competitively launch this season with 24 hours at Daytona International Speedway, but this package upgrade has been in development since the moment the Mustang GT3 first hit the track.

We’ve been continually developing, further establishing Mustang not only as an American icon, but also as our global sports car racing platform.

The process is not a total revamp of the car, because we respect the 60-plus years of rich Mustang racing heritage that came before the GT3 model. Rather, we have taken key learnings across every Mustang GT3 program around the globe over the past two years to fine tune the platform. In collaboration with our partners, we leveraged key insights to evolve the vehicle while strictly maintaining the Mustang’s unmistakable spirit.

In our pursuit of delivering the most competitive car to our customers, we’ve identified three areas of the Mustang GT3 to optimize: Aerodynamics, Kinematics, and Braking. All updates are focused on keeping us at the cutting-edge, regardless of the type of track or level of competition.

Aerodynamics

Our main objective for the updated aerodynamics package was to increase overall downforce and improve efficiency, all while acknowledging the wide variety of racetracks globally. We’ve accomplished both with the addition of aggressive dive planes and revisions to the splitter, and rear diffuser.

An additional target was creating a more stable, consistent aerodynamic platform, which ultimately made the Mustang GT3 more resistant to changes in the ride height track-to-track. As a customer-focused platform, drivability is a key performance metric. Whether you’re a Bronze, Silver or Pro rated driver, we strive to empower all drivers with the ability to extract the maximum performance from the Mustang GT3. Creating stability and consistency will help encourage a sense of comfort whether teams are competing on tight courses like WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca or high-speed ones like Circuit de la Sarthe.

The dive planes are the most obvious changes and the only apparent modification from the topside. The double dive planes offer a significant amount of frontend downforce while making it less sensitive to changes in ride height.

This package has been in development since 2023, as we’ve logged countless hours in the wind tunnel and track days across the world — from Portimão Circuit and Laguna Seca to Watkins Glen International. We’ve refined the Mustang GT3 with every lap to a product we are proud to release competitively at Daytona.

Kinematics

To pair with the new aerodynamics package, we’ve made corresponding updates to the Mustang GT3’s kinematics. This includes updates to both the front and the rear, changing the dynamic behavior of the car. We’ve now seen the Mustang GT3 race on various circuits around the globe, on several different tire compounds, and this has furthered our understanding of where the car operates and what we need to do to extract the most out of the different tire compounds.

To do this, we’ve made a more stable platform, and tuned characteristics such as anti-dive and camber gain. This allows the car to not only get the most out of the tire, but also make the most out of the new aerodynamic package.

In road cars, but especially in motorsports, vehicle dynamics and aerodynamics must be developed in unison, so it was only natural to make these updates together for the EVO of the Mustang GT3.

Braking

Braking is an area where we found we can continually improve, rounding out a balanced performance package for our customers.

Brembo has been a valuable partner and supplier to us over the years. Brembo hardware has been featured in the production Mustangs, Dark Horse R, and Mustang GT4, so it made sense for us to align our Mustang GT3.

Throughout our testing, Brembo has consistently demonstrated the durability and performance we demand. In endurance racing, component reliability is non-negotiable – especially as we compete at Le Mans and Spa, and we defend our class victories at Daytona and the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring.

We have also seen gains in braking efficiency and peak deceleration. These improvements will be crucial for sprint formats, ranging from our campaigns in DTM and SRO-sanctioned GT World Challenge sprint races to our home race, where we look to defend our victory on the streets of Detroit.

The Evolution of Mustang GT3

Our recent tests at Sebring and Daytona were the capstone of a rigorous development journey for the evolution of Mustang GT3. They represent the relentless pursuit of performance through data-driven refinement and driver feedback. From drivability to performance, the gains we saw were a direct result of the Ford Racing team’s commitment to excellence.

To think how far the platform has come. The competitive debut season of Mustang GT3 in 2024 was certainly a learning year. We continued to develop the car, team and Ford Racing processes — all of which prepared us for the successes we had seen in 2025, with wins on some of sports car racing’s crown jewel events.

Achieving 14 global wins is the direct result of the hard work, dedication, and relentlessness contributed by everyone involved — from Multimatic Motorsports, M-Sport, and our Ford Racing engineers, to the customer teams campaigning the Mustang GT3 at tracks around the world. Together, we have proven the Mustang GT3’s capability. This success is a point of pride for us all, and it motivates us to keep pushing the platform even further.

As we head into the off-season, the Mustang GT3 isn’t resting — it’s being sharpened. We’re refining every component to ensure that when it returns to the grid next year, it’s unbridled, unleashed, and ready to win.

Alex Allmandinger is Ford Racing Global Sports Car manager.