Our success in launching the Le Mans Invitational turned heads toward our Ford Performance Motorsports Pyramid and, specifically, the Mustang one-make series.

With that in mind, we are announcing Mustang Cup Australia, the next step toward our future. Mustang Cup Australia will be the second of our entry-level series utilizing the Ford Mustang Dark Horse R and the first Ford one-make series outside the United States. We will launch the Australian series with our partners Driving Solutions in 2026.

Mustang Cup will provide a racing series committed to developing the skills of both novice drivers looking to launch a motorsports career and more mature drivers finding — or in some cases rediscovering — their passion for sports car racing in Australia.

It is the place where the future of Australian talent can begin their journey up the Ford Performance Motorsports Pyramid. Our intent is to give career-minded racers a place to progress from Mustang Cup Australia onto Mustang GT4, Supercars or Mustang GT3 on the continent or globally with the Mustang family platform.

The key to any successful race series is the operating structure. For Mustang Cup Australia, we will be racing on the Shannons SpeedSeries weekends under Motorsport Australia (MSA) sanction and through our regional licensing partner Driving Solutions.

Driving Solutions and its director, James Stewart, bring more than 20 years of motorsports and automotive industry experience on the continent to our endeavor. Driving Solutions has a long-standing relationship with Ford Australia, having worked with them since 2005.

Following the lead of the North American-based Mustang Cup series, the Mustang Dark Horse R will be the bespoke race car of the championship.

Each race weekend will feature up to three 30-minute practice sessions, two separate 15-minute qualifying sessions and two 40-minute races. Unique to Mustang Cup Australia is the ability to host different drivers in a single vehicle over the course of the weekend.

This allows sessions to be split between two drivers in the same Mustang Dark Horse R and ultimately gives each driver an opportunity to strive for their own championship.

The Mustang Cup will fill an important role in Australian motorsports, closing the gap between entry-level cars and professional series such as Supercars or GT3 competition. The Mustang Dark Horse R is the latest in racing-based Ford race cars.

It is thrilling for Ford Performance to bring the series 'Down Under.' Dating back to the Australian Touring Car Championship, Ford vehicles have been found on racing circuits around Australia since the early 1960s.

Today, the Mustang competes in various series across the continent and is a growing part of the racing culture. These include the Mustang GT4 in Monochrome GT4 Australia and the Mustang Supercar in the Repco Supercars Championship.

Adding Mustang Cup Australia will create a feeder system not only for us at Ford but also throughout most of the continent’s motorsports landscape.

We look forward to sharing more details in the coming months.

Chris Ward is global One Make series manager at Ford.