Every year, automakers around the world create new racecars, and it’s almost always exciting. However, the process of creating those vehicles tends to be mired in mystery because of the natural secrecy involved in maintaining competitive advantages.
As it creates its next-generation of Mustang racecar, Ford wanted to pull back the veil, and let us in on what the process of making a new racecar feels like. In a new five-part series, the automaker is showing what goes into making a GT3 car.
In the first episode, which you can watch below, the documentary series delves into the early stages of preparing a new racecar for a race team. The film begins with testing at Road America in September, four months before the car’s debut at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in January 2024.
The cars in question are part of the factory racing effort led by Ford Performance Motorsport and Multimatic, the same team that played a role in designing the Ford GT. Right from the outset, the challenges of real-world testing become apparent.
Read: Ford Mustang GT3 Racecar Debuts With A Serious Face, Eyeing Eventual Le Mans Return
From the monumental task of physically constructing the cars to transporting them along with a team of engineers to the racetrack, and contending with atmospheric challenges like rain, initiating a project of this magnitude is a formidable undertaking. This makes any development schedule seem excessively tight.
“You always start out thinking, ‘Oh, I left plenty of time.’ When we laid out the plan, it looked like plenty of time, but you always end up pressed at the end,” says Kevin Groot, program manager at Ford Performance. “It feels very tough right now because next month we’re homologating, and we’re testing, and we’re getting ready for Daytona.”
Certainly, his team has more than just these racecars to consider. Given that the car is competing in the GT3 class, it is eligible to participate in various racing series worldwide. While this versatility is one of the class’s major attractions, it also entails additional responsibilities, such as conducting testing in Europe to guarantee customer satisfaction on par with the factory’s standards.
It all feels like an impossibly large task, but one that we’re excited to see the results of. We’ll be able to watch the next episode in this five-part series on December 22. And we’ll be able to see what the car is eventually capable of, when it makes its world debut at Daytona, on January 27, 2024.