New series to revive Aussie racing's golden age

News.com.au

4 hours ago

The golden age of Australian motorsport will return in 2026 as Ford turns back the clock to the kind of racing that made Peter Brock and Allan Moffat superstars.
Back then, racing heroes would take a car from the showroom, make a few minor modifications and hit the track.
These days, modern Supercars racing sees multimillion-dollar, purpose-built racing machines fretted over by teams of mechanics and engineers.
But a new series from Ford will turn back the clock and make racing a V8-powered Mustang cheaper and easier than before.
The Mustang Challenge is a new series in the US that will reach Australia next year..
Andrew, Birkic, President and chief executive of Ford Australia, says the Mustang 'holds a special place in the hearts of Australians, and a dedicated one-make series featuring the Dark Horse R is a natural and incredibly exciting fit for our market'.
'This new championship provides a clear pathway for aspiring drivers and adds another thrilling dimension to the Mustang's legendary racing heritage down under,' he said.
'We can't wait for 2026 to see these incredible cars battling it out on tracks all over Australia.'
The series will be run by Driving Solutions, a firm with decades of experience in motorsport and automotive events.
We are incredibly proud and excited to partner with Ford Performance to bring Mustang Cup
Australia to life,' Driving Solutions director James Stewart said.
'The Mustang Dark Horse R is a spectacular race car, and we believe a one-make series
featuring this machine will be a huge drawcard for Australian drivers and fans.
'Our aim is to build a professional, competitive, and accessible series that provides a fantastic opportunity for young drivers to hone their skills, and for experience drivers to enjoy racing a high-performance and market-relevant race car.
'We look forward to working hard to make this series a roaring success.'
The series puts drivers in identical Mustang Dark Horse R racing cars, which are purpose-built by Ford Performance in the US but are nearly-identical to the road-legal Mustang except for the added safety features - just like what Brock, Moffat and co. raced in the 1970s.
One example of the Mustang Dark Horse R is already in the country to help drum up interest for the category, and six Australian drivers have signed up for June's special race at Le Mans, France. Chris Ward, Ford's global one-make category manager, is overseeing Mustang Challenge and is confident that the series will hit Aussie tracks next year.
While there are still a few fine details to get resolved, Ward is confidently planning for an Australian series and said he would be 'thrilled' with a 20 car grid for the first season.
Australia already has plenty of racing categories, including the Porsche Carrera Cup and Toyota GR 86 Series, but Ward believes the unique appeal of the Mustang will make it a worthy addition to the local racing scene.
'We are not coming to the market to disrupt what's already there,' he said. 'We want to supplement that, if that's the right word. We want to be supportive. We readily realise that there's a finite number of people in the Australian market that have the wherewithal to go sports car racing. So we're not looking to disrupt that.'
Ford's goal, Ward explained, is to help introduce both young and older amateur drivers into the world of racing and hopefully have them progress up through its established pathway of other track-ready Mustangs that includes the GT4 and GT3 class cars.
'We're looking to further the sports car market in Australia where people that are track day enthusiasts, not have such a giant leap to go from the track day warrior, let's call them, to let's say GT4 racing or GT3 racing. We want to fill that little niche in between people that have taken their street cars onto the racetrack to go GT4 racing,' he said.
One example of this is reigning Mustang Challenge champion Robert Noaker. The 21-year-old is a throwback to the likes of a young Peter Brock, racing for his own family-run team with only his dad and a few friends to help work on his car. His success in the inaugural season has seen him signed up to be part of Ford's 'junior team' of young drivers that it will groom for future sports car drives across its various activities. This allows him to dream of becoming a professional racing driver, something that was otherwise out of reach for him before Mustang Challenge.
'I'm still keeping the mindset of 'it's not going to happen', so I'm gonna just keep focusing on the business side, with the team. But I'm still doing whatever I can to try to make something out of the program and to try to step up the ladder [into GT4 or GT3].'
Not surprisingly, like any racing driver, he has dreams of racing at Australia's greatest track - Mt Panorama, Bathurst - having previously run a race there in a different category.
'Personally, my favourite track is Bathurst. After I ran it, my first lap I'm like 'this has ruined everything else'. So I'd love to do the 12 hour or the 1000. And you know, being Ford is involved in the cars that race in that, I have the experience at the track already and maybe something could happen at some point. And that's the beauty of the program. You know, if you're the right fit for something, you're already in the program and you're able to go up their ladder.'