A year of progress pays off for Ford's GT3 program at Daytona
Ford Performance can take a bow after capturing the Mustang GT3's first win globally in style on the Daytona high banks Sunday afternoon.
The No. 65 was steered masterfully by factory ace Dennis Olsen at the end of the race when an all-out brawl broke out between the front running pack in GTD PRO.
Seven cars finished on the lead lap in class, with heavy-hitters from Corvette, BMW, Mercedes and Ferrari also in the mix. But it was Ford that prevailed after the frantic run to the flag, with Olsen installed in the lead car and Seb Priaulx entrusted to drive the sister No. 64, which made it a double podium with a third-place finish.
'I was watching the mirror every single corner, watching for the Chevy coming up the inside,' Olsen said. 'I made sure to cover the gaps and hoped that the diffuser and the bumper wouldn't go off and get a technical flag, but luckily didn't.
'I think it was a faultless race by all the team, by all the drivers really.'
The turnaround for Ford's flagship GT racer has been remarkable. A year on from the car's rough debut in the 2024 edition of the Rolex 24, it looks like an entirely different prospect following Ford and Multimatic's move to fix the car's weaknesses and focus on extracting performance from its 5.4 liter V8.
'It's simply amazing,' Mies said when asked to describe the car's development over the past 12 months. 'We came here exactly a year ago, leading the race back then, which was fantastic for a new car. But like everyone, we had some issues.
'The most obvious change is that the rear deck lid isn't coming off anymore. We figured out quite quickly where the problem came from — obviously from side drafting. But to be honest, in development or testing, when do you ever side draft, right? It never happens.
'We had to learn the hard way in the first race, which is one of the toughest races in the world. So yeah, we had no preparation really to test that.
'But there have been things in the background and also on the team side, too. I must say this is probably the biggest improvement compared to last year. It just feels like we made another good step in terms of preparation.
'There's still things we need to improve for the future and people are working on that, but time will tell.'
As the time ticked away, the GTD PRO fight heated up beyond boiling, allowing the sister No. 64 up into third. Ford's hard work paying off with a double-podium was surely cause for celebration. Brandon Badraoui/Lumen
Battles in GTD PRO raged in the second half of the race. Corvette Racing vs. Paul Miller Racing stood out and will live long in memory after Augusto Farfus, Connor Di Phillippi and Tommy Milner came together while battling for the lead.
It was a fight in which Paul Miller utilized its delayed No. 48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO to block the No. 4 Corvette and allow the No. 1 to fight for the top spot. There was contact; there was damage and a post-stint war of words.
Milner described it as 'dirty' and 'disappointing' before Farfus defended his actions, claiming he had 'nothing to do with it' (the contact between the No. 4 and No. 1 at the International Horseshoe) explaining that his intention was simply to 'support' the sister car.
It didn't end there. The fight resumed in the run to the flag, with the No. 4 Corvette of Nicolas Varrone turning the No. 1 into a spin while dicing for podium spots, which he was later penalized for.
Ford got the benefit in two ways. First, the squabbling allowed Olsen to pull a gap with time expiring and second, it helped make sure that Ford beat its rivals from General Motors.
'I think from my side it was my target to make it difficult for them and make them fight,' Olsen added when asked to describe his run at the final restart. 'That was my only chance. They were quicker. Honestly, I had to defend my position and stay inside — that's the only thing. Once they start to fight, I could try to run away, and that's what we did.'
Frederic Vervisch, the third driver in the No. 65, joked that the team was under instruction from Ford's CEO Jim Farley this weekend.
'He said, 'Whatever you do, you have to be in front of Chevrolet,'' Vervisch said. 'Corvette are extremely strong, and I think they hid their A-game because suddenly they were going a lot faster than yesterday.
'I am super proud that we could stay ahead and maybe out-strategy them.'
Story originally appeared on Racer
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