Ford Triumphs in Contact-Heavy GTD Class at Daytona 24

#65: Ford Multimatic Motorsports, Ford Mustang GT3, GTD PRO: Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch, Dennis Olsen

It only took Ford two tries to figure out its new Mustang GT3. The company showed speed from the new car for 2024 with factory team Ford Multimatic Motorsports, but never managed to get a win throughout the entire IMSA season. Now for 2025, the team starts off with a win in the very first event.

The Fords showed their pace from the start, with the No. 64 taking the pole and the No. 65 grabbing the outside pole. But contrary to last year, where the cars showed durability issues, particularly relating to spoiler mounts, the Mustangs remained up front all race and finished first and third among all the GTDs and for the GTD Pro class specifically.

“Today is a huge day,” said Mustang driver Dennis Olsen, who drove the car in the final stint. “We didn’t really think we would have it at the end but we really gave it our all and it paid off at the end.”

That start-to-finish statistic leaves a lot out, though. The racing in GTD was contact-heavy all race, with contenders shuffling through. The action really took off when the sun rose.

With three hours to go, Tommy Milner in the leading No. 4 Corvette was being hunted down by Connor de Philippi in the No. 1 BMW when the No. 48 BMW of Augusto Farfus got involved and started blocking the Corvette. Race control called Farfus in for a drive-through for blocking, at which point Farfus blocked even more aggressively on his in-lap and slowed Millner through the International Horseshoe, allowing de Philippi to get beside Milner and the two made contact which caused the left-rear of the Corvette to detach.

IMSA was forced to black-flag the Corvette for repairs about a half-hour later. An irate Milner complained about the whole event after getting out of his car.

“That kind of racing is not what IMSA’s about, it’s not what sports car is about,” Milner sad. “First and foremost, the driver should be embarrassed, the team should be embarrassed, BMW should be embarrassed.”

It is about team racing, but not like that… It’s disappointing. I don’t have an issue with the 1 car, it’s just the sister car that’s out there just to be a nuisance,” he said. “They waited for me until I got close and then held me up for no reason, then got the black flag and came out and did it again. So their only goal is to race dirty.”

That wasn’t the end, though, as the No. 4 Corvette, now with Nicholas Varrone behind the wheel, later spun the No.1 BMW while battling for a podium, costing the BMW position on track and earning the Corvette a drive-through penalty.

#65: Ford Multimatic Motorsports, Ford Mustang GT3, GTD PRO: Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch, Dennis Olsen

The beneficiaries of that exchange were the Mustangs, bringing them into contention. Olsen turned that from contention to the win by grabbing the lead from the No. 4 Corvette, ahead of that car’s penalty, on a late restart with under an hour to go and holding off the No. 3 for the rest of the race.

It was a win made especially sweet considering the longtime rivalry between Ford and Chevrolet.

Olsen acknowledged that there was pressure in the final stint from the Corvette, who ultimately finished 1.909 seconds back.

“Honestly, I was just listening to the spotter, making sure I didn’t mistake any mistakes,” he explained of his approach in the car.

The pressure extended to the other drivers on the pit box, watching their car battle on the track, explained team driver Frederic Vervisch.

“Our strategy at the end was completely nerve-wracking, and it’s unbelievable that we won,” he said. It’s so hard, it’s harder sitting on the bench [pitbox] and looking and watching and seeing everything going on on track, it’s better to drive actually.

“It’s unbelievable. One year we came and one car finished the race… and now, coming back one year later, and winning the race… It’s incredible, I would have never expected it,” he concluded.

Chevrolet might not have won the overall GTD competition, but the brand can take solace in the result of the GTD competition (which requires some drivers who are not pro-rated by the FIA): the #13 AWA privateer Corvette took the win in that class.

One car of note was the No. 91 Trackhouse one-off entry from the NASCAR team, with an all-star lineup of Ben Keating, Connor Zilisch, Scott McLaughlin, and Shane van Gisbergen. That team was a contender until late in the race, but ultimately ran into problems and finished ninth in class, one lap down.

Pos in Class No. Manufacturer Laps Behind in Class Pit Stops Class
1 #65 Ford Mustang GT3M 723 –.— 11 PRO
2 #3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.RM 723 1.909 13 PRO
3 #64 Ford Mustang GT3M 723 5.766 13 PRO
4 #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVOM 723 17.798 13 PRO
5 #69 Mercedes-AMG GT3M 723 19.471 12 PRO
6 #81 Ferrari 296 GT3M 723 28.019 23 PRO
7 #4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.RM 723 40.421 14 PRO
8 #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)M 722 1 lap 14 PRO
9 #91 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.RM 722 1 lap 14 PRO
1 #13 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.RM 719 –.— 11 GTD
2 #120 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)M 719 1.454 14 GTD
3 #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EvoM 719 4.817 14 GTD
10 #20 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)M 719 4 laps 16 PRO
4 #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3M 719 6.759 14 GTD
5 #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVOM 719 7.328 12 GTD
6 #19 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EvoM 719 7.389 11 GTD
7 #50 50 Ferrari 296 GT3M 719 8.859 13 GTD
8 #83 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)M 719 10.547 12 GTD
9 #32 Mercedes-AMG GT3M 719 39.150 13 GTD
11 #14 Lexus RC F GT3M 704 19 laps 14 PRO
10 #45 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2M 689 30 laps 10 GTD
11 #021 Ferrari 296 GT3M 688 31 laps 10 GTD
12 #34 Ferrari 296 GT3M 673 46 laps 17 GTD
12 #48 BMW M4 GT3 EVOM 668 55 laps 14 PRO
13 #78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2M 591 128 laps 10 GTD
14 #80 Mercedes-AMG GT3M 584 135 laps 7 GTD
15 #12 Lexus RC F GT3M 573 146 laps 8 GTD
15 #023 Ferrari 296 GT3M 569 150 laps 11 GTD
17 #21 Ferrari 296 GT3M 555 164 laps 7 GTD
18 #66 Ford Mustang GT3M 425 294 laps 1 GTD
19 #70 Ferrari 296 GT3M 392 327 laps 0 GTD
20 #36 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.RM 355 364 laps 0 GTD
21 #47 Ferrari 296 GT3M 336 383 laps 0 GTD
13 #9 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2M 227 496 laps 0 PRO
14 #007 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EvoM 217 506 laps 0 PRO
22 #44 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EvoM 170 549 laps 0 GTD
15 #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3M 150 573 laps 0 PRO
Owen Johnson

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