07-19-07: Victory lane has become a familiar place for Mustang racing teams this season as the American muscle car continues to show both its power and performance on the track with wins in both the Grand-Am Koni Challenge Series and GT4 European Cup competition.
The Mustang FR500C has captured five wins and two pole positions in the first eight races of the Grand-Am Koni Challenge Series. The Ford Racing teams of Blackforest Motorsports, Hyper Sport and Rehagen Racing have all had their turn in the winner's circle, including a victory in the season-opener at Daytona with the No. 5 team of Tom Nastasi and David Empringham.
"We've enjoyed success this season with the No. 5 Mustang winning races and the No. 4 getting a pole in Miami," said Nastasi. "As a team, I feel like we're getting better and gaining confidence all around and we're working on trying to win a championship this season."
In any given Koni Challenge Series race, there are on average of 11 Mustangs competing in the GS class for Grand-Am, with two races seeing five Mustangs in the top 10 positions.
Co-drivers Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell have been fixtures at the top of race results and the point standings with their No. 55 Hyper Sport Mustang team, and currently stand second and fourth through eight races.
"This has been a good season so far for our Hyper Sport race team with winning the pole in Daytona and the race at Mosport International," said Foster. "I've been lucky enough to lead the points this season, but our team's focus is staying consistent in our car. We're hoping to finish out the season with a couple more victories and maybe a championship when it's all said and done."
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Also getting in on the winning action with their first win of the season in the Mustang is Dean Martin and Ken Wilden, who led the field to the checkered flag at Mid-Ohio. Martin, a former engineer with Ford SVT, says racing a Mustang out on the track is something that is very special to him.
"For me it's definintely a factor that I'm racing a Mustang," said Martin. "Having worked at Ford and being a Mustang guy for a long time, I can't really imagine campaigning for any other make. I think the Mustang is the right choice for everyone on our race team."
With an already successful season halfway through the Grand-Am schedule, Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology, is proud of how well the Mustang and its teams are performing this year.
"We are absolutely thrilled with the success the Mustang and its teams are having this season in the Grand-Am Koni Challenge Series," said Davis. "We've won poles and races with multiple teams and we'll do whatever we can to support our competitors as they race for driver, team and manufacturer championships. At Ford, we pride ourselves on the power and performance of the Mustang and this series allows our drivers to showcase that on the track with tough competition.
While the Mustang is making its mark on racing in North America, it's also making a name for itself in Europe after being approved for FIA GT3 and GT4 Cup racing earlier this year.
"We had both the Mustang FR500C and FR500GT homologated earlier this year for FIA GT3 and GT4 European Cup racing and each has already competed as part of a customer racing program," said Davis. "The FR500C won in its GT4 debut round in Silverstone, Great Britain, which is the second time that model of Mustang has won in its debut race in a racing series. It then went on and captured another win in Germany in July. The more time the GT3 and GT4 teams have on the track with these Mustangs, the more competitive and successful they will be."
With a handful of races left on both series' schedules, Ford Racing looks forward to a successful rest of the season, and a Mustang at the top of the series at the end of the year.
"With the way our team is performing this year, I'm excited at the chance to run for a championship this season with Hyper Sport and Ford," said Foster. "Getting to the top of the points and being there at the end of the season is something that I think about everyday."
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