A weekend at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca that saw three steps on the Mustang racing ladder in action was topped on Sunday by a famous first global win for the new-for-2026 Evo version of the Ford Mustang GT3.
The #65 Ford Racing Mustang GT3 took victory in the always hotly contested GTD PRO class of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship by just over a second from the #4 Pratt Miller Corvette after a Ford-Corvette showdown in the late stages of the race.
Christopher Mies had the first stint behind the wheel of the #65, starting from third position. The team had a much better qualifying showing after two tricky practice sessions on Friday and Saturday.
Through the first thirty minutes of the race, Mies in the Mustang was stuck behind the retro-liveried #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW in second position, with the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus leading the pack from pole.
Disaster seemingly struck at the 35-minute mark when the #65 was dealt a drive-through penalty after an incident with the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsports GTP car, where the Ford Mustang happened to get a puncture from the very same incident.
The team opted for a full service stop immediately, including fuel and new Michelin tyres, and adjusted their strategy to an early service.
They would take the drive through shortly afterwards, emerging in ninth position, with seven GTD cars between the #65 and its closest competitor, the #4 Corvette.
Gradually cutting through the GTD field, the Mustang climbed the overall order whilst sitting last in class. Approaching the halfway point, the #65 made it up to fifth in class following a GTD PRO pit cycle, just before the #13 13 Autosport Corvette retired on track, triggering a Full Course Caution.
The car was handed to Frederic Vervisch, who took control as the car dropped to the back of the field due to their alternative strategy. The caution played in their favour because of the class split before the race went back to green, meaning they were in touch with the #59 Winward Racing Mercedes in front.
With an hour remaining, the #65 crucially made its final pit stop. With their run to the end guaranteed with a side of fuel saving, the Ford Racing machine was in control of its own race, unlike the rest of the GTD PRO class. Many of the front-running cars were banking on a late-race caution during which they could refuel and rejoin with the advantage, at least in theory.
With 17 minutes remaining, the Mustang had 30% energy remaining, compared to the 15-18% of the top four, including the #77 AO Racing “Sketchy” Porsche, the #3 Corvette, the #14 Lexus, and the #1 Paul Miller BMW. This is when the #65 team really started to hope, commented Vervisch post-race.
“We knew they were hoping for yellow; I think about 70 minutes before the end of the race, we knew they’d have to pit for fuel. But they were still driving! We had to wait to see if they’d go into pit lane, they did, so it was a nice feeling.”
Under the 10 minutes remaining mark, it became clear that in fifth position, the Mustang was in net-first place as Nick Tandy in the #77 was unable to hold out just a few laps longer and came into the pits with seven minutes left in the race. The four front-runners that gambled on their strategy were forced to pit during green-flag running as the minutes wound down, shuffling the #65 into the top spot with only the 0.9-second gap to Nicky Catsburg behind in the #4 Corvette to worry about.
Catsburg challenged, but ran out of road, ultimately finishing second, 0.747 seconds behind. Tandy in AO Racing’s #77 in its throwback “Sketchy” livery finished third, ahead of the #3 Corvette of Alexander Sims in fourth.
It was a massive result for the #65 Ford Racing Mustang GT3 crew, which has only had two mid-pack performances to show for their all-new EVO package for 2026 at Daytona and Sebring so far this season.
“I think [this victory] proves that the EVO is a really great step in the right direction,” said Vervisch in the post-race press conference. “We never thought that we could win here, because we always considered this track as our worst track for the Ford Mustang since the beginning, so to win is really cool.”
Chris Mies, who qualified the Mustang P3, also commented on the positive direction he sees for the rest of the upcoming 2026 calendar.
“We had a tough start to the season. Daytona and Sebring were obviously difficult. We brought the EVO package for this year, and it has finally paid off.”
“We finally have a really good result for the team. The car has been good in qualifying yesterday, today, and in our practice sessions,” said Mies. “I’m happy for everyone at Ford and Multimatic for that win, and I think from here we can now fight for the championship.”
Images courtesy of Ford Racing
