Ford’s works Mustang GT3 programme has truly come of age in 2026, with the introduction of the updated Evo version of the quintessentially American V8-powered muscle car, along with a victory in the recent IMSA Laguna Seca round to add to its Daytona 24 Hours triumph from 2025.
The Haupt Racing Team-run European arm of the operation has turned up at the Nürburging 24 Hours this year in force, entering three cars total. There’s a pair of Pro Class entries for starters: the #64 Ravenol-backed car of Arjun Maini, Fabio Scherer and David Schumacher and the Bundeswehr-sponsored #67 of Daytona winners Christopher Mies, Dennis Olsen and Fred Vervisch.
Frank Stippler is additionally entered in both cars, but it’s understood that the #64 will be his primary focus for the race. There’s also the #65 Pro-Am car, crewed by team founder Hubert Haupt alongside Vincent Kolb and Colin Caresani, with Schumacher pulling double duty in this car and the #64.
After 14 years as an Audi factory driver, Christopher Mies says he now feels just at home in Ford blue as he did in Audi colours for so long. “I’m living my dream to be honest,” he tells DSC on Friday evening. “It was good to get out of my comfort zone. I enjoyed my years with Audi, it was a great time. But also, I’m in the latter stages of my career, right? So if wanted to make a move, it was a case of now or never. It was always a dream of mine to race in IMSA, so to be doing it now for almost three years is pretty cool.”
The IMSA win last time out at Laguna Seca was particularly satisfying, because, as Mies says: “it was our worst race last year, the nature of the track just didn’t suit the car. Coming there this year with the Evo package, qualifying was really good, so we were confident. We did have to gamble a bit in the race, we’re still not the absolute quickest, but we had decent pace, got close to the front and made a good strategy call. It was a good boost for the whole team.”
“I think we’re pretty happy with where the Evo is now,” he continues. “Of course, you can always do more. But in the end there’s the cost factor. I think the base of the car has always been good, otherwise we wouldn’t have won Daytona, but it obviously also had its weaknesses. We weren’t there in terms of downforce compared to the others and we also fixed the braking, where there was some lack of performance. So now it’s really about going into very fine details. I think because we’re now closer to the competition in terms of downforce and drag, it’s much easier for them to put us in the right Balance of Performance window.”
Turning to the Nürburgring 24, the three-time winner of the event has never seen the place as busy as it is this year, and is also extremely happy to see it thriving. “We need to thank Max [Verstappen] for bringing more attention to this event,” he says. “We already know it’s great; I always call it a festival with a bit of racing on the side, right? And it’s cool to see so many cars entered, back up to pre-COVID numbers. To be here now with Ford for the first time is really exciting. I want to win with them; it’s always a target to show that you can win with a different team, or a different manufacturer.”
Like most of the Pro drivers in the field, Mies is also enthusiastic about the tyre competition almost unique to the N24/NLS arena. “If you didn’t have that, I don’t think we’d have brought three cars, the Falken and Dunlop Porsches wouldn’t be here, there’s a lot of cars that wouldn’t be here. And these ‘confidential’ tires are miles better than the spec tyres we get in other series; they’re more durable and to drive this track with proper tyre and have a lot of grip is cool.”
Looking beyond 2026, the coming Ford Hypercar programme looms large in the minds of all current Ford works drivers. “It’s on my radar definitely, 100%” concludes Mies with a grin. “I can’t say too much, but it’s no secret we’d all like to part of the Hypercar programme if there’s a chance.”
Mies is not the only longtime Audi factory driver to have found a new home at HRT Ford, with the aforementioned Stippler also brought on to add his vast experience to the project. “I think that was the main intention with Ford bringing me on board,” he reflects when speaking to DSC. “My 30 years as a development driver; I built my first car when I was 15, restored a classic, worked on every little part, so maybe this is why I’m slightly more sensitive than most to how a car responds and how it feels.”
Stippler was naturally involved in taking the Mustang from its initial homologation to this year’s Evo spec, and performance around the Nordschleife was front of mind as he went through the process. “We made a list at the beginning of last season, especially concerning issues that popped up around here, which maybe weren’t that obvious on the more modern circuits, but at the same time would compromise you there as well. In my opinion – and it was like this at Audi, too – once a car is working well around the Nordschleife, it’s a huge benefit, both there and when you’re competing anywhere else. The Audi R8 was the absolute benchmark car in terms of balance after 10 years of development, and a huge reason for that was that car being developed at the Nürburging.”
The N24 sees the Fords running on Yokohama rubber as opposed to the control Pirellis, Michelin and Goodyears of the single-tyre series. “For sure, it’s a higher performance window,” Stippler says of this change. “But I would say, in dry conditions, there’s not a huge difference between manufacturers. The obvious differences emerge in the wet, and I think this is the main challenge for the tyre manufacturers, to close this gap.”
The German suffered some mild discomfort during the Top Qualifying 3 session due to fuel leak inside the cockpit. “The fumes were hurting my eyes; I don’t know if it had an influence on the result, but nevertheless it would have been more comfortable without that!” he reports. “We will of course look to fix this for the race. Overall, from what I heard the new qualifying system was good for spectators; I had the impression that each session had a more competitive character.”
Images courtesy of Haupt Racing Team and Frozenspeed
