Ten years ago, the Ford Motor Company confirmed it would be leaving Japan amidst challenges in the market and the promise of bigger opportunities in China. For that reason, when the Ford Mustang GT3 first raced at Fuji Speedway in the 2024 WEC 6 Hours of Fuji, it was something of a curious attraction for the local fans, who’d rarely if ever had seen a Ford on the roadways at home.
Since then, the famous Blue Oval has come back to race in the 6 Hours of Fuji, with its factory Hypercar team set to join its LMGT3 customers next year. A Ford Mustang Dark Horse R from the Mustang Challenge series was imported to Japan specifically to compete in the Super Taikyu Series’ new ST-USA class for American-built automobiles. And Ford-powered Formula 1 cars have raced in this year’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit.
Ford is still a long way from considering restarting its dealership network in Japan, but Ford Racing continues its 2026 tour through Japan this weekend at the 50th Suzuka 1000km, where Melbourne Performance Centre (MPC) and Miedecke Motorsport have come together to enter the newest Ford Mustang GT3 Evo in Japan’s great endurance sports car race.
This also marks the beginning of a new chapter for MPC, the most successful team in Australian domestic GT3 competition. For over 15 years, MPC and Audi Sport have won nine championships in what is now GT World Challenge Australia – but with the R8 LMS GT3’s time in competition limited, Suzuka will be the first chapter in what could be a prosperous new relationship in GT3 racing.
MPC co-owner and Director Troy Russell told DSC, “For us, the Ford choice was cut through Andrew Miedecke and Miedecke Motorsport in Australia. This year, they moved in with us, sharing our facility to run their own two-car GT4 programme. And Andrew runs the Ford (customer support) programme in Australia for the Dark Horse and the GT4. So naturally, GT3 was the natural progression, which he didn’t want to necessarily take on by himself.
“So through our relationship with him, he made the call and said, this is what’s happening – are you keen? And of course, we said yes!”
It’s also a reunion in many ways for the three Ford Racing factory GT drivers in the blue and white #64 Mustang GT3 Evo. Christopher Mies and Frédéric Vervisch had driven for MPC during their past lives as Audi Sport factory drivers, and Mies is happy to find himself back with the team with which he won the 2015 Australian GT Championship title.
“We won a couple championships and also the Australian GT Championship a couple times,” said Mies, who last drove an MPC Audi in 2022. “It’s a big company with great people, who are highly motivated. We’ll do everything we can to get them up to speed on the Mustang, because it’s a very different car compared to what they have used before.
“It’s cool that they are now in the Ford family as well, and that I get to work alongside them again.”
Two years ago, Mies, Vervisch, and Dennis Olsen made history for Ford Racing, when they gave the Mustang GT3 its first victory in worldwide competition at the 2025 Rolex 24 At Daytona. They’ve been part of the Multimatic Motorsports-run Ford Racing factory team in IMSA’s GTD Pro class for two years, and now all three drivers race full-time for the organisation – Mies and Vervisch in one car, Olsen and Ben Barker in the other.
In that time, they’ve also racked up many kilometres driving with the new Mustang GT3 Evo package, one which has made the V8-powered muscle car a more well-rounded performer in North America and Europe.
Vervisch, the winner of the 2019 Suzuka summer endurance race, said, “This race will not be easy, but we have good experience with the Evo package now.
“The Mustang GT3 is a very technically strong car, and it’s reliable. Ford Racing and Multimatic Motorsports do a great job in preparing the car well, and we have a very good team. Together, I’m confident that we can make something out of the week. We need to be there the last hour to fight for a good result.”
When the blue and white #64 Ford Mustang GT3 Evo turned its first laps in Friday’s paid test sessions, it marked the first time that either side of the partnership had run the car in an official session.
Together with Ford Racing and Multimatic staff from America and Australia, the Australian teams’ collective efforts to get the car up to speed will be the biggest determining factor in how the Mustang GT3 Evo will fare.
“We always come here with the idea of winning the race, but we’re also very aware of the challenge laying ahead,” Russell admitted. “This was a brand new car that wasn’t Evo-spec when it arrived. We’ve spent a few late nights here getting it ready.
“I think we’ve got all the ingredients to potentially have a great result; driver-wise, we’ve got probably three of the best, the guys that had the first victory for Ford. Mies and Vervisch, they’ve both driven with us in the past, so that’s just an easy fit for us as well. But, we’ll see what happens.”
This weekend represents uncharted waters for Ford at the Suzuka 1000km: Ford engines have powered winners in lower categories during the Group C years, the late American privateer Les Lindley finished fourth overall in his Mustang GTO in 1993, and Team DHG ran its wild Mugen V8-powered Ford GT in the SUPER GT Suzuka 1000km races in 2006 and 2007. But this is the first fully factory-supported entry from Ford at this event.
Not to mention, it’s a new interpretation of Ford and GM’s eternal rivalry which has been at the heart of motorsport in both America and Australia for decades, in arenas such as NASCAR, IMSA, and Australian Supercars. Johor Motorsport Racing’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, loaded with two Corvette Racing factory stars (Alexander Sims and Nicky Catsburg) plus IndyCar Series race winner and Bathurst 1000 champion Scott McLaughlin, may end up being their benchmark.
“It’s interesting, obviously the Corvette team down pit road has a lot of Australians there as well, a lot of ex-Triple Eight staff there. So it’s good to have the Ford-GM Aussie connection, I guess,” Russell said.
While there’s a lot to be excited about, Russell admitted that for now, MPC and Miedecke’s first run with the Mustang GT3 is a one-off for now, with no immediate plans to expand the new venture to the team’s regular domain in GT World Australia. “Obviously, that would be great, but we had about a week at home to get the car in a container and all the gear to get it here. There’s been no real discussion about the future, but we’ll just do a good job this weekend and then we’ll have ongoing chats with Ford,” he said.
For now, the alliance of Miedecke, MPC, Multimatic and Ford is set on making a strong first impression at the Suzuka 1000km.
“It’s not going to be easy, but no race is easy,” said Mies. “If we get in the right rhythm, find a good setup straight away to fine-tune, then everything is possible. It’s a long race; you can be on the lucky side or the unlucky side.
“If all the parameters come together, we can have a strong drive. I’m confident that we are in for a good result.”
Whether it’s real-world JRA G1 races or the fantastical world of the game Umamusume: Pretty Derby, there seems to be a renewed interest in the Japanese horse racing scene. If this group project between the best talents from Australia, America, and Europe rounds into form quickly, this thoroughbred could give Ford the honour of being the first American automaker to win the Suzuka 1000km outright.
Images © SRO Motorsports Group / Gruppe C Photography
