The Ford Mustang will compete in Australia’s Supercars Championship for the 2019 season.
Imagine an Australian version of NASCAR, but with more typical race track designs so that every car still needs to have some semblance of a suspension and downforce so they don’t go flying into the retaining wall. That’s the Supercars Championship, a highly renowned series of touring car races that has been Australia’s claim to racing fame for decades.
For the longest time, Australians young and old have come to expect the Ford Falcon as the blue oval’s entry into the Supercars Championship. But Ford stopped making Falcons (at least, the Australian kind) in 2016, with 2018 being the last year they’d create a version for the Supercars Championship. Instead, Ford announced the old FGX Falcon Supercar would be replaced by a retuned version of the venerable Mustang.
Obviously, Australia has Mustangs sold domestically as Ford wants the Mustang to be their globally-branded sports car. But the Falcon had a history. It was the Australian race car for so long that some Australians are a little iffy about this new pony supercar.
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To help assuage their fears, Ford is working with Australian racing team DJR Team Penske to create the Mustang Supercar. Ford Performance, Ford Australia, and the Ford Asia-Pacific Design Studio also had a hand in the Mustang’s development, so we know that Ford is sparing no expense when it comes to making an Aussie racing Mustang.
DJR Team Penske just released the first batch of images for the prototype 2019 Mustang Supercar that will be used in the upcoming season. This prototype is currently undergoing testing ahead of homologation trials starting in December.
“To see Mustang on track for the first time is a great milestone, as we’ve been working on this project in earnest since November last year,” said DJR Penske Team principal Ryan Story. “It is a testament to everyone involved. It’s an encouraging start. The car looks fantastic, and both drivers reported that the car has plenty of promise. We couldn’t be more pleased with how things progressed today.”
As with all Supercars, the Mustang Supercar is powered by a naturally aspirated 5.0-L V8 with an 85% ethanol 15% petrol fuel mixture produces around 650 hp. A 6-speed sequential manual provides power to the rear wheels.
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