Mustang Challenge Cars Moving to SCCA World Challenge

Photos:  Mark Weber/World Challenge

This weekend’s SCCA World Challenge race at Mid-Ohio saw six FR500s Mustangs competing in the GTS class, along with some familiar names.

Competing against Acura TSX and Porsche Cayman entries, the FR500S expanded the field nicely, but will need some refinement to become competitive. Ben Crossland, George Winkler and Richard Colinello were among the Mustang drivers to jump lanes before the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge series comes to an end next month at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.

Speaking with World Challenge executive, David Drimmie, he told us that “We have had many discussions with both the teams and drivers and with Ford Racing. We are accepting and welcoming the cars into our GTS class.” That the FR500S will need some changes to become competitive in the series is recognized and the SCCA Tech Staff is working to quickly understand what these changes will be.

“The teams understood this coming in for the race this past weekend and we wanted to welcome them to get a taste of a World Challenge event. Mid Ohio is a huge event weekend and I would say the teams and drivers came away impressed,” Drimmie added.

Current FR500S cars must remain within specification if they are going to compete at the series-ending race in Utah. After this, the cars may be eligible for competition in other series, with modifications.

At the end of July, World Challenge organizers released information on the future direction of the GTS class. According to World Challenge Director of Operations, Scott Bove, “When GTS was announced for 2010, we knew this would be a transitional year, providing a place for the more radical 2009 Touring Cars while building a platform to build upon for years to come. As GTS moves forward, it will fill the clear void between the Touring Car and GT classes, offering great racing by some of the marketplace’s hottest and most popular cars.”

The updated GTS class will provide a ready-made place for pony cars like the Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro. It will also offer a place for current-model domestic, European and Japanese cars, including the Audi S4 and S5, BMW 335 and M3, Cadillac CTS-V, Mercedes CLK V-8, Infiniti G37, Nissan 370, Lexus ISF, Mitsubishi EVO and Subaru WRX STi.

“We expect a ton more [Mustangs] for our season ended at Miller, October 1-3. I’m not sure if they are going to make the VIR race, September 10-12, but our intention is to work extremely hard to get them to come over to our series.”

The World Challenge series this season consists of twelve races at nine different tracks, ranging from St. Petersburg, FL, to Long Beach, CA. Several events are double headers, as was the one at Mid-Ohio.

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