Gradient Racing has unveiled its plans to acquire the new Ford Mustang GT3 for the upcoming year, marking a “long-term commitment” to participate in the GTD class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
This strategic move to “strengthen their relationship with Ford Performance” signals the end of a six-year partnership with the Acura NSX GT3 for the team based in Austin, Texas.
Andris Laivins, owner of Gradient Racing, expressed gratitude towards Multimatic for their dedicated efforts in enhancing the design, durability, and performance of the GT3.
“We are profoundly excited to join the Ford Performance family with the new Mustang GT3 for the 2025 season and beyond,” Laivins stated.
“Our friends at Multimatic have truly excelled with this vehicle. It embodies the forefront of GT3 engineering, and we eagerly anticipate logging significant miles to deepen our understanding of it.
“The factory team has made tremendous progress in developing this new platform, and as a customer program, we will greatly benefit from their expertise.”
Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports, shared his thoughts on bringing Gradient Racing into the fold.
Gradient Racing Ford Mustang GT3
Photo by: Gradient Racing
“We are thrilled to welcome Gradient Racing into the Ford Performance family as they prepare for their new Ford Mustang GT3 in the upcoming IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for 2025,” Rushbrook said.
“We look forward to supporting them in this exciting new chapter of their IMSA journey. Our goal remains to empower customer teams globally with the heart of Mustang — from the Mustang Dark Horse R and Mustang GT4 to our ultimate iteration, the Mustang GT3 for sports car racing.”
A testing strategy has been arranged for the summer and fall as Gradient Racing embarks on this journey. Laivins acknowledged, “We have a great deal to learn. While we explore the technical aspects in our shop, we are collaborating with drivers and partners that will align well as the program develops, and we plan to offer testing opportunities soon.”
Additionally, Gradient Racing announced that the new Mustang GT3 will be showcased at the next Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca from August 14-17, alongside the Mustang GTD.
Reflecting on the long-standing partnership with Acura and Honda Racing Corporation, which will conclude following the 2024 season, Laivins said, “Without HRC, Gradient would likely not be competing at this level. I take great pride in our time with the Acura brand. We’ll aim to finish this season strong and head into 2025 with cherished memories and hopefully another trophy or two.”
