The 2026 season will see Ford introduce the Mustang GT3 Evo, an early mid-cycle replace to its GT3 contender. A key participant within the replace has been HRT, which runs the automobile within the DTM, amongst different classes.
HRT was compelled to postpone the check debut of the brand new Evo package deal for the Mustang for a second time. In mid-December at Portimao, a consequential technical concern following a buyer crash was the trigger, whereas poor climate in Estoril in January prevented the Evo from making its first deliberate look. The plan is now to run the check in early February in Portimao, as workforce principal Ulrich Fritz revealed.
“Numerous areas have been addressed — and I imagine the largest challenges of the automobile have been tackled,” Fritz advised Motorsport.com’s sister title Motorsport-Whole.com.
He’s satisfied: “In principle, these are the correct measures. The information additionally seems promising. So I imagine this can be a step in the correct path.”
The place the Ford Mustang GT3’s weak level lies
In its first DTM season, the Ford Mustang struggled with an absence of front-end downforce. That made it tough to hustle the automobile by corners, particularly given its lengthy wheelbase, which already limits agility. On high of that, the tyres overheated rapidly and there was nonetheless room for enchancment in braking efficiency.
This made it tough to deliver the Mustang GT3 into the identical efficiency window as its rivals underneath Steadiness of Efficiency rules.
“The BoP officers may give us an enormous restrictor, which made the automobile a lot sooner on the straights than the rest — however you don’t win races like that,” Fritz defined.
“Should you’re driving a Mercedes that struggles with high pace, that factor simply whistles previous you. And within the corners, you’re extra of an impediment.”
Ford Mustang GT3 Evo
Picture by: Haupt Racing Staff/smg
Overheating and pitstops: New wheels set to repair the problems
The replace is meant to make the Mustang GT3 extra aggressive general. “We’ve got a brand new braking system that, in principle, ought to generate much less warmth,” Fritz mentioned. “However the principle subject is that we’re getting new wheels that ought to have higher warmth administration.”
As a result of the wheel now conducts much less warmth, general temperatures shouldn’t rise as a lot. “Our downside was that the tyre was getting far too scorching,” mentioned Fritz.
As well as, in accordance with him, the brand new wheels are designed to behave like a type of “extractor”, serving to to drag scorching air out of the wheel properly.
“They’re much extra open,” he mentioned of the brand new rims. “They need to even be higher for pitstops, which was one other one among our issues. And I believe that’s really a fairly large change.”
HRT mechanics repeatedly misplaced time throughout tyre adjustments as a result of they couldn’t get a correct grip on the wheel. That ought to now be a factor of the previous because of the replace.
What HRT expects from the Mustang replace within the DTM
Requested what he expects from the replace in DTM, Fritz replied with a counter-question: “Will the automobile wipe the ground with every part at Oschersleben? No, I don’t suppose so. The idea simply isn’t suited to that — with the lengthy wheelbase and so forth. Will we be in a greater place than final yr? Sure, I’m sure of that.”
It’s understood that HRT’s enter performed a serious function within the growth of the Mustang replace. Proof of that is the truth that the 2 new flaps on the entrance of the automobile had been already examined a yr in the past on the Nurburgring Nordschleife. “These aren’t amateurs,” Fritz mentioned, referring to the opposite Ford groups, who had been equally conscious of the automobile’s weak factors.
Nevertheless, HRT offered important enter, notably with Pirelli and Yokohama tyres on the Nordschleife. “We positively gathered probably the most knowledge of anybody, as a result of we fielded probably the most vehicles,” Fritz defined. “I believe there have been 14 Mustangs operating frequently final yr, eight of them from us alone.”
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