DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ford Racing has seen both its Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) cars win in the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. After evolving the team name, driver lineup and its Ford Mustang GT3 itself prior to 2026, it’ll be status quo for all of the above in the 2027 WeatherTech Championship season.
Ford Racing returns with its two-car GTD PRO effort of Dennis Olsen and Ben Barker back for a second season in the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3, with Frederic Vervisch and Christopher Mies continuing for a third consecutive season in the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3.
They enter the 2026 season finale fourth (Vervisch and Mies) and fifth (Olsen and Barker) in the GTD PRO Driver Championship with Ford second in the Manufacturer Championship, just 68 points off the lead and with a shot at overtaking at Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Entering 2026, Ford made a significant evo update to the Mustang GT3 with a goal of optimizing its aerodynamics, kinematics and braking. With a first win by Vervisch and Mies at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May, followed by Olsen and Barker’s win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past Sunday in September, both cars have begun to exploit the evo package well. They also banked a double podium in the GT-only Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway, with the No. 64 second and No. 65 third.
“The introduction of our evo package in 2026 brought race wins, podiums, and a genuine championship fight by Ford Racing and its Mustang GT3 program,” explained Alex Allmandinger, Ford Racing Sports Car Motorsports Program Manager. “Carrying our strong momentum and current driver lineup into 2027 will immediately put America’s Race Team in position to contend for all three titles. The Mustang GT3 has evolved constantly since its 2024 debut into one of the grid’s fiercest competitors, and with top-tier drivers behind the wheel, that continuous development will pay off next season.”
Vervisch and Mies hailed the evo updates as soon as they got on the board in Monterey, with Vervisch noting the win came ahead of schedule.
“We were very excited for the Evo; one of our weak points was the fast corners in this car, so we worked a lot on it and did a big update,” Vervisch said at the Friday Monterey media bullpen. “We expected quite a lot and unfortunately, we started the year with really good races but without the results that we wanted. Laguna has always been a difficult track for us so we still think it will not be easy. But from then on, we hope to be really competitive and fight for wins. I think Ford deserves it. They put a lot of effort in.”
Barker expanded on the evo package in a pre-Indianapolis media Zoom: “I think the Mustang GT3 has been working really well this season. We’ve been developing it and honing it in on the Evo package. Let’s hope that that brings some good luck to us as well. Looking forward to getting back (to Indy) and getting the team back together.”
Believe it or not, both Barker and Olsen are going through their first full IMSA season in 2026, although both have been a semi-regular presence in the paddock since the mid-to-late 2010s. Barker expanded on what it means to race in IMSA.
“Yeah, it’s been super fun,” he said. “I kind of say sometimes that I almost learned to race again! Being in WEC for the best part of 10 years can be quite lonely in certain stints. In IMSA, the way that it works and with the safety cars, it bunches everything up. There’s a lot of energy saved, there’s a lot of strategy involved, which is to be honest, super fun. That keeps you on your toes.
“From a personal point of view, it’s been great to learn some of these tracks again. There’s some of them I’ve been to a long time ago, but to be honest with you, my memory is so bad that, I can’t remember a lot of them, so it was kind of relearning and getting to know the series again, and, obviously being with Ford Racing and Multimatic, who are awesome, you know, everyone there is great, it’s a real, like, family feeling, and we kind of share our successes with, with the sister car and ourselves. The unity’s good, and it’s good vibes going forwards.”