Ford has enlisted the help of five-time Australian Touring Car champion and three-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, Dick Johnson, to unveil the Gen3 2023 Ford Mustang GT Supercar later this week.
Johnson was actually the first driver of Ford’s current Gen2 Mustang Supercar back at the Adelaide 500 in 2019, and will return to the seat as the first driver of the Gen3 Mustang, at Bathurst this weekend. It will be based on the new seventh-generation Mustang road car.
Johnson is, of course, head of Dick Johnson Racing who has been Ford’s primary partner for race homologation for the Supercars series alongside Ford Performance since 2020. Johnson said:
“I can’t wait to drive the Mustang and see the fans across the top of the Mountain, it’s going to be very special indeed. We have been working extremely hard on making this car the best it can possibly be over the last couple of years, and to be the first person in the world to drive it after all of that work is fantastic.”
He added: “Any chance to drive around Mount Panorama is incredible, but to do it in Ford’s latest race car is an opportunity I simply couldn’t pass up.”
As part of the new Gen3 rules, the 5.0-litre V8 engines are gone. Instead, Ford will run a Coyote-based 5.4-litre unit with dual overhead cams, while GM will use a 5.7-litre pushrod V8. They are likely to produce different sounds which could be interesting for the crowds.
The 2023 season will be the first without an official Australian car brand, with no Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon – although the Mustang has been running for a few years now. The iconic series will be a Camaro-vs-Mustang battle.
Dick is set to take the Ford Mustang GT around Mount Panorama on Thursday afternoon for its official reveal, which is set for 12:30pm.
