Well, it would seem the Europeans have more faith and enthusiasm for the Ford GT's basic design and its merits as a race car. Looks like a Swiss team has finally gotten a new GT into race trim and on the track, in the FIA GT3 series. Despite feeling that the new GT is a bit of a pig compared to the original cars, size and weight-wise, I still felt it would only be a matter of time before someone got one to turn a wheel in anger; it's just taken a long time. Some may remember the new GT started appearing only in "virtual" racing livery here and there, some people making models to go into [then] popular racing games a few years back...

Then, some may remember, back in '05 Kinetic Motorsports built up a car and debuted it at SEMA in hopes of racing in SPEED World Challenge, but the project ended up dead in the water...

It appears Swiss outfit Matech Racing has finally done the seemingly impossible, i.e. getting homologation with a sanctioning body to race a GT somewhere. Apparently, the Fords made a good showing of it too, remaining close to the sharp end of the pack during their racing debut. Perhaps validation at last?

Personally, I still like Kinetic MS' aero work a bit better--makes the car look a bit more refined, "evolved" for competition as it were. Shame, really; someone shoulda convinced them to patent those modded parts or something, then they could've marketed them to potential customers across the pond, tried to get some return on their investment...

 

Can't wait for the next round . .

FIA GT3 (Ford GT, Mustang FR500 GT): last official test before the first race
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=64181


FIA Ford GT At Speed (Video)
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=63239


First victory for a Ford GT
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=65689

 

Thanks for the pics! Can only hope it will find victory at Le Mans - that would be sweet.

 

Cool! Thanks for the vid!

Too bad American racing series can't seem to get as much diversity in the grids like in FIA GT3...World Challenge seemed to be heading in the right direction for a while; but the cars are starting to get less and less like their road going counterparts--too many tube-frame "ringers" *cough, cough* Caddy! *cough, cough* Pontiac! Pretty soon, it's going to end up just another "silhouette" series with spiraling costs, and may see a downturn in popularity with fans and competitors alike.

Where's some technical info on the car, I wonder? Are they running a huffer? or N.A.?

 

None of the cars in SWC are tube-frames. They're all very heavily modified tub cars, though the Caddy does seem to take a few more liberties than the other cars. The Pontiac tubers you're thinking of are in Rolex GT. I think the only tub cars left there are the Porsches, and maybe some of the Vettes.

 

Its still hot looking That pic with it out front at Silverstone is amazing

 

That vid made my heart race. OMG...it is gorgeous and the sound of it just nails it home. We'll see big things from it I'm sure.

 

Okay, my bad. Wasn't sure if there were GTO's in SWC & they were tube-framed cars, like the Pratt & Miller GTO's running in G-Am; pretty much moot point now, as they've been replaced by the G6? Got my series mixed up. IIRC, the Mazda RX-8's in G-Am are tube framer's too. Wasn't there a Mustang Cobra set to debut in SWC that was a "gray area" car, i.e. relocated motor; 5.4L instead of 4.6L; rear transaxle & IRS, etc, etc? I just hate to see racing series--at least sports car/gt cars anyway--go through "The Cycle." Every few years, we see a boom in popularity; the cars are popular, fan and competitor interest is strong. But as time progresses, the rules get more liberally interpreted, the costs to stay up front go up, and the cars get more & more heavily modded, less & less like their roadgoing namesakes. You wind up with "silhouette" racers with nothing in common with the factory versions, or one-off super prototypes that will likely never see even limited production. Eventually, competitor and/or fan interest wanes; crowds and grids start to shrink, and finally some say "chuck it all, we'll start/merge our own new series over here..." and the cycle is bound to start anew somewhere else.

 

I know Mike Davis has been running a partial SWC GT schedule in a Mustang. That may be the one you're talking about. Maybe I'll get to check it it next weekend if He comes to Mid-O. The Blackforest Mustang in Rolex GT is definitely a toober. Got to check it out a couple weeks ago in the paddock. The Speedsource RX-8s are also tubeframes, powered by peripheral-ported 3 rotors instead of Renesis-based engines. The thing I like about the Rolex GT cars is that, even though they're tube frame cars, they still look like real cars. You can't really tell unless you stick your head in the cockpit. Plus 3 rotors just sound cool.

 

Just a minor thing, but they friggin put michelin's on the car, I like to remember the GT, and the original Shelby Cobras for that matter with the big beefy Goodyears, with the print on the side. I wish I knew where to get some.