Mustang Challenge Overview

Racing enthusiasts who want to experience the thrill of sports car competition should look no further than the Mustang Challenge. Sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), and organized by Ford Performance Racing School (FPRS) Motorsports, Mustang Challenge allows drivers up to FIA silver ratings to compete on a level playing field against other Mustang Dark Horse R cars.

Each IMSA-sanctioned event will feature two 30-minute practice sessions, one 15-minute qualifying session and two 45-minute sprint races. The field will be split into two classes – Dark Horse and Dark Horse Legends, the latter being an optional classification eligible to bronze-level drivers 45 years old and over.

Ford Targeting 35+ Car Field For Mustang Challenge Invitational At Le Mans

15 May 2025, 8:45 AM

With the addition of the Ford Mustang Challenge Invitational races to the support package for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, fans trackside are in for a treat.

The pair of sprint races on the full Circuit de la Sarthe in the build-up to the main event will be the first for the V8-powered Dark Horse R platform in Europe, and the target grid size has been set at an impressive 35-plus cars for this new venture from Ford Performance.

This comes at a time when the Blue Oval is pushing both the Mustang as a road and race platform hard and building up its customer racing pyramid. The Dark Horse R bridges the gap between the roadgoing Dark Horse and the Mustang GT4 and has proven hugely successful since the Mustang Challenge series debuted stateside last year.

Both Challenge and the new-for-2025 entry-level Mustang Cup have attracted strong fields, and the feedback from the drivers has been overwhelmingly positive. More than 70 Dark Horse R race cars had been built ahead of the Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational in reaction to demand, and they can’t build them fast enough.

“It has been such an exciting start to the 2025 racing season with the Dark Horse R,” said Ford Performance global one-make series manager Chris Ward. “Since I joined Ford Performance only this past February, I have been able to experience the enthusiasm firsthand for this tremendous platform.”

“Preparations for the Le Mans Invitational are well under way,” continued Ward. “We have cars already on their way by ocean freight, and we have 15 drivers in California for the second round of Mustang Challenge that are participating just a few weeks later at Le Mans.

“With an expected grid of more than 35-plus cars, we are so excited to witness our stable of Mustangs make their way down the Mulsanne straight!”

For 2025, the Dark Horse R has been given a makeover too, with a new homologation. It has been updated with a (mandatory) kit that is being supplied to existing customers at a very attractive price.

Ford has moved fast to make key tweaks to its single-make racer to ensure customers keep coming back for more. These include moving to an 18-inch tyre size, and the addition of new adjustable rear camber arms.

This hasn’t led to a significant increase in cost for newcomers. A new Dark Horse R in 2025 will set you back $159,000 (circa £120,000) including the update kit, and it can be used in either Cup or Challenge, depending on a driver’s ability level and/or preference.

“From the first round of Mustang Challenge at Sebring in March to the well-received debut of Mustang Cup in April, customers seem to be thoroughly enjoying the updates applied to the car for 2025,” said Ward.

Registered Challenge and Cup Drivers are being given free open access to the Ford Performance Tech Center driver-in-the-loop simulator this year, too, allowing them to improve their racecraft between events and prepare for some of the trickier circuits, like the 13.6 km Circuit de La Sarthe.

The Dark Horse R, and both the Mustang Challenge and Cup series are a key pillar to Ford’s grander plan to take aspirant drivers and teams on a journey from the grassroots level, through GT4 and GT3 competition, and maybe, just maybe, Hypercar too.

We’ve seen the likes of Nicklas Nielsen rise from racing in Ferrari Challenge to winning Le Mans overall in a 499P. Now, with a top-class programme of its own on the horizon, Ford has put everything in place to tell a similar story in the years to come.

Early signs suggest that this plan is working. Drivers have already graduated from Mustang Challenge to Pilot Challenge (Dark Horse R to Mustang GT4) following season one.

And that figure is expected to grow as Mustang Cup and Challenge mature and the initiative goes global.

“We were particularly excited to recently showcase the Dark Horse R at various events in and around Melbourne, Australia to coincide with Ford Motor Company’s celebration of its Centenary in market,” Ward concluded.

“The car received an extremely warm reception at Philip Island during a few demonstration laps and gives us great optimism for that and additional regional markets as we evaluate the possible expansion of our Mustang one make series’ globally.”

Images courtesy of Ford Performance