Hand, Mueller, Tincknell and Rockenfeller Named to the Two-Car Works Team
BRASELTON, Ga. – Ford is getting much of the old gang back together to launch its GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) program next season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Harry Tincknell – all part of a Ford GT lineup that raced in the WeatherTech Championship and conquered the 24 Hours of Le Mans less than a decade ago – have reunited with Ford and will be joined by another sports car great, Mike Rockenfeller, in the two-car Ford Mustang GT3 works effort from Ford Performance and managed by Multimatic Motorsports.
Hand and Mueller will co-drive in one car. They teamed to drive a Ford GT in the WeatherTech Championship’s former GT Le Mans (GTLM) class from 2016-19. Along with Sebastien Bourdais, they also achieved a much-celebrated Ford milestone by capturing a class win at Le Mans in 2016 – 50 years after the Blue Oval’s historic first overall victory at Circuit de la Sarthe.
Now. Hand and Mueller are set to drive together again in the all-new Mustang GT3 that’s based on the Mustang Dark Horse road car, as Ford re-enters global sports car racing for the first time since 2019.
“I’m super excited to finally announce this program and get going with it,” said Hand, who was heavily involved in the Mustang GT3’s developmental testing. “It’s been a long time coming – been working on this thing for over a year. I’m super thankful and proud to be involved in the early stages of testing the car. We’ve had it on track a lot.
“I tell you, the first time I drove it, I really liked it. It’s one of those cars, for me, it just fits my style. I knew it right away. I think there are going to be a lot of great years of racing this car.”
Hand and Mueller combined for five WeatherTech Championship GTLM victories in their previous Ford stint together, including the class win at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2017. With the Mustang GT3 set to make its worldwide racing debut in just over two months at the 2024 Rolex 24, Mueller is eager to get started.
“We’ve been working on the new car for a while now and I can’t wait to get out there and start racing,” he said. “I’m really happy to be back with my buddy Joey; we are already great friends and we’ve enjoyed a lot of success together. I can’t thank Ford and Multimatic enough for this opportunity. Daytona is suddenly just around the corner so let’s get going.”
While Hand and Mueller were tearing up North American tracks in the Ford GT, Tincknell was doing the same in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including class victories at Silverstone, Fuji and Shanghai and a second-place result at Le Mans in 2017. He’ll share the team’s second Mustang with Rockenfeller, a two-time Le Mans winner and overall victor at the 2010 Rolex 24.
“I’m very excited to be back with Ford where the family feeling runs right through the organization,” Tincknell said. “I am working with my race engineer from the Ford GT days and many of the crew are old friends from that time and subsequent Multimatic race programs.
‘I’m looking forward to driving with Rocky,” Tincknell added. “When I was racing in European Formula 3 in 2013, German DTM was the headline event and that was the year that Rocky won the title. Now, competing at the same level as him is pretty surreal when I think back to those days.”
Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, is confident that the Mustang GT3 program will add to the legacy that the iconic make has built since 1964.
“We’re thrilled to embark on this exciting endeavor and to put our 58 years of global Mustang racing heritage and performance to the test against some of the world’s greatest manufacturers,” Rushbrook said. “We want to welcome Joey and Dirk back to the Ford family after a great few years with the GT program. Combined with Harry’s four wins during the Ford GT program and Mike’s impressive race craft and résumé, this puts us in a strong starting position in the Mustang GT3’s debut season.”
(Photo: Ford Performance)