July 10^th, 2003

Mustangs galloping back

THE Ford Mustang is set to return to Nations Cup competition and the Bathurst 24 Hour is also on the wish list.

Melbourne based racer Geoff Munday has acquired the complete Mustang package, from PHR Scuderia, that includes the two Cobra RAs and enough spares to upgrade the cars to Nations Cup specification from their previous GTP guise.

The Mustangs are being prepared and developed by Les Small and the Advanced Vehicle Design team in Melbourne.

One of the cars was already upgraded to Nations Cup Group Two specs, the other was delivered in basic GTP form. The initial task is to bring both cars up to meet the current Nations Cup rules and then begin a testing and development program for the ‘sprint’ races, with one eye on their potential for the Bathurst 24 Hour.

“The Mustangs more than proved themselves in GTP before they were made ineligible for that series and the cars were never really fully developed for Nations Cup,” said Munday.

“They should be on par with the Ferrari 360’s in Group Two and for Bathurst we all know there is nothing like a V8.

“The Haines Falcon TE50 came in ninth at the 24 Hour last year so if we use that car as a guide, a top 10 should be well within reach for the Mustangs. Les has 24 Hour endurance racing experience at Spa and Le Mans and also knows the demands of Bathurst, that’s a pretty good base to work from”.

Munday last raced at Bathurst in 1988 with an eighth outright result in a Commodore and has most recently been campaigning the ex Bryan Thompson Mercedes Sports Sedan.

“I have been keeping in touch with the PROCAR series and was looking around for something for Nations Cup or GTP when the Mustang project was offered,” he said.

“I am keeping all options open, I would like to see both cars on the track for Nations Cup but to put the whole deal together, with Bathurst, would rely on getting the right drivers with the right budgets.”

The first scheduled appearance for the Mustangs will be either Phillip Island or Winton Nations Cup rounds, depending on component delivery and the testing program.