Maybe GT3 Should Be The Future?

This is the Statt Mann Baby. Time to Scatt a little bit.

I want to expand on the GT3 programs we talked about last week here in The Freak Nation.

Both GM and Ford are full steam ahead in their programs for sports car racing. GM has prototypes and is in conversations with potential privateer teams who may be racing a GT3 version of the Chevrolet Corvette that won at Le Mans last weekend.

And Ford introduced its GT3 Mustang to the assembled crowd right before the green flag dropped on the 100th Le Mans. Ford, in fact, already announced a GT4 Mustang for the marketplace.

Quickly, the GT category cars are built to specific international rules. To keep the car legal, the carmaker must build at least ten exact copies of the race car every year to those exact rules. Most will build more.

Then customer teams can buy the car and know it meets rules all over the world. Carmakers often have groups of drivers who will work with customers to make those teams more competitive on the track.

The point is this: carmakers want to sell cars not just race them. This is a way for them to keep their name on the racetrack and in front of customers without spending millions every year to win races.

The Corvette and Mustang are historic brands with huge fan bases. GM and Ford should have great success selling the race cars to teams and showroom knockoffs to customers who think of themselves as weekend racers who like driving fast.

Good luck with that…

Peace.