Now, that is how you build stability in a brutal paddock. Ford Racing is keeping its entire formula completely untouched for the 2027 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, running it back with the exact same team name, driver lineup, and Ford Mustang GT3 machines that made waves this year.
Here is the beauty of the continuity: Dennis Olsen and Ben Barker are locked in for a second straight season behind the wheel of the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3. Right alongside them in the garage, Frederic Vervisch and Christopher Mies are marching into a third consecutive year driving the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3. Both crews head into the upcoming 2026 season finale sitting fourth (Vervisch and Mies) and fifth (Olsen and Barker) in the GTD PRO Driver Championship, while Ford holds second in the Manufacturer Championship just 68 points off the lead, with a shot at overtaking at Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
That success traces straight back to a massive evo package introduced ahead of 2026, aimed right at sharpening the car's aerodynamics, kinematics, and braking. It turned the beast around. Vervisch and Mies broke through for a win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May, and Olsen and Barker followed it up with a victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past Sunday in September. Add in a double podium at the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway with the No. 64 taking second and the No. 65 taking third, and the machinery is finally singing.
“The introduction of our evo package in 2026 brought race wins, podiums, and a genuine championship fight by Ford Racing and its Mustang GT3 program,” explained Alex Allmandinger, Ford Racing Sports Car Motorsports Program Manager. “Carrying our strong momentum and current driver lineup into 2027 will immediately put America’s Race Team in position to contend for all three titles. The Mustang GT3 has evolved constantly since its 2024 debut into one of the grid’s fiercest competitors, and with top-tier drivers behind the wheel, that continuous development will pay off next season.”
The drivers felt the shift immediately. Vervisch noted that their breakthrough win in Monterey actually arrived ahead of schedule, pointing out how much work went into fixing their weakness in fast corners through the big update. Barker, meanwhile, has been loving every second of his first full IMSA campaign alongside Olsen, despite both drivers haunting the paddock since the mid-to-late 2010s.
“Yeah, it’s been super fun,” Barker said. “I kind of say sometimes that I almost learned to race again! Being in WEC for the best part of 10 years can be quite lonely in certain stints. In IMSA, the way that it works and with the safety cars, it bunches everything up. There’s a lot of energy saved, there’s a lot of strategy involved, which is to be honest, super fun. That keeps you on your toes.”
With Multimatic backing the effort alongside Ford Racing, the family vibe and shared success between sister cars has the whole operation buzzing with good momentum heading forward.
