Myers Riley Mustang GT3 posts back‑to‑back top‑10

The Ford Mustang GT3 had a big weekend at Laguna Seca — but not just in the headline-grabbing factory class. The quieter story was Myers Riley Motorsports, the new customer-style GTD effort, putting together another clean, useful result with Sheena Monk and Felipe Fraga in the No. 16 car. They finished eighth in GTD on May 3 at the StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship, good for a second straight top-10 and another runner-up result among Bronze entries. (conquestracing.com) ### What actually happened at Laguna Seca? Monk and Fraga brought the No. 16 Ford home eighth in class after 110 laps, one lap behind GTD winners Danny Formal and Trent Hindman in the Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini. The official race time for the Myers Riley car was 2:41:05.851, and it finished ahead of another Ford GTD entry, the No. 66 Gradient Racing Mustang, which was ninth. (conquestracing.com) ### Why is eighth a real result here? Because GTD is not the factory-heavy GTD PRO class — it’s the category where Bronze-rated drivers are part of the equation, and execution matters a lot. Monk is chasing that Bronze fight all season, and Laguna Seca gave her and the team a second stra(conquestracing.com)ogram needs — no drama, no collapse, just points and proof of pace. (racers-behindthehelmet.com) ### How did the weekend start? Pretty well. Monk handled qualifying and put the car 11th in GTD with a 1:23.532 lap, which also placed the Mustang second among the Bronze entries. That matters because this was not a case of lucking into track position late — the car had speed early enough in the weekend to start near the edge of the top 10 and stay in the fight. (racers-behindthehelmet.com) ### What did Monk do in the race? She did the job a Bronze driver is supposed to do — maybe better. Early in the race she kept clear of the first-lap mess, moved up to eighth in class, and grabbed the Bronze lead by getting past Brendan Iribe’s No. 70 Ferrari. That opening stint gave the team a platform instead of a recovery mission, which is basically half the battle in GTD. (racers-behindthehelmet.com) ### Where does this fit in the season? It looks like momentum. The same pairing broke through with seventh at Long Beach, then followed it with eighth at Laguna Seca. The season had started roughly, but two straight weekends with solid finishes changed the shape of the campaign from “promising but unlucky” to “actually building something.” (racers-behindthehelmet.com) ### Why does Ford care about this one? Because Laguna Seca was also the first IMSA GTD PRO win for the evolved 2026 Mustang GT3 package, with Frederic Vervisch and Christopher Mies winning in the No. 65 Ford Racing car. So Ford left Monterey (racers-behindthehelmet.com)n is healthier than one flashy result on its own. (imsa.com) ### Is this about the Evo kit too? Partly, yes. Ford went to Laguna Seca talking openly about the new Evo kit helping the Mustang GT3 on a track that had been difficult before. The factory win does most of the talking there, but the Myers Riley result supports the same idea from a different angle — the car looked more raceable, not just faster in one perfect stint. (fordracing.com) ### Bottom line? This was not a breakthrough podium. But for a fresh GTD program, back-to-back top-10s and back-to-back second-place Bronze finishes are exactly how a credible season starts. Myers Riley and the No. 16 Mustang are no longer just showing up — they’re settling in.