Ford wins GTD Pro at Monterey

Ford finally got the Monterey result it had been chasing with the Mustang GT3. The No. 65 car of Frederic Vervisch and Christopher Mies won GTD Pro on Sunday, May 3, at Laguna Seca after a race that looked half-broken early and then swung on strategy late. That matters because this wasn’t a simple pole-to-win beatdown. It was a proof race — the kind that tells you a program may have turned a corner. (imsa.com) ### What actually happened at the end? Ford won because Vervisch could keep pushing while several GTD Pro rivals had to start nursing fuel in the closing stretch. IMSA’s official race recap framed it pretty bluntly — this was the opposite of Ford’s famous 2016 Monterey win, when fuel saving ma(imsa.com)e margin over the No. 4 Corvette of Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg was 0.758 seconds. (imsa.com) ### Why was that surprising? Because the No. 65 Ford got tagged by an early setback. A left-rear puncture knocked it off sequence and forced the team to recover instead of controlling the class from the front. Motorsport’s account had the car only fifth with about 20 minutes left. So this was (imsa.com)ets squeezed.” (motorsport.com) ### Who beat whom? The GTD Pro podium was Ford first, Corvette second, and AO Racing’s Porsche third. The winning car was the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3 with Vervisch and Mies. Second was the No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R driven by Catsburg and Milner. Third was the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R shared by Harry King and Nick Tandy. Ford’s sister No. 64 Mustang finished sixth in class. (imsa.com) ### Why does fuel matter so much here? Laguna Seca is short, tight, and weirdly punishing on race rhythm. A GTD Pro race there can turn into a spreadsheet contest fast — stint length, cautions, tire wear, and whether a driver can attack or has to start feathering the throttle. The easiest way to feel it is this: two cars can look equally quick, but if one has to (imsa.com) it’s already half-defending. That was the opening Ford needed. (imsa.com) ### Why is this a bigger deal for Ford? Because the Mustang GT3 program has shown flashes without stacking enough clean, complete races. IMSA described this Monterey win as the first for the “new evo version” of the car in GTD Pro at Laguna Seca, and the first win for Vervisch and Mies since t(imsa.com)e team’s race management — are starting to line up. (imsa.com) ### Was this only strategy, or was the car better too? Basically both. Ford leaned into strategy, but the car also seems more sorted than it did earlier in the season. You don’t recover from a puncture, stay in contention, and then finish the job on pure luck. The race still needed the late fu(imsa.com) sign of a healthier package. (imsa.com) ### So what should readers take from this? This win says Ford’s GTD Pro effort is no longer just promising in theory. Monterey gave it something more valuable — a messy, high-level IMSA race where the Mustang absorbed trouble, stayed on plan, and cashed in when the class came to it. That’s how serious title campaigns usually start to look. (imsa.com)