When you think of the FIA GT3 racing series in Europe, the cars that comes to mind are the Audi R8 LMS, BMW Z4 GT3 like the Need for Speed from my last post, Porsche GT3 etc. Mostly Euro cars and maybe a Ford GT in there once in a while. But can you believe a Ford Mustang racing against these machines?

Yup, a race team who ran a Ford GT in previous season will be currently running the Ford Mustang GT3.

Here’s the press release of the Ford Mustang Marc VDS GT3 which was launched last month in Belgium.

The Marc VDS Racing Team’s official launch at Gosselies, Belgium was the venue for the world premiere of the all-new Marc VDS Mustang GT3, which will be campaigned in this year’s GT3 European Championship by Belgian Eric De Doncker and Canadian Scott Maxwell.

The latest addition to the GT3 grid weighs in at just 1350kg and features a 5.3 litre V8 engine, which produces 560BHP. These performance figures, combined with the all-new transaxle on the Ford Mustang Marc VDS GT3 guarantee that the car will be a serious contender during it’s debut season.

The first car, with the chassis number MVDS001/001, was built by the team’s project partner Multimatic in Canada before being shipped to the United Kingdom, where it underwent a successful initial shakedown test at Ford’s European test facility near Luton, Bedfordshire.

De Doncker and Maxwell will race the #98 Ford Mustang Marc VDS GT3, while the drivers for the #99 car will be announced by the Marc VDS Racing Team shortly.

The Marc VDS Racing Team, together with Multimatic, will build additional cars to order, for customer race teams looking for a competitive GT3 package off the shelf. The cost of the Ford Mustang Marc VDS GT3 has yet to be confirmed.

For more information please contact the Ford Mustang Marc VDS GT3 Project Manager, Eric De Doncker, at eric@marcvds-group.com.

Shots of the car in the Marc VDS garage

and the man behind the team, Marc Van der Straten next to their 2010 GT3 racecar.

Rest of the gallery.

[Show as slideshow]

To find out more info about the team, goto marcvds.com