THE opening round of the Monochrome GT4 Australia series at Phillip Island on the weekend was all about Ford as the new Miedecke Motorsport GT4 Mustang in the hands of George Miedecke and Rylan Gray took a pair of wins on debut.
It was a fitting result too as Mustang this week celebrates its 60th anniversary.
The Multimatic-built GT4 Mustang was released on customs on Tuesday, first tested on Thursday and went on to seal victories in both the Saturday and Sunday races.
“Coming into this weekend we didn’t really know what was going to happen,” said Miedecke.
“Behind the scenes it was a lot of work. Tuesday through to Thursday the guys in the team were absolutely thrashing.
“But the minute we rolled out of pitlane the Mustang GT4 just felt right. The car felt really good and Multimatic have done a fantastic job in engineering and developing this car.
“Starting with a base like the new Dark Horse has been wicked. It feels like a Mustang to drive, with those classic characteristics – a super strong motor, fantastic drive, and great brakes. It is exactly what Multimatic said it was, and we are really pleased with the car.”
The back-to-back wins came in front of a claimed record Shannons SpeedSeries crowd of 17,000-plus fans, with a large gathering of Mustang enthusiasts making the trip to Phillip Island.
“I’ve done plenty of years of racing and they haven’t all been like this I can tell you!” beamed team owner Andrew Miedecke.
“I am delighted with the car. I bought it because I am a Ford man, a Mustang man, and I know how capable Multimatic are as a company. Since we have had the car, the support and the advice and the back-up we have had from Ford Performance and Multimatic has been terrific. Ford Australia has also been a great supporter.
“I am celebrating my 40th year as a Ford dealer this year, and it is the 60th anniversary of Mustang, so this year is a pretty good year.
“When you just have GT4s in the race, racing at the front, it is a series that will definitely have legs in Australia. It won’t be long until we have 30 cars on the grid going hammer and tongs.”
The Phillip Island SpeedSeries round saw a range of categories in action.
The Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series saw Josh Buchan take the opening win and Honda pilot Brad Harris seal Races 2 and 3 on Sunday.
Ben Bargwanna now leads the series by seven points over Zac Soutar.
James Golding won the Trico Trans Am Series round, Kiwi Audi duo Brendan Leitch and Tim Miles came out on top of the opening Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia round and West Aussie young gun Caleb Sumich won the Porsche Michelin Sprint Australia Series round.
