MOTORSPORT: Ford Mustang not for Bathurst Blue Oval’s 2018 Bathurst 1000 focus will be on Ford Falcon’s last flight at Mount Panorama

The new Ford Mustang Supercar will not break cover at the 2018 Bathurst 1000, in part because Ford is keen to not distract from the final appearance of its homegrown Falcon in Australia’s greatest race. There are also more practical and strategic reasons Ford won’t reveal its new Mustang at Bathurst; it would place the development team at DJR Team Penske under tremendous pressure to roll out a Mustang at Mount Panorama in early October when its primary focus is to win the race. And Ford and its teams want to keep technical aspects of their first Mustang Supercar -- especially the car’s aero package -- under wraps from its Holden rivals as long as possible.

Ford Performance revealed its first top-flight Mustang NASCAR in the US late last week (pictured here), ahead of its debut in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Drawing similarities with Australia, where Ford stopped Falcon production and closed its factory doors in October 2016, the Mustang will replace the soon-to-be-discontinued Fusion in North America’s premier NASCAR Cup series for the first time. Work on Australia’s Ford Mustang Supercar started in March, before Ford Australia's official announcement in April. It is due to start testing in November before homologation is finalised in December and it’s tested publicly for the first time in February 2019.

Eight examples were expected to line up on the grid at the Adelaide 500, which kicks off the 2019 Supercars championship in late February. However, this week’s defection of Matt Stone Racing back to Holden means the count right now is back to seven. The Ford FG X Falcon will retire from the Supercars championship at the end of this season, two years after production ceased at Ford’s Campbellfield plant in Melbourne. The Ford Falcon first won at Mount Panorama in 1967 and has scored 14 victories there in total.

“We’re excited about Mustang being on track for 2019 and development is still underway,” Ford spokesman Damion Smy told motoring.com.au. “In the meantime, we’re looking for a Falcon win at Bathurst.” DJRTP boss Ryan Story confirmed Mustang would miss Bathurst but was on schedule for its November test debut. “The program is proceeding according to plan as far as these things go,” he said. “We obviously had a late start which means we are having to throw a little bit of caution into the wind as far as meeting the deadline goes.

“There has been speculation about us using Bathurst as a launching pad with the first finished car, but the reality is it’s not going to be ready for that. “We are basically working from the homologation test backward to ensure we get everything done.” DJRTP recently signed off both the race car’s roof and windscreen for manufacturing. They are long-lead items and not aero-sensitive, Story explained. “We are starting from the top and working down … it’s a really exciting time for all those involved in the project but there is a still a hell of a lot of work ahead of us before we reach that December test.”