Ditching the bulletproof predictability of a Mercedes-AMG customer program to wrangle Ford’s roaring Mustang GT3 Evo takes serious ambition. Haupt Racing Team (HRT) CEO Ulrich Fritz has politely made it crystal clear to Detroit: flying the Ford Racing banner across DTM, the Intercontinental GT Challenge, GT Masters, the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series, and GT World Challenge is wonderful for the soul, but hard work demands a proper promotion. In endurance racing, that promotion has a specific name: entry into the ACO ecosystem, centered squarely on a coveted grid spot in the World Endurance Championship’s LMGT3 class.
Having rapidly transformed Ford’s raw American muscle into a legitimate European contender, HRT feels they have earned their passage to Le Mans. Standing directly in their path, however, is Proton Competition, the team currently holding Ford’s exclusive LMGT3 golden ticket in WEC. Yet, the paddock political chessboard might just tilt in HRT’s favor.
With speculation mounting around Ford’s prospective leap into the top-tier Hypercar class next season, and Proton already grooming drivers via LMP2 in the European Le Mans Series while curiously keeping one foot in the Porsche camp, a reshuffle seems inevitable. If Proton moves up to handle Ford’s Hypercar aspirations, HRT is eagerly positioning itself to claim the LMGT3 reins across WEC, ELMS, and the Asian Le Mans Series.
Fritz isn’t entirely blinded by vision boards of Le Mans podiums. Juggling up to six GT3 championships requires cold realism, meaning HRT will likely have to sacrifice a few lower-priority events on their congested schedule. More importantly, the Mustang GT3 Evo isn’t quite the flawless war machine Detroit’s marketing department might suggest.
The harsh reality hit home at the recent 24 Hours of Spa, where the number 64 car suffered an early exit due to a rebellious gearbox. The car still desperately craves additional front downforce, sharper suspension geometry, and a cleaner mechanical balance to extract performance across different tire compounds and track surfaces.
Still, Fritz is openly playing his cards before Ford decides its 2026 roadmap. “There are some very interesting categories in the ACO ecosystem”, he noted, subtly reminding Detroit that HRT didn’t swap brands just to spectate from the pit wall when June rolls around.
