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Ford Performance will not look to emulate its NASCAR programme in Australia and introduce the Dark Horse Mustang to Supercars.
Up until now, Ford’s NASCAR teams have been running the S550 body shape that was replaced by the S650 this year.
That is in contrast to Supercars, which initially designed its Gen3 Supercar on the S550 body, before rushing through the S650 version in time for this season.
While showcasing the performance-designed Dark Horse version of the Mustang in a major racing series makes sense, there are currently no plans for that lead to be followed here.
Instead, Ford has committed to the Mustang GT shape currently being used in Supercars.
Speedcafe understands that the current aero package, which debuted on the Gold Coast, is what Ford will begin the off-season wind tunnel programme with.
A raft of potential changes that have either been CFD tested, or even track tested, will be on hand to be fitted throughout the wind tunnel test.
It will likely be the same for the Chevrolet Camaro as Supercars looks to establish as close to aero parity as possible.
The wind tunnel test will take place in December using a Dick Johnson Racing built Mustang and a Triple Eight built Camaro.
The Dark Horse may not feature in Supercars in the short term, however it could well appear in Australia at some point.
The GT3 version of the Mustang, which will debut next year, is heavily derived from the Dark Horse R, while the Dark Horse R will also be used for a one-make series known as the Mustang Challenge.
The initial intake of race-spec Dark Horse Rs will be earmarked for the US market, before being opened up to other markets in the world.
That means it’s feasible that Ford could introduce it to Australia, potentially as a step between entry-level categories and Super3/Super2.
Ford Australia has maintained that any decision on that will be interest/market driven.
