Red Bull GRC entry lists, event schedule for Ft. Lauderdale opener

By May 28, 2015, 8:59 PM EDT
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The Red Bull Global Rallycross season kicks off this weekend (LIVE, Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, NBC) from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The track is linked here.

Here’s the entry lists for Supercars and GRC Lites. A spotters guide is linked here.

The 12-car Supercars field features 10 returnees and two rookies in Sebastian Eriksson and Victor Gonzalez Jr.

The 10-car GRC Lites field (race airs Wednesday, June 3 at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) is split five-five between returnees and rookies.

GRC SUPERCARS

No. Driver Hometown Team
00 Steve Arpin Fort Frances, ON Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST
07 Nelson Piquet Jr. Brasilia, BRA SH Racing Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST
11 Sverre Isachsen Hokksund, NOR Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
14 Austin Dyne Los Angeles, CA Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST
18 Patrik Sandell Ostersund, SWE Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST
31 Joni Wiman Pohja, FIN Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST
34 Tanner Foust Denver, CO Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle
41 Scott Speed Mt. Holly, NC Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle
43 Ken Block Park City, UT Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST
81 Bucky Lasek Dundalk, MD Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
93 Sebastian Eriksson (R) Hagfors, SWE Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST
99 Victor Gonzalez (R) San Juan, PR Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Veloster

GRC LITES

No. Driver Hometown Team
6 Geoff Sykes Los Angeles, CA DTV Solutions
07 Collete Davis (R) San Francisco, CA River Racing
15 Tanner Whitten (R) Rochester, IL DirtFish Motorsports
16 Oliver Eriksson Osmo, SWE Olsbergs MSE
42 Nur Ali (R) Trophy Club, TX AF Racing
57 Jackie Heinricher (R) Mt. Vernon, WA Rhys Millen Racing
61 Alex Keyes (R) Folsom, CA Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
77 Austin Cindric Mooresville, NC Olsbergs MSE
88 Harry Cheung San Francisco, CA Cohesive Front Racing
126 Alejandro Fernandez Bogota, COL AF Racing

Here’s the weekend schedule.

Saturday, May 30

  • 11:30 AM Gates open to public
  • 12:05 PM Supercar Practice
  • 1:15 PM Lites Practice
  • 2:25 PM Supercar Final Practice
  • 3:35 PM Lites Final Practice
  • 4:45 PM Supercar Qualifying
  • 5:45 PM Lites Qualifying
  • 6:25 PM Supercar Heats 1A-1C
  • 7:10 PM Lites Heats 1A-1B
  • 7:30 PM Driver Autograph Session
  • 9:00 PM Gates close

Sunday, May 31

  • 10:00 AM Gates open to public/Supercar Warm-up
  • 10:40 AM Lites Warm-up
  • 11:20 AM Opening Ceremonies
  • 11:45 AM Supercar Heats 2A-2C
  • 12:30 PM Lites Heats 2A-2B
  • 1:00 PM Supercar Semifinals
  • 1:45 PM Lites Last Chance Qualifier
  • 2:10 PM Supercar Last Chance Qualifier
  • 2:35 PM Lites Final
  • 3:10 PM Supercar Final
  • 3:50 PM Medal Ceremonies
  • 6:00 PM Gates close

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”