Long-standing top Audi team to field Ford Mustang GT3 at Suzuka 1000km

A new partnership between Miedecke Motorsport and the Melbourne Performance Centre will be carrying Ford’s hopes of victory at the 1,000-km race at Suzuka from 11 to 13 September.

The new partnership, which will compete under the name ‘Miedecke Motorsport by Team MPC’, will benefit from the expertise of three highly experienced ‘Blue Oval’ drivers as the Mustang makes its endurance racing debut: Christopher Mies, Dennis Olsen and the winner of the 2019 Suzuka 1000 km race, Frédéric Vervisch.

This same line-up won the ‘Rolex 24’ together in the GTD Pro class in 2025 and had already driven a Mustang together at the ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring in May.

Their team at Suzuka brings together two key figures in Australian motorsport.

Miedecke primarily fields the Mustang GT4 in Australia, but also acts as the official Australian spare parts supplier for Mustangs in GT3 and GT4 specification, as well as for the “Dark Horse R”, which competes in the Mustang Cup Australia.

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“This is a fantastic opportunity for an all-Australian project to compete in one of the world’s greatest sports car races,” said Andrew Miedecke, CEO of Miedecke Motorsport. “It’s been great to expand our partnership with Team MPC this year. We share premises at their workshop in Melbourne, and thanks to our links with Ford Racing, this partnership was a perfect fit. We are all very grateful that Ford has entrusted us with running its official works car at Suzuka. The driver line-up is also outstanding. Ford is racing to win, and that is exactly our intention too.”

The Melbourne Performance Centre, meanwhile, is one of Australia’s best-known GT teams thanks to its long-standing association with Audi. It currently leads the drivers’ standings in the GT World Challenge Australia.

“This is an exciting project for our team, and we’re really looking forward to travelling to Japan to represent Ford at the Suzuka 1000 km race,” added MPC Director Troy Russell. “We’ve worked closely with Miedecke Motorsport this year, and this agreement is a continuation of a partnership that has worked really well. This is one of the world’s most prestigious sports car races, and we’re confident that we have everything it takes to make a real impression there. Chris (Mies) and Frédéric (Vervisch) have driven for our team in the past, so we know we have a great driver line-up, and we can’t wait to compete there.”

With the Miedecke/MPC Ford, the number of confirmed manufacturers in the Pro class rises to six. Chevrolet, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan and Porsche have already confirmed their participation, whilst further entries are expected when the provisional entry list is published this coming Thursday.