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Dick Johnson & Marcos Ambrose play a starring role with Ford Performance Mustangs at the 2019 (991)

Ford legend Dick Johnson will be the very first person to drive the 2019 Ford Performance Mustang Supercar at an official race meeting, and will be joined by 2003/04 Supercars champion, Marcos Ambrose, and reigning Virgin Australia Supercars Champion, Scott McLaughlin, in a three-car showcase of Ford Performance Mustang race cars from around the globe.

Three Ford Performance Mustangs – a NASCAR, Supercar and one-off celebratory road going Mustang GT – will see the three champions face-off in a demonstration at the famous Adelaide street circuit in both a nod to Ford’s racing heritage, and Mustang’s arrival in Australia’s premier motorsport category.

Johnson will drive a modern day Supercar for the first time, driving his first laps of a race track in over a decade. A three-time Bathurst winner and five-time Australian Touring Car Champion, the famous Queenslander, and co-owner of DJR Team Penske, will lay down the first laps for the 2019 Ford Performance Mustang to mark an historic moment at the Superloop Adelaide 500, the Ford Performance Mustang Supercar’s inaugural race meeting and first round of the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

“Having Johnson behind the wheel of the Mustang is an absolute privilege for us,” said Ford Australia and New Zealand President and CEO, Kay Hart. “It’s an honour and a tribute to Dick’s long-standing contribution to the sport, and with two of his drivers alongside in Marcos and Scott, it will be a truly unique spectacle for fans and for Ford Performance.”

Johnson won in his Group A Ford Mustang at the Adelaide track in the 1985 Adelaide Grand Prix support race, and is relishing a return to the street circuit. “When I was approached with the concept, the first thing I asked was, ‘What’s the lap record?’” he said. “It has been a long time since I’ve been behind the wheel of a full-spec Supercar, and to get the chance to drive the new Mustang is something I’m very much looking forward to. Doing it alongside Marcos and Scott is just icing on the cake.”

In a fitting tribute, Johnson will be on track with two-time champion, Marcos Ambrose. Fittingly, Ambrose will be at the wheel of a Ford Performance NASCAR Mustang, which will also have its racing debut in 2019 at the NASCAR Cup.

Ambrose was the first Australian to win a NASCAR race at the highest level, winning in the Cup series three times during his NASCAR career. Ambrose remains the only Australian driver in history to achieve victory in the highly competitive NASCAR Cup series.

“DJ and I have been out of the game for a while, but I have a feeling the red mist will descend when we pull the helmets on,” said Ambrose. “It’s a great pleasure to come back to Adelaide as a part of this great Ford initiative. It’s a track that I remember very fondly, having won a few races there in the past. Doing it in a NASCAR is going to be completely different for me, but I’m really looking forward to it.”

2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Champion Scott McLaughlin will join Johnson and Ambrose on track in a specially prepared Ford Mustang GT, fitted with track-focussed Ford Performance parts. It will also show-off a one-of-a-kind Ford Performance livery as Mustang begins its 2019 Supercars campaign.

For McLaughlin, who claimed the 2018 title in a championship battle that went down to the wire in the last race, it’s a humbling experience. “To share track time with not only Dick, but with a legend like Marcos who I watched as a kid, is hair on the back of your neck stuff,” he said. “The Mustang has been a great project to be a part of, and this is another level again of what we’re doing in 2019 with Ford, and the passion and enthusiasm for the new car. I just can’t wait to get out there and drive it.”

Ford Performance has contributed to the design and engineering development of the Ford Mustang not only in Supercars, where it worked with Ford, DJR Team Penske and Tickford Racing in getting Mustang on track in 2019, but also in NASCAR, NHRA, Formula Drift and GT4 categories around the world.

Ford Performance’s Motorsports Supervisor, Brian Novak, a self-confessed Marcos Ambrose fan, heaps praise on those who’ve worked tirelessly to get both the Mustang NASCAR and Mustang Supercar on race circuits in 2019. “I’m so proud of the guys in the U.S., and proud of all the guys in Australia,” said Novak.

“We’ve worked hard alongside them to deliver a Mustang that is capable of winning races and claiming championships in both NASCAR and Supercars, and to see both on track together at the Superloop Adelaide 500 – with not only the champion in Scott, but with Dick and Marcos – is an immense source of pride for Ford and Ford Performance fans.

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