How an IMSA homecoming has been years in the making

Much has changed since Seb Priaulx last raced a Ford Mustang, the model he will contest as a member of the works GTD Pro squad in next year’s IMSA SportsCar Championship. Rewind back to 2020, and a 19-year-old Priaulx was embarking on his first year of racing in the US and just his second in sportscars, after a breakout British GT campaign in 2019 almost netted the title in the Mustang GT4’s maiden season.

In the COVID-affected 2020 Michelin Pilot Challenge, the GT4 undercard to IMSA’s top-tier series, his Multimatic Motorsports-run entry had a revolving door of co-drivers that included future Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric, his 2019 partner Scott Maxwell, Hailie Deegan and Marco Signoretti. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the circumstances, results were unremarkable.

Priaulx has largely raced Porsches in the years since, while remaining contracted to Multimatic, and his reputation has only grown. After winning the 2021 Carrera Cup North America title, the Guernseyman collected two GTE Am class victories in the 2022 World Endurance Championship with Dempsey-Proton Racing.

A return to cars with ABS came for 2023, again in Porsches, entering IMSA with AO Racing in the pro-am GTD class before stepping up to GTD Pro in 2024. There have also been outings in LMP3 machinery and in a McLaren 720S GT3, which have allowed Priaulx to broaden his horizons.

Asked to assess how he has developed as a driver since those early days racing a Mustang, as a graduate from the British Formula 4 class of 2018 that includes soon-to-be Alpine Formula 1 driver Jack Doohan, Priaulx says he has matured such that he feels “like a lot different [as a] person now”.

“Multimatic has lent me out to quite a few teams over the years, and I’ve learned so much [on] just how different cars have their different capabilities,” he tells Motorsport.com. “It’s really good experience for me, because I can go back to the team and say, ‘hey, this car was a little bit better here, maybe we can work on refining this’ or whatever.

Priaulx initially made his name racing a Mustang GT4 in the 2019 British GT championship, but opportunities to race a Ford have been slim in the years since

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

“You never stop learning, but now I feel like I’m a proper factory driver and I know what I’m talking about. I’m confident in myself to say what I want for my car, and you can direct your team in the way that you want without second-guessing yourself.”

As well as being significantly more experienced, he now has the opportunity to match his stature. He’ll link up with Mike Rockenfeller in a new-look GTD Pro line-up for Ford, with Joey Hand and Dirk Muller being replaced by Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch, to ink a new chapter in the Blue Oval-Priaulx story. His three-time World Touring Car champion father Andy was a crucial cog in the Ford GT programme that spanned 2016 to 2019, and now 23-year-old Priaulx Jr is keen to become a lynchpin for the Mustang GT3 programme as it enters its second season.

Priaulx regards Multimatic as “my home, it has been since I was pretty much 18”. As such, the switch from AO to the Ford Multimatic Motorsports factory effort represents something of a homecoming and was logically “the step I wanted to take”.

“To be winning in GTD Pro is against factory drivers, it just really shows what I can do”
Seb Priaulx

“Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to drive a Ford in this time, but it’s nice to have the family back, it’s kind of like home from home,” he enthuses. “The deal that I have now is exactly what I dreamed about, it couldn’t have been any better.”

That feeling is underlined because Priaulx already knows “most of the guys” working on the Ford programme. Multimatic has provided staff to support various programmes in recent years, including his Dempsey-Proton WEC effort in 2022. “A couple people actually were on the Mustang GT4 with me,” Priaulx adds, among them his engineer from 2019 in British GT, Craig Duncan.

The familiar personnel should only aid his transition to the Mustang GT3. Priaulx joined up with Ford for a recent official test at Daytona, which followed a run at Indianapolis which he says “went really well”. He reckons that getting a lap time from the Mustang “takes a different approach” to a 911, although the driving style it requires is more “natural” by comparison.

“You kind of just have to let the car do its thing,” he explains, “whereas the Porsche is a bit unique, it takes a bit more to drive it fast. It’s a very quick car, but difficult to drive on the edge. The Ford is a great car, and it’s got its benefits of being a front-engine car; it’s very easy to get the front tyres up to temperature and it’s got that lovely V8 as well.”

Priaulx says the driving style needed for the Mustang GT3 is more conventional than was the case in a 911

Photo by: Wes Duenkel

Given Multimatic boss Larry Holt has helped to steer his career since 2019 and is the driving force behind the factory Mustang programme in IMSA, Priaulx’s involvement should come as no surprise. But it has to be said that he earned his place by the strength of his performances in 2024 alongside eventual GTD Pro champion Laurin Heinrich.

Pole and a strong run to second at the Daytona 24 Hours was the foundation of a strong season in IMSA, highlighted by back-to-back wins at Laguna Seca and Detroit. Although Priaulx didn’t see it through to the end, with Julien Andlauer and Michael Christensen alternating for the remainder of the season alongside Heinrich, both drivers ultimately enhanced their reputations.

“It’s obviously not what I wanted,” Priaulx concedes when Motorsport.com asks about leaving Gunnar Jeanette’s AO outfit mid-season, “but I’m a Multimatic driver and I do what Larry Holt tells me to do. I’d have love to finish the year with AO, but I had other commitments that I needed to do.

“It was really good for me [to race with AO] and I did a lot of time with them, but it’s now time for me to be a factory driver and I’m really happy I am.”

Priaulx admits he feels as though he did continue with AO, since he was emotionally invested in seeing Heinrich crowned champion. He rates the German, born eight days and eight months later in 2001, as one of sportscar racing’s top rising talents.

“I look back on this year as a phenomenal year on my side,” he reflects. “It was nice to be winning in front of everybody and in front of Ford; I feel like it’s helped me out. To be winning in GTD Pro is against factory drivers, it just really shows what I can do.”

With Mies and Vervisch in the other car, both with a year of racing the Mustang in GT World Challenge Europe under their belts, Priaulx says he and Rockenfeller will be kept on their toes. In pairing up with alongside the German, the only driver to remain part of the 2024 roster, Priaulx is replacing Harry Tincknell – a driver he spent 2022 racing alongside and who previously partnered his father in the Ford GT programme.

But while Tincknell is bound for the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar programme in the WEC, Priaulx is confident he has big enough feet to fill the vacant boots. He maintains there’s only one goal: “Me and Mike have been saying it; championship is the aim.”

Priaulx won twice in IMSA GTD Pro class this season alongside eventual champion Heinrich aboard AO Racing Porsche

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

Priaulx’s excitement to enter the fold is only amplified by the identity of his co-driver, who together with Tincknell achieved Ford’s best IMSA result with second in the 6 Hours of Indianapolis round won by Heinrich and Christensen. Priaulx admits that he never thought he would get the chance to race alongside Rockenfeller, who won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2010 with Audi before claiming the 2013 DTM title for the brand when racing against Priaulx Sr.

“He’s an absolutely amazing driver and someone that I look up to,” reflects Priaulx. “It’s really great to have him with me as a team-mate, he’s pretty much a legend in the sport.

“As a kid when I was watching my father racing in DTM, he was a guy that I was like, ‘yeah, he’s a legend’. I didn’t believe I would be racing with someone like Mike in in my lifetime. It’s amazing, I remember watching him winning Le Mans. It’s gonna be a real good team.

“We’ve got a lot to look forward to. I really like the environment in Multimatic and the team. It’s a very, very good bunch of guys and just excited to get started with them now.”

Priaulx is elated to be teaming up with Rockenfeller and has high hopes of competing for the title

Photo by: Griffith Bean