Field set for maiden Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia round at Phillip Island

History will be made at Phillip Island this Friday when 15 Ford Mustang Dark Horse Rs venture onto Victoria’s famous Grand Prix circuit for the inaugural round of the Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia.

Featuring a driver entry line-up that includes Supercars race winners, rising motorsport stars and experienced steerers, the 15 blue oval sports cars will usher in a new era of one-make to the Australian motorsport scene.

The Phillip Island event is the first of six Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia rounds, all part of the Shannons SpeedSeries. The Mustang series will be held across four states, plus a unique trek to Darwin in the Northern Territory, concluding in the title decider at the historic Sandown Raceway in November.

Every round will compromise of two qualifying sessions and two 40 minute races, making for 12 hotly-contested races in the purpose-race built Dark Horse Rs.

The final round at Sandown will see three category champions crowned who will be awarded money-can’t-but prizes.

The overall champion will claim a test in a Red Bull Ampol Racing Mustang Supercar. The best placed under 21 year old (Dark Horse Junior) will win a trip to the United States for a Ford Racing Technical Centre experience, while the best over 40s driver (Dark Horse Legends) will score a 12-month lease of a Ford Mustang or Ranger Raptor.

Every qualifying session will include the Ford Insure Pole Award where the fastest qualifier in all 12 sessions will score a $1000 cash prize.

Headlining the Motorcraft Mustang Cup pack will be two drivers whose surnames need no introduction to Australian sports fans, Jack Perkins and James Moffat.

Both Jack and James grew up in the shadows of their Bathurst champion fathers – Larry Perkins and the late Allan Moffat – but have carved their own path in the sport.

Amongst a Mustang Cup field bursting with youth and ambition, Perkins and Moffat are the only two drivers in the field to have won a Supercars race, making them the early benchmark for success in the one-make V8 class.

Perkins will compete with the backing of Ford’s Supercars homologation team Triple Eight Race Engineering, with his car run by former TCR Australia winning team HMO Customer Racing.

Moffat has entrusted Garry Rogers Motorsport to make his Mustang march at at the front, and will fittingly sport a tribute livery to his late, great father Allan.

Moffat Jr’s Dark Horse R will be hard to miss at Phillip Island this weekend, carrying a distinctive red scheme made famous by Allan in the late 60s.

History is no guarantee to success, though, as Moffat will be joined at GRM in a three-car Mustang effort by GRM graduates-turned-Supercars regulars James Golding and Aaron Cameron.

Golding and Cameron have emerged as Ford’s Supercars super weapons in 2026, unsettling the establishment with some incredible results in the opening two rounds.

Driving for the Blanchard Racing Team, the pair has claimed a pole position and a podium result each, and they have never been far from the front of the competitive Supercars field.

In the one-make Motorcraft Mustang Cup, Golding and Cameron will both race in brand-new Dark Horse Rs and are eager to prove that they are amongst the best of Ford’s rich array of racing talent.

Perkins, Moffat, Golding and Cameron will represent the sport’s best, but you don’t need to look far down the Mustang Cup entry list to find a hungry pack of young and experienced drivers keen to prove their metal.

Former Super 2 race winner Tyler Everingham is just one of a number of young chargers keen to shake up the establishment, but his ride with RM Race Cars holds a level of responsibility.

Everingham will drive one of RM Race Cars’ four entries, a multi-car commitment from owner Ryan McLeod that has seen his outfit recognised and secure the endorsement of Ford Racing.

Everingham will be joined at RM Race Cars by 2022 Aussie Racing Cars champion Josh Anderson and young Queensland hopeful Josh Trappett.

The team’s fourth entry is still to be announced and will be confirmed shortly.

The team will also provide technical support to Mustang for Keith Kassulke who will contest the Dark Horse Legends class.

Kassulke’s class rivals will come in the form of Ben Dunn and Warren Wadley, all fighting for the Dark Horse Legends prize.

Other young drivers taking up the challenge Include Australian Formula Ford Series contender Joe Fawcett, production car ace Brock Giblin, second-generation driver Matt Kiss and Imogen Radburn who will drive a unique Mustang entry.

Radburn is regarded as one of Australia’s best female driving talents, but it’s her team’s all-female entry that sets her story apart. From driving the team transporter from the south coast of NSW to the tracks, to spinning spanners on her Mustang, analysing data or catering a hungry crew, Radburn’s entire crew is an all-female effort – a rarity in motorsport and a team to watch in 2026.

Fans in Australia will be able to watch the inaugural Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia live on Kayo Sports and Foxtel, while international viewers can tune in live and free on Ford Racing’s YouTube channel.

The Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia will make its highly-anticipated debut as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries at Phillip Island this weekend.

Entry List, Phillip Island

CAR #	CLASS	SPONSOR	DRIVER
8	DHL	Red Ass Burrito / Bespoke Financial Advisory	Ben Dunn
9	DH	Garry Rogers Motorsport	James Moffat
23	DH*	Joe Fawcett Motorsport	Joe Fawcett
29	DH*	Radburn Racing Team	Imogen Radburn
33	DH	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Aaron Cameron
34	DH	Garry Rogers Motorsport	James Golding
47	DH	Link Signs Racing	Brock Giblin
55	DH*	Betta Marquee	Matthew Kiss
80	DHL	Wadley Property Group	Warren Wadlley
91	DHL	Wheels FX Racing	Keith Kassulke
92	DH*	Ryan McLeod Racing Cars	TBC
93	DH	Ryan McLeod Racing Cars	Tyler Everingham
94	DH*	Ryan McLeod Racing Cars	Josh Anderson
95	DH*	Ryan McLeod Racing Cars	Josh Trappett
888	DH	Shaw and Partners Financial Services	Jack Perkins