Photos courtesy of Ford
Le Mans. It’s one of the legendary races in car culture. It’s only fitting that the Ford Mustang – another legend in the automotive world – recently had its day in the sun on this racing circuit. And Joe Dederichs of TREMEC Elite Distributor Dederichs Motorsports was there, on the track with his Ford Mustang Dark Horse R.
As part of the 2025 Mustang Challenge and Cup series, the TREMEC-equipped Ford Mustang Dark Horse R made the longest trip of the season to France and the Le Mans race course. All Dark Horse Rs are factory equipped with the TREMEC TR-3160 6-speed manual transmission, paired with a naturally aspirated 5.0L Coyote V8.
ABOVE: Coordinated through Ford, all the Mustang Challenge and Cup Ford Mustang Dark Horse R cars were transported from the United States to France on Magna Aviation 747 freighters. Once unloaded the Mustangs were trucked to their garages at Le Mans.
After being unloaded from the Magma Aviation Boeing 747 cargo planes, the Mustangs were trucked into the garages at Le Mans.
“Starting racing late in life has not been to my advantage,” said Joe. “Most drivers start young, and I did not earn my competition license until I was 50-years-old from the Ford Racing School. It has been an honor being a member of the Robert Noaker Racing team. The entire Noaker staff has been instrumental in helping me in this professional series. Robert himself spends time with each team member to discuss driver development before and after every race. This type of mentorship from the reigning champion has been invaluable.”
ABOVE: The Mustang Challenge and Cup series raced on the Le Mans course before the 24 Hours of Le Mans main event. Each race was a sprint format, 45 minutes long on the full eight and a half mile course. Joe Dederichs of Dederichs Motorsports highlighted how exciting the starts were for both races, with lots of brinksmanship and jockeying in the first turn to sort out the pack from the start. Going into turn one Joe and several other drivers had “off track incidents” vying for the prime on-track real estate.
Forty drivers (including the Ford Motor Company CEO, Jim Farley) and forty Mustang Dark Horse R cars were ready for two days of competition driving on the historic Le Mans road course. There are actually several configurations of this road course which combines sections of dedicated racetrack and roads normally used for public traffic, and this specific race used the Circuit de la Sarthe. While the Le Mans course isn’t the most technical of all the tracks the series races on, it is still one of the most difficult due to its length.
ABOVE: Le Mans’ length and design is a big test of the TREMEC TR-3160 6-speed transmission. Between the gear shifts and high speeds, the Mustang Dark Horse R cars got up to on the famous Mulsanne Straight, above 170 mph in some cases! All the cars run a dedicated, external transmission fluid cooler to help transmission fluid life under these grueling conditions.
Joe explains, “The challenge of Le Mans is that is a 8.467 mile long course. This does not allow muscle memory to sink in as quickly as it does on shorter length tracks. The intervals of repetition are more than four minutes apart. So corners and technical areas require more study and patience. Any gains in time are particularly rewarding.”
The Mustang Challenge and Mustang Cup series races are timed, sprint-style 45 minutes long. Unlike the other Le Mans races, there were no driver changes for the Mustang races, nor are there planned pit stops. Fuel load and tires are set up to last the entirety of the race. If a car does have to pit during a race, it pretty much means the day is over for that driver because it will be unlikely they can make up the time lost in the pits before the race ends. Teams can decide on their own fuel load to start a race and use it as part of their strategy. The Dark Horse R cars are equipped with a 30-gallon fuel cell. Using fuel economy data gathered from practice to determine how much the car would need to finish, teams can cut any extra fuel to save some weight for an advantage.
ABOVE: “Le Mans is a unique track including an actual racetrack and sections of French country roads,” explains Joe Dederichs. “There are no words to describe or share what it is like to draft and pass on the Mulsanne straight or to simply improve one’s lap times while racing at Le Mans.”
“The 3160 six-speed in the car held up beautifully through everything,” said Joe. “On the Mulsanne Straight we were hitting sustained speeds of more than 170 mph. The double overdrive in the TREMEC transmission was a big part of us being able to hit those speeds. Plus the built-in rev-matching capability performed wonderfully during critical shifts.”
Le Mans has been the scene of many famous races along with a slew of legendary race rivers and famous racing enthusiast actors. So, what was it like being on such hallowed racing ground according to Joe?
ABOVE: Part of the Mustang Challenge and Cup rules is that each car must have new tires whenever it goes on track, no scuffs are allowed so the series racks up quite a tire bill during a race weekend.
“You get a chill being in all the same spots you see in movies and race clips. Standing still, letting it all sink in, there’s a faint detectable hint of the famous drivers and actors that have been in the same places.”
Joe did finish 9th in the Dark Horse Legends class and 23rd overall out of the 40 drivers competing. Despite that, Joe said it was an amazing and enjoyable experience he’ll never forget.
“I’d like to extend a special thanks to Glen Long, Dave Born, Bruce Smith, Chris Ward, Jim Farley and the entire Ford Performance Team. They have done an amazing job of building the Mustang Challenge Series to a World Class competitive series.”
“And to Mike Kidd and TREMEC for their invaluable sponsorship, support of our racing efforts, and our continued drive to be the highest volume TREMEC aftermarket dealer. Dederichs Motorsports uses our own and customer racing experiences to continually improve our products and offer the best TREMEC five- and six-speed manual transmission kits available.”
The next Mustang Challenge Series race will be in the Unites States at Road America August 1-3, 2025.
ABOVE: The Dederichs Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse R didn’t leave Le Mans without some well-earned battle scars. Not one car made it through the week without needing a windshield replacement due to rocks being kicked up from all the off-track excursions.