In this post, I\u2019ll take a close look at the new model \u2013 and chat to Academy Motorsport boss Matt Nicoll-Jones about the car, the team and the British GT Championship. I love discovering more about the real cars Scalextric base their models on \u2013 and this was a fascinating conversation which I hope you\u2019ll enjoy as much as I did. You can follow the car and the team via the Academy Motorsport website<\/a>, Facebook page<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t forget you can buy your very own Scalextric Academy Motorsport Mustang here: www.jadlamracingmodels.com\/scalextric-slot-car-c4221-ford-mustang-gt4-academy-motorsport-2020\/<\/a>. There\u2019s a digital version available too: www.jadlamracingmodels.com\/scalextric-digital-slot-car-c4221-ford-mustang-gt4-academy-motorsport-2020\/<\/a><\/p>\n The Mustang GT4 is derived from the awesome Ford Shelby GT350R-C road car. The GT4 project is a partnership between Ford Performance and the Canadian company Multimatic \u2013 a long-running relationship that also includes the Ford GT GTE programme. The Mustang GT4 was earmarked to compete in racing series around the world, including the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Pirelli World Challenge GTS\/GT4 and various European GT4 series.<\/p>\n Three Mustangs competed in the 2019 British GT Championship, Multimatic finishing third in the GT4 team standings with their two cars. For 2020, the Mustang was handed to Academy Motorsport \u2013 a team that has been racing GT4 cars in the British GT Championship for nearly two decades. Former GT4 champion driver and Academy team boss Matt Nicoll-Jones explains…<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d been talking to Multimatic on a friendly basis for quite a while. We got on well with them in the paddock. Multimatic are the biggest company no-one\u2019s ever heard of. For us, we knew who they were and what they were capable of. And we loved the car \u2013 the build quality of the Mustang is far superior to any other car out there. The link-up with them was an absolute no-brainer \u2013 we became partners with people we\u2019d always wanted to work with. We are now the European agent \u2013 with full engineering support from Multimatic. It\u2019s just a fantastic relationship \u2013 we love it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Mustang is not what you\u2019d expect. The stereotypical idea of a Mustang is fast on the straight and slow round the corners. Actually, our car is very capable down the straight, but it\u2019s pegged back quite a bit \u2013 it\u2019s restricted by BOP [Balance of Performance] \u2013 because it handles so well. Our car is one of the best on its tyres, brakes and all the rest of it \u2013 so when we go to a technical circuit like Oulton Park it is really strong \u2013 and the same for Donington.\u201d<\/p>\n I spoke to Matt after an impressive class win for the team in the wet at Snetterton (you can watch the highlights on YouTube<\/a>). Some of their GT4 rivals couldn\u2019t handle the conditions, but the big Mustang gave drivers Matt Cowley and Will Moore the basis for their first victory of the year\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIt was about time, to be honest. We\u2019ve been working for that result all year \u2013 we\u2019ve had an awful lot of bad luck that\u2019s been completely out of the team and drivers\u2019 control. We\u2019ve been quick, we\u2019ve been in for a win and it hasn\u2019t quite come to fruition. We\u2019ve got our two strongest circuits [Oulton Park and Donington] coming up, so we should be in a fairly strong position to try to come away with some more trophies.\u201d<\/p>\n The Mustang GT4 was a new mould for 2020. The first two liveries featured models of the white #15 works Multimatic Motorsport car and the customer #23 RACE Performance grey version \u2013 both from the Mustang\u2019s 2019 debut season in the British GT Championship. You can read my original review on the blog here<\/a>. In brief, I absolutely loved the look of the new car and found it a lot of fun to drive \u2013 although some basic tweaks vastly improved the track performance.<\/p>\n So what do the team at Academy Motorsport think about the Scalextric model?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s awesome! I\u2019m 36 years old and been running the team for 17 years. I can remember as a kid, toys went out the window because I was karting. My dad did have a Scalextric set and I used to get told off for never putting it back right or losing stuff. So this is cool for me, because it immortalises what we\u2019ve done. And we\u2019ve done some massive events \u2013 like the Le Mans support race \u2013 but when they told me about the Scalextric model it was \u201cOh wow! That\u2019s really cool!\u201d<\/i>. We\u2019re really proud to have that.\u201d<\/p>\n As nice as the Multimatic and RACE models were, this new livery simply blows them out of the water. There is a fashion for monochrome cars these days \u2013 designers focus on intricate patterns, rather than blasting the senses with bright colours. On the Academy Motorsport Ford, dozens of Mustang pony motifs blend into a camouflage pattern \u2013 it\u2019s clever and very effective.<\/p>\n I asked Matt how the livery came about. \u201cOur sponsors SRS Automotive do all our graphics \u2013 they wrap the cars and then we maintain them as we go. As far as the design, that was something worked on between SRS and me \u2013 then they turned it into reality. I can\u2019t remember who came up with the idea of the Mustang camo, but it is really cool. The cars look awesome \u2013 they\u2019re the best looking cars we\u2019ve had at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n Scalextric have modelled their Academy Motorsport Mustang on the car from the two-hour British GT Championship race at Brands Hatch in 2020. The pairing of Jordan Albert and Matt Cowley dominated GT4 at Brands, claiming the class win and fastest lap. There was drama at the end \u2013 a late safety car closed up the pack, but Cowley dealt with the pressure and took the chequered flag.<\/p>\n The 2021 livery is pretty much the same as the Scalextric model, apart from a couple of small logos. And for 2022? Matt told me \u201cProbably \u2013 or a slight variation. It depends on sponsors, but there will always be an element of the Mustang camo on there.\u201d<\/p>\n Matt added \u201cThe #62 car \u2013 the one I was supposed to be racing last year \u2013 is a mirror version of the #61 and I think it looks even better. Our intention is very much to push to get two cars in both the British GT Championship and European GT4 for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n Our national GT series is run by the SRO Motorsports Group \u2013 the organisation responsible for most of the major GT championships around the world. The first British GT Championship season was in 1993 and the series has become an important stepping stone into international GT racing for teams and drivers \u2013 as well as a brilliant opportunity for fans to experience GT racing at classic British tracks. You can follow the series on British GT website<\/a> and watch every race live on YouTube<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>. The current format sees both GT3 and GT4 cars running at the same time. With different driver grading and pairings, there are always numerous battles going on for class honours \u2013 there\u2019s never a dull moment.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a team, we\u2019ve been in that championship an awful long time \u2013 17 years \u2013 so we\u2019re very well drilled as an outfit to get the most out of the championship as we can. Our pit stops have been the quickest of everybody\u2019s \u2013 and we\u2019re closest to the allowed time. It\u2019s all come together quite nicely. Normally we\u2019d be running in Europe as well \u2013 we\u2019d also be running two cars in the British.<\/p>\n \u201cCovid has had a huge impact \u2013 the uncertainty at the start of last year meant teams scaled back their plans. For us, we pulled the plug on doing anything in Europe and only ran one car in the British GT Championship. That was the way of the world.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing into this season, there was still so much uncertainty for being able to effectively do European GT4 \u2013 other teams have proved you can get out there and do it, but it\u2019s not cost-effective at all. For us, it would have had an impact on our British programme \u2013 where we wanted to try and win the thing. That was the intention, but a bit of bad luck and bad BoPs has put us a bit out of contention.\u201d<\/p>\n Most motorsport fans will instantly recognise the big, muscular GT3 and Le Mans GTE cars \u2013 yet the generally smaller and less familiar GT4 cars play an important role worldwide. GT4 cars are more like ‘track day’ cars \u2013 either factory-built race cars on sale to the public or modified production road cars. All GT4 cars are thoroughly tested and evaluated by the FIA and then specific modifications allowed to give near identical performance levels \u2013 designed to give close racing and give manufacturers confidence to enter cars. Once a car has been approved by the FIA, it can\u2019t be modified further \u2013 that keeps development costs to a minimum. Balance of Performance (BoP) is regularly tweaked by the series organisers to keep that parity between different makes.<\/p>\n For a team owner like Matt, GT4 has many benefits, but the main one is cost…<\/p>\n \u201cNothing\u2019s cheap in motorsport, but GT4 is value for money. If you\u2019ve got a good reliable, strong car like the Mustang it\u2019s very effective to do. We started out 17-18 years ago with Ginetta, but we needed a stronger route forward. At that point we jumped into the Astons. They served a purpose and were great for a number of years.<\/p>\n \u201cOur plans for the future are to go GT3. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve been working towards for a long time. For me, the most important thing is that ours is a true business \u2013 there are some very well-funded teams that don\u2019t really have to operate as an effective business. I started with \u00a3900 and lived in my workshop \u2013 every single penny had to go back into it. At the end of the day, what we\u2019re doing is selling drives \u2013 and if I don\u2019t believe in the drive myself, I can\u2019t sell it. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve changed in the past, when we didn\u2019t feel we could offer what we should.<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of our drivers, funding is always individual. A Silver-Silver pairing is usually a 50:50 budget and a Pro-Am is a slightly more aggressive split, depending on how \u2018pro\u2019 the Pro is and how \u2018am\u2019 the Am is \u2013 and how well funded each party is. Some people, if they\u2019re going to do it, they want to do it right \u2013 I really admire an Am who says \u201cI\u2019m going to control this, I want to have a proper driver and a proper budget, go and do it\u201d<\/i>. My job is to manage people\u2019s expectations with all of that \u2013 and give them the best I can for what they want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeing at the circuit and running a car is the easiest part of this whole game. The hardest part is getting the budget together so you can get there \u2013 it\u2019s just hideous amounts of money. And there\u2019s a lot of luck \u2013 you can do the same job on one day to another and get totally different results.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been around 20 years and always been there or thereabouts. We\u2019ve had a lot of success \u2013 not so much in the past few years, which have been a bit dry. We should have won the British last year with the two lads we had, but one of them didn\u2019t have the budget to continue. Otherwise, they could have gone on to potentially win that championship. This year, we very much could have won it. In previous years, me and Will have finished second in Europe \u2013 we should have won that too!<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very very proud of my team. This is a seven-day-a-week, never-ending thing. We\u2019ve done a lot, are capable of doing a lot \u2013 although we\u2019re a long way from where we want to be in terms of programmes. That will change.\u201d<\/p>\n And the ultimate goal?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLe Mans. We will be doing it. We\u2019ve already been twice \u2013 to do the support race with the Astons \u2013 which was fantastic and really good fun. Stressful though. Le Mans with GT3 has just been announced \u2013 and I\u2019ve got to get ourselves in the position where we can do it.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many teams out there all pushing for the same thing. Any team that\u2019s been around for a long time and had some success, they\u2019re not there by accident. It\u2019s incredibly easy to come in quickly and disappear just as fast. Anyone who\u2019s been there long enough and had results wants to step up and move on to the next thing \u2013 and really all that comes down to is budget. A car is a car, and the rest of it \u2013 the infrastructure and the organisation \u2013 takes care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n Since I chatted to Matt, the British GT Championship teams have been to Oulton Park for two really exciting one-hour races – probably the best of the season so far. Race One was frustrating for Academy Motorsport. A strong opening stint put the Mustang second in GT4, but then the engine failed to restart after the pitstop. The car was fixed for a wet Race Two. A storming drive through the GT4 field gave the team a very satisfactory third place and a trip to the podium to collect some more silverware – a very good end to the weekend. The Scalextric Mustang also arrived at Academy Motorsport HQ – and was shown off on their Facebook page with the comment “How cool is this?! Many thanks to Matt for taking the time out of a busy day to talk to me. I hope \u2013 like me \u2013 you\u2019ll be cheering on the Academy Motorsport Mustang next weekend for the final round of this year\u2019s British GT Championship at Donington Park. You\u2019ll be able to watch the two hour race live on the GTWorld YouTube Channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Huge thanks also to Academy\u2019s official photographer Chris Lazenby for permission to use his fabulous images on the blog. You can view more of Chris\u2019 unique motorsport photography on the Lazenby Visuals website<\/a>, Facebook page<\/a> and @lazenbyvisuals<\/a> on Instagram. Definitely worth taking a look.<\/p>\n Next week, I\u2019ll be using my conversation with Matt to devise a detailed simulation of a British GT Championship race for the Scalextric ARC Pro digital system, using the Magic app. This third-party software is perfect for running long endurance races with realistic pit stops and even adding Balance of Performance tweaks. How does a one-hour race with up to six cars and twelve drivers sound?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The latest Scalextric Mustang GT4 is a stunner\u2026 Modelled on the 2020 Brands Hatch GT4 race winner, the Academy Motorsport Mustang is an exciting new release for 2021. Regular readers will know the Scalextric Ford Mustang is a big favourite here on the Jadlam blog \u2013 and was the subject of a ten-part Scalextric Tuning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,6,36],"tags":[93,43,29,49,39,30],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5989"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6155,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5989\/revisions\/6155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1.2.jpg\")
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nThe Real Ford Mustang GT4<\/h4>\n
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nThe Scalextric Model<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/4.2.jpg\")
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nThe Livery<\/h4>\n
The British GT Championship<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/5.1.jpg\")
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nWhat is GT4?<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/6.1.jpg\")
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nThe Future for Academy Motorsport<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/OP1.jpg\")
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<\/span> We absolutely love it!”<\/span><\/p>\n