So Ford has come, it has seen, and it has (mostly) conquered. To recap, the self-imposed target it set for the Mustang GTD - a Mustang, you’ll likely recall, that features 815hp courtesy of a 5.2-litre supercharged V8 - was to complete a sub-7-minute lap of the Nurburgring; simultaneously proving that a) it could challenge its European rivals in their backyard, and b) totally vanquish any other American brand by being the first from the new world to accomplish the feat.
With a 6:57.685 lap of the 12.9-mile course, courtesy of Multimatic Motorsports hand, Dirk Müller, it has done just that. Quite how highly you rate the time depends on how strict your measurement of ‘stock’ and ‘official’ is - the Nurburgring’s own site being inevitably very strict on both, and thereby making the GTD the fifth fastest car in the production sports car class (a class still topped by the 6:43.300 Lars Kern managed in a Manthey kitted 991 GT2 back in 2021) and only the sixth such car to break the 7-minute barrier.
Needless to say, Wikipedia’s much less official list, which includes a whole host of Sport Auto times, places the GTD considerably lower than fifth - but when you consider that Ford has made a front-engined car slip inside the 6:58.70 lap that Christian Gebhardt recorded in a Ferrari 296 GTB (and only a whisker away from the time Porsche itself set in a 918 Spyder back in 2013) you do start to appreciate just how well Ford has done with a car that took two years to develop. Only Mercedes has gone quicker with a V8 in the nose.
“The team behind Mustang GTD took what we’ve learned from decades on the track and engineered a Mustang that can compete with the world’s best supercars,” said Jim Farley, Ford President and CEO. “We’re proud to be the first American automaker with a car that can lap the Nürburgring in under seven minutes, but we aren’t satisfied. We know there’s much more time to find with Mustang GTD. We’ll be back.”
Based on how comprehensive Ford’s makeover has been, we’re inclined to agree with that assessment. You can read the full detail of the GTD’s technical specification in Matt’s earlier roundup, but suffice it to say that its dry-sumped, 200+mph performance is underwritten by a carbon fibre body featuring the sort of wild aerodynamic package denied to the GT3 car and a dramatically wider chassis with trick, semi-active suspension - not to mention all the race components partner Multimatic will have stuck to the thing. Only the roll cage and competition-grade bucket seat (both mandated by the Nurburgring) are non-standard.
To learn more about the journey the GTD and its team have been through, Ford has produced a 13-minute documentary on the subject called The Road to the Ring, which definitely sounds like it’s worth a watch this lunchtime. Alternatively, you could push the thought of the GTD’s £315,000 price tag around your head - alongside Ford's justification for it: this is “the first-ever supercar with world-class performance and the soul of a Mustang” said the car’s chief engineer earlier this year. Now it has the Green Hell lap time to prove it.
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