The iconic Nordschleife of the Nürburgring is considered the gold standard and benchmark for sports cars worldwide. Ford has now become the first American brand to break the lap time barrier of seven minutes with a production model: The new Mustang GTD completed the 20.832 kilometer long traditional route in the Eifel in 6:57.685 minutes. At the wheel: Multimatic Motorsport works driver Dirk Müller from Burbach. The 826 hp high-performance vehicle, which is based on US certification, is officially certified Nürburgring lap record list fifth place among road-legal series models. It is keeping a promise made by Ford President and CEO Jim Farley in August 2023.
- The new Ford Mustang GTD super sports car completes the 20.832 kilometer long “Green Hell” with its 73 corners in 6:57.685 minutes, making it the fifth fastest production model
- The new Mustang GTD is only the sixth production vehicle to achieve a lap time below the 7-minute sound barrier on the Nürburgring Nordschleife
- 13-minute documentary “The Road to the Ring” on Ford.com, YouTube, Facebook and other channels describes the major challenge for the Mustang GTD team
“The team behind the Mustang GTD was able to draw on the wealth of experience that Ford has gained on race tracks over the past decades. The result is a Mustang that competes with the world’s best super sports cars,” said Farley. “We are very proud to be the first American car manufacturer to have lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in under seven minutes with one of our vehicles. But we are not completely satisfied yet, because the Mustang GTD has even greater potential. We will be back!”
The Mustang GTD’s Nordschleife lap time results from the tireless work of a small but particularly close-knit team of engineers and designers. Based on the thoroughbred Ford Mustang GT3 racing vehicle, it has developed the first super sports car in the long history of the Mustang series over the past two years. The intensive preparation for the fascinating Nürburgring record run and the sometimes dramatic challenges that Ford had to overcome are now summarized in an exciting way in the 13-minute documentary “Road to the Ring” – which can be seen on Ford.com, YouTube, Facebook and other internet channels of the brand. It provides a rare look behind the scenes and shows the intensive test drives on famous race tracks from Sebring to the traditional circuit in the Eifel. In the main roles: In addition to Jim Farley and Dirk Müller, Multimatic’s technical director, Larry Holt, as well as Greg Goodall as chief engineer of the Mustang GTD program, Mustang GTD chief designer Anthony Colard and many more from the Ford and Multimatic team.
Ford Mustang GTD: Pure GT3 racing technology freed from the constraints of regulations
The new Mustang GTD marks the performance peak in the 60-year history of the famous sports car series. It represented the consistent further development of the Mustang GT3 racing car, which competed for the first time at the 24 Hours of Daytona (USA) in January and already achieved a podium result in the LM GT3 class at the 24-hour classic in Le Mans, France has achieved. As a road-going production model, the Mustang GTD is not subject to any sporting regulations. The Ford engineers have used this freedom, for example, for active aerodynamics with a DRS function (Drag Reduction System) like in Formula 1, an actively controlled chassis and also the significantly higher engine power of the 5.2 liter supercharged V8 engine . In combination with ceramic-carbon brakes and many carbon fiber body parts, they enabled the Mustang GTD’s outstanding Nordschleife lap time. The record vehicle fully corresponded to the technical standard as it was delivered to customers. The only exceptions concerned safety components such as 5-point seat belts, a racing seat and a roll cage, as required by the Nürburgring for the official time hunt in the “Green Hell”.
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