From its feisty looks, it’s hard to believe that the new Ford Mustang GTD can be driven on the road, so we shouldn’t be too surprised to hear that the most extreme ‘Stang to date clocked a rather brisk time of six minutes and 57.6 seconds around the Nürburgring.
That makes it only the sixth ‘standard’ production car in the legendary circuit’s record books to come in under the seven-minute barrier. Factor in track day specials like Manthey Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 RS and the Mustang only just loses out on a spot in the top 10 overall times to the Porsche 918 Spyder hypercar – which was only 0.6 seconds quicker than the Ford.
Due to poor weather, Ford’s factory driver Dirk Müller only managed three laps. We may yet see the Mustang GTD claim greater glory around the ‘Green Hell’ however, because Ford President and CEO, Jim Farley, declared “we’ll be back.” Ford also said the GTD “still has more [that] it’s capable of delivering at the Nürburgring” as it confirmed it will try again in 2025 for a better lap time.
With an average pace of 111.75mph, part of the reason the Mustang GTD was able to lay down its incredible lap time was thanks to its aggressive aerodynamics. The carbon fibre body has slatted front wings to reduce wheel arch pressure, extra vents and intakes in the bonnet and bumpers, a swan-neck rear spoiler along with a bespoke splitter, skirts and diffuser.
Couple the exterior tweaks to a supercharged 5.2-litre V8 that puts out around 800bhp with a 7,500rpm redline, carbon ceramic brakes and race-derived suspension, and the Mustang GTD is the most track-focused iteration of the historic muscle car ever.
Which cars topped the Mustang? Take a look at the fastest Nurburgring lap times…