Ford embarrasses Porsche on home turf

Ford Mustang GTD has claimed a new record at the Nurburgring

There’s a big difference between saying you’re going to do something and actually doing it.

So when Ford said it would build a Mustang that could beat European supercars there were plenty of raised eyebrows and doubts from across the industry. But this week the company has revealed its Mustang GTD has lapped the Nurburgring faster than the Porsche 911 GT3.

Racing veteran Dirk Muller lapped the 20km German circuit in 6m57sec, becoming the first American car to go under seven minutes at the famous track. The time is good enough to beat the 6m59sec lap in the 911 GT3 set by Porsche test driver Lars Kern in 2020. The lap is less than two seconds off the time set by Porsche racer Kevin Estre in the 911 GT3 with Manthey Performance Kit too.

What makes the time even more impressive is Ford only managed to set three flying laps on the track to set the time, so the project’s chief program engineer, Greg Goodall, is confident it can go even faster.

“Our very first attempt out we ran three out of three laps under seven minutes,” Goodall told Torquecafe. “It’s the first American car to do so. And then, unfortunately, we got rained out for multiple sessions after that. So we have three timed laps in all under seven minutes. It’s pretty phenomenal, but we’re not done.

VIDEO: Hear the stunning Ford Mustang GTD in action

“The car is much better now. We learned a lot. We went there, so we’re not done. We’re planning on going back and setting an even better time. That being said, 6m57sec is pretty impressive. No American made car has been able to do that until we have done it. So it’s a big deal.

“So I would say that we’re happy, but we’re not content. We’re not done, we’re still hungry.”

The Mustang GTD is a ‘passion project’ for Ford, pushed by global CEO (and part-time racing driver) Jim Farley, who wanted to see the new Mustang compete against the likes of Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin both in GT3 racing but also on the road.

Dirk Muller and Greg Goodall at the Nurburgring

A Ford team, led by Goodall, worked with Canadian racing and engineering specialists Multimatic, to take elements from the GT3 race program and apply it to a road-legal version of the Mustang. However, the project was not burdened by meeting racing regulations, so Ford and Multimatic went all out. The GTD is powered by a 596kW (800hp) supercharged 5.2-litre V8, has a new eight-speed dual-clutch transaxle, a carbon fibre driveshaft, a complex suspension system, carbon fibre panels for much of the body, active aerodynamics, magnesium wheels and carbon ceramic brakes.

Goodall didn’t want to speculate exactly how much faster he thinks the GTD can go, but the next obvious target beyond Estre’s 911 GT3 Manthey Racing Kit lap is the 6m49sec time set by Jorg Bergmeister in the 911 GT3 RS; which is arguably the closest car in concept to the race-bred Mustang.

“Well, it’s a bit meaningless for me to say a number, right? Because you need to go deliver it on the track,” Goodall said.

“But we know we left some time on the track. So we’ll leave it at that, and then we’ll let our time speak for itself, and we run hopefully in 2025.”