Ford Mustang GTD writes history at the Nürburgring
A select company
The Mustang GTD has a 600 kW (815 hp) powerful V8 engine under the hood and belongs to a select club of six production sports cars that have ever broken the magical seven-minute mark at the Nürburgring. This time puts it in fifth place in its class. Behind the wheel was driver Dirk Müller of Multimatic Motorsports.
Two years of development
The Mustang GTD is the result of two years of hard work by a team of engineers and designers. Together they built a street-legal sports car full of racing technology. Think smart aerodynamics that adjust as you drive, a suspension that adapts to the track and carbon-ceramic brakes.
Although the model is based on the Mustang GT3 race car, the GTD goes further in terms of specifications without being bound by racing class regulations. During the record lap, the car was fitted with additional safety equipment such as a roll cage and racing bucket seat, as required by Nürburgring rules.
Documentary offers look behind the scenes
For Mustang enthusiasts, Ford has released a short documentary: ‘The Road to the Ring’. In 13 minutes, you get a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the Mustang GTD and the preparations for the record lap at the Nürburgring. Not only driver Dirk Müller and Ford CEO Jim Farley are featured, but also engineers and designers such as Larry Holt of Multimatic.
Future ambitions
While the time of 6 minutes and 57.685 seconds is an important milestone, Ford says there is still more to come. The team continues to work on further improvements, aiming to raise the bar even higher.
“The team behind the Mustang GTD has applied the knowledge we have gained on the track for decades and designed a Mustang that can compete with the world’s best supercars,” said Ford CEO Farley. “We are proud to be the first American automaker with a car that can complete a lap of the Nürburgring in under seven minutes. But we’re not satisfied yet. We know we can still go much faster with the Mustang GTD. So we’ll be back.”