The Ford Mustang GTD only held the record for the fastest American car to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife for a little over 7 months. Ford announced a 6:57.685 lap back in December, and bettered it with a 6:52.07 a few months later, but Chevrolet just took the crown with the Corvette ZR1 and ZR1X. Ford’s response? “Game on.”
That came directly from CEO Jim Farley, who replied “[c]ongrats to the Corvette team. Game on!” on an Instagram post from the official Corvette page. The Drive was the first to bring our attention to Farley’s comment.
Ford could go back to the ‘Ring with the Mustang GTD, but that car is at somewhat of a disadvantage to the ZR1 and ZR1X. The Mustang GTD weighs over 4,300 pounds based on EPA documents that Road & Track reported on back in February, while Car and Driver measured the ZR1 at 3,831 pounds. Chevy hasn’t revealed a weight figure for the ZR1X, but it’s reasonable to expect it to eclipse the 4,000-pound mark.
The Mustang GTD has 815 horsepower, which is a lot, but the ZR1 makes 1,064 hp, and the ZR1X ups it to 1,250 hp. Power and weight figures aren’t everything, but they do count for a ton. Still, the GTD has a very advanced suspension system, huge Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires, and an extremely advanced aero package that includes a Formula 1-style drag-reduction system to stall the wing on straights.
In any case, we don’t know if Ford has anything planned. Farley surely wants to take back the record—he’s a racer himself and he’s pushing performance hard with the Mustang—but Ford isn’t going to go to the ‘Ring unless it knows it at least has a chance of beating the Corvette’s time. There could be more time in the GTD, but Ford may also need to wait until it has its next, greatest thing to beat Chevy.
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