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Ford recently announced a remarkable Nürburgring lap time of 6 minutes 15.97 seconds with its Ford GT Mk IV, a track-only, non-street-legal car. This time is the third fastest ever and the best for a purely internal combustion car.
Good for them…
The real story is that Ford engineer’s seem to be completely obsessed with taking the Nürburgring’s American Production Car record lap time away from the Corvette ZR1X, which stands at 6:49.275 That record lap occurred shortly after the Mustang GTD became the first American car to break the sub-seven minute lap with a lap time of 6:52.072.
Ford CEO Jim Farley famously commented on the ZR1X’s lap time with congrats to the Corvette Team and then saying “Game on!”.
Ford returned to the Nürburgring last month with an updated GTD, hoping to reclaim the title of fastest American manufacturer. After several days of testing, Ford went silent and never announced a new lap time for the GTD. This led to speculation that Ford either was building suspense or had failed to beat the ZR1X and hoped the public would forget.
Then, unexpectedly, Ford announced an incredible lap time with the Ford GT Mk IV: 6 minutes and 15.97 seconds. This time is a whopping 13 seconds faster than the lap time set by the Mercedes AMG1 and is the third fastest Nürburgring lap time ever recorded.
The Ford GT Mk IV is a pure custom fabricated racer. It features a redesigned longtail carbon fiber body, a stretched wheelbase, a race gearbox, and a tuned EcoBoost twin-turbo V6 engine with over 820 horsepower. Each hand-built track car costs over $1.7 million, with production limited to just 67 examples.
The lap time was set by Ford Racing factory driver Frédéric Vervisch. It is the best lap time ever for a purely internal combustion car.
ACR Driver acknowledges the lap time is a huge victory for the Blue Oval, but questions arise as to their intent behind this lap. Did Ford set this lap time to showcase the GT Mk IV’s capabilities, or was it a move to one-up GM’s Corvette ZR1X?
Check out the debate and let us know your thoughts on this most recent battle for American car supremacy at the Nürburgring:
From ARC Driver via YouTube:
American car companies have become completely obsessed with Nürburgring lap times and Ford just pulled off a major feat that I can’t decide if it’s a huge victory for Ford, or a huge embarrassment.
Source:
ARC Driver
Related:
[VIDEO] The Corvette ZR1X and ZR1 are Now the Fastest American Cars on the Nürburgring
Ford CEO Jim Farley Responds to the Corvette Team’s Nürburgring Times with “Game On” Message
[VIDEO] Ford Topples the Corvette ZR1 and ZR1X Times at the Nürburgring…With a Van!
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I wonder where they hid the Nitros bottle?
Healthy market competition is fundamental to a well-functioning U.S. economy. Basic economic theory demonstrates that when firms have to compete for customers, it leads to lower prices, higher quality good and services, greater variety, and more “innovation.” Thanks, Ray
No comparison whatsoever. Not even a street car. Apples and oranges.
Give it another shot Ford!
Montana Bob
For me this is a who cares apples and oranges thing.
It’s a Multimatic racecar built in Canada. Give me a break. If they want to play that game I’m sure GM has a couple of IMSA racecars that could take care of business. Hahaha.
It’s not only a non-road-legal time, it’s nearly a minute off the overall record.
Strip a ZR1 down, gut the interior, add a full race seat, delete the catback, delete crash bars, etc. Remove everything that makes it road-legal, but isn’t required for time attack. A driveable gas tank with CCB and Cup2’s. That’s probably good for 800 lbs weight savings.
Might not beat the GT MKIV, but it’ll come within a hair’s breath–and prove that it can be done for far less $$$ and without a purpose-built million dollar car.
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