- Ford GT Mk IV is now the fastest American OEM around the Nürburgring.
- Its 6:15.977 lap makes it the quickest gas-powered car ever at the ‘Ring.
- Only two purpose-built electrified monsters have ever gone faster.
When Ford unveiled the third-gen GT, it was a true mic-drop moment. Now, as the curtain falls on its production run, it’s delivered one more truly astonishing moment. The track-only Ford GT Mk IV has just become the fastest American OEM ever to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife, stopping the clock at a blistering 6:15.977.
That not only puts it ahead of every other Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, or Cadillac ever to tackle the Green Hell, it also makes it the third-fastest vehicle of any kind to ever lap the infamous 12.9-mile German circuit. It might even be the most impressive ever given that it’s available for sale.
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The man behind the wheel was Frédéric Vervisch, a Nürburgring specialist and two-time Nürburgring 24 Hours winner. Ford says the Belgian driver hustled the 800 horsepower GT Mk IV around the Nordschleife despite cold conditions and a 192 mph (311 km/h) top-speed cap imposed during the run. Even with those limitations, the car still delivered a lap nearly 14 seconds quicker than the street-legal Mercedes-AMG One.
However, do note that the AMG One’s 6:29.050 lap in 2024 remains the fastest ever for a production car, as the Ford’s track-only designation excludes it from that category.
The timing is key here. It’s been 10 years since Ford launched the third-gen GT and won its class at Le Mans. Nobody would’ve batted an eye had the brand quietly retired the car with some sort of fancy special edition livery or something akin to that. Instead, it’s just made history and proven that while it might be going away soon, it’s still a true tour de force.
Let’s wrap things up by putting this into perspective a little bit. The two cars that are faster at the ring are the Porsche Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, which laid down an almost unbelievable 5:19.546 lap in 2018, and the all-electric Volkswagen ID.R, which managed a 6:05.336. However, neither of those are production models as they belong in the prototype class.
These were essentially no-rules engineering exercises rather than anything resembling a production or even a track-only car. In that light, the Ford, which, while batty on its own and far from street legal, is at least a car that those flush with cash can buy and own. That makes it at least as impressive as the Volkswagen, if not considerably more so. Keep in mind that it’s not electrified at all being powered by a revised version of the factory EcoBoost twin-turbocharged V6, which makes it the fastest gas-powered car to ever lap the track.
For the record, the Ford is placed ahead of other extreme electric cars like the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype (6:22.091) and the limited production (130 units) Lotus Evija Hypercar (6:24.047), which further highlights just how competitive its time really is. The closest production gas-powered car is the Manthey-spec Porsche 991 GT2 RS, which recorded a 6:43.300 lap around the Green Hell.
May the 67 people lucky enough to shell out $1.7 million for one of the production versions put these cars to proper use on a track. Clearly, they were made for it. You can see exactly what it’s capable of in the video of its Nurburgring run below.
