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Well that didn’t take long. The day the Chevy Corvette ZR1X and ZR1 both beat the Mustang GTD‘s Nurburgring lap record Ford’s CEO took it personally. Within hours of Chevy’s announcement Ford CEO Jim Farley congratulated the Corvette team and said “Game on.” Farley was clearly serious.
There’s a modified Ford Mustang GTD lapping the ‘Ring right now. The car, spotted both on and around the ‘Ring, has some noticeable, and probably important, aero modifications that can be seen. It’s unknown what lurks beneath the carbon fiber skin at this point.
The rear wheels on this Mustang GTD prototype feature a Porsche-like aerodisk cover, which is a lightweight wheel cover that is designed for downforce optimization.
Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien
Up front, there’s now a second dive plane on each side of the bumper, likely to add more downforce. The current Mustang GTD has a single dive plane mounted low on the bumper, where as the car lapping the ‘Ring has a lower and upper flap on each side.
Each of the hood vents on the prototype, which Ford usually runs open without the mesh inserts while on the track to let more heat escape from under the hood, both have curved inserts installed. These are a new design, and given the Ford team was 3D-printing different aero parts for vent surrounds on the fly at the last Nurburgring run attempts, it’s possible these inserts are 3D-printed and being designed on the fly.
The Mustang GTD’s standard exhaust system, which provides a loud American symphony courtesy of a titanium setup from Akrapovič, is too loud for ‘Ring regulations. We hear the car lapping the ‘Ring sounds different, though it’s unclear if that’s just due to the modifications made for noise regulations.
The current Mustang GTD was the first American car to set a sub-seven-minute lap time at the Green Hell back in August 2024. Back then the car ran a 6:57.685. Unsatisfied, Ford went back to the ‘Ring in May and shaved 5.5 seconds off the time with updates to then set a new record of 6:52.072. Chevy beat that record with the Corvette ZR1 lapping the ‘Ring in 6:50.763, and then again with the Corvette ZR1X setting a lap time of 6:49.275.
You can bet Ford’s aiming to somehow shave at least 2.797 seconds off the Mustang GTD’s lap time.
It’s not yet clear if Ford’s set a new lap time or just testing the new aero bits. We also don’t yet know if any suspension or powertrain modifications have been made. For now, take a stroll through the gallery below and we’ll report back when we hear more. Ford wasn’t excited to talk with us this morning and didn’t have much to say.
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As Director of Content and Product, Joel draws on over 15 years of newsroom experience and inability to actually stop working to help ensure The Drive shapes the future of automotive media. He’s also a World Car Award juror.
