The first American car to be driven around Germany’s famous Nürburgring Nordschleife racetrack with a lap time of less than seven minutes returned to do even better.

Ford announced the Mustang GTD Competition was driven around the track in a lap time of 6:40.835 minutes.

The Mustang GTD was the first car from an American company to beat the seven-minute mark at the track. The regular GTD’s best lap time of 6:52:072 was achieved in 2025.

That time was later surpassed by the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X, which became the fastest American car at the track with a time of 6:49.275 minutes.

Now, the folks at Ford took back the crown from the ZR1X. They made an even more bonkers version of the top-of-the-line ‘Stang, the Mustang GTD Competition, and brought it to the ‘Ring for the latest record.

The previous GTD and the current GTD Competition lap times were achieved by Ford Racing and Multimatic factory driver Dirk Müller.

Second-fastest American car at the ‘Ring, period

The Mustang GTD Competition is technically listed as a prototype/pre-production model, but Ford said it will offer it in “strictly limited” numbers to customers. And it will be street legal.

Two weeks earlier, Ford achieved the absolute fastest lap time by an American automaker at the track when the Ford GT Mk IV in a blistering time of 6:15.977 minutes. The GT MK IV is a race car, however, so it won’t count on the Nürburgring lap-time leader ladder the way the Mustang GTD Competition will.

About the Mustang GTD Competition

To put into perspective how quick the latest GTD variant is, Ford Racing engineer Steve Thompson drove it around the track in a time of 6:49.337 minutes.

That is a near-ZR1X level of performance from a guy who is not a race car driver.

Ford said the Competition version was able to shave 11 seconds off the lap time compared to the regular GTD through a focus on four areas.

First: the power output was increased. Ford didn’t say how much horsepower the Competition has but said hardware upgrades and aggressive tuning pushed the 5.2-litre V8 beyond the regular GTD’s 815-hp figure.

Second: Ford improved aerodynamics. The company added rear wing modifications, secondary front dive planes and rear carbon-fibre aero discs to get more downforce without losing efficiency and balance.

Third: New performance tires increased grip.

Fourth: The GTD Competition lost weight thanks to new magnesium wheels, new carbon bucket seats, lighter damper system and other methods.

Where can I buy it?

The GTD Competition will be offered in the future as a special-edition street-legal model, but only in small numbers.

Ford said it reopened the application window for the regular GTD, which itself is sold in limited quantities.

The Mustang GTD is partly assembled at Markham, Ont.-based Multimatic.

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