The Nürburgring is the home of speed, but that
hasn’t stopped Ford and Vaughn Gittin Jr from turning the Green Hell into a
personal drifting paradise. Noting the event was all about having a “good time”
and not setting a lap time, Vaughn Gittin Jr has become the first driver to
drift the entire 20.7 km long Nürburgring Nordschleife. His car of
choice for this undertaking was the Ford Mustang RTR Drift which features a
supercharged 5.0-liter V8 engine that produces up to 900 hp.
Ford didn’t release a lot of details about the event, but it appears becoming the first person to drift the Nürburgring wasn’t an easy task as Vaughn Gittin Jr “shredded three sets of tires.” The company also notes that drifting is forbidden on the Nordschleife, although other drivers have drifted sections in the past.
Ford didn’t release a lot of details about the event, but it appears becoming the first person to drift the Nürburgring wasn’t an easy task as Vaughn Gittin Jr “shredded three sets of tires.” The company also notes that drifting is forbidden on the Nordschleife, although other drivers have drifted sections in the past.
The automaker didn’t reveal the car’s lap time, but
noted the Mustang RTR hit speeds in excess of 240 km/h. The model also “maxed out in sixth gear on
the sideways entries into the bends.” According to Vaughn Gittin Jr, “Drifting
the Nürburgring represents the ultimate challenge to me: it is something that
many question whether it would be possible and whether the car and driver could
do it and come out in one piece. Something inside of me had to take this on to
find out.”
The drifter went on to admit “I did not know the
‘Green Hell’ nearly as well as I thought I did. Everything changes when you’re
going sideways at those speeds.”