Ford’s Mustang GTD has rewritten the American chapter of the Nürburgring record book. In April 2026, the new GTD Competition lapped the Nordschleife in 6:40.835 — the fastest time ever set by an American production car, beating the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X by more than eight seconds.
From 6:57 to 6:40: the GTD’s Nürburgring history
The lap programme began in 2024, when the standard GTD posted 6:57.685 — already enough to make it the first American production car under seven minutes. In 2025, factory driver Dirk Müller trimmed that to 6:52.072, cutting five and a half seconds off Ford’s own benchmark. The April 2026 run by the GTD Competition took another eleven seconds out, timed to coincide with the Mustang’s 62nd anniversary, and Ford reopened North American customer applications for the limited, serialized variant alongside the announcement.
What the GTD Competition changes
The base GTD’s supercharged 5.2-litre “Predator” V8 produces 815 horsepower and 664 lb-ft; the Competition pushes output beyond that through hardware and tuning changes, adds revised aerodynamics, and sheds weight. It builds on a chassis already borrowed from Ford’s GT3 racing programme: a multilink rear axle, pushrod-actuated dampers, active aero that adjusts the rear wing in track mode, and a rear-mounted transaxle giving near 50:50 weight distribution — a first for the Mustang nameplate.
How it compares to European rivals
A 6:40.835 doesn’t just lead the American field — alongside the Ford GT Mk IV, Ford now holds the two fastest Nürburgring laps ever posted by an American brand, and the GTD Competition sits in territory occupied by Porsche’s and Lamborghini’s most extreme road cars. For a muscle-car nameplate that started this programme hoping to sneak under seven minutes, ending up in the outright conversation with mid-engine specialists is the more remarkable result — and with the Corvette ZR1X now the benchmark to defend against, the transatlantic lap war looks far from over.