Ford GT Mk IV sets new Nurburgring record for pure combustion vehicles

Ford has proved that pure combustion vehicles can still put up a fight against hybrid and electric cars when it comes to performance.

The Blue Oval went to Germany and brought the Ford GT Mk IV to the Nurburgring-Nordschleife, setting a 6:15.977 laptime around the legendary race track that puts it third on the all-time list, just behind the Porsche 919 Hybrid EVO race car and the all-electric Volkswagen ID.R, which are basically Le Mans prototypes on steroids.

With that feat, Ford now holds the record for the fastest pure combustion vehicle at the Nordschleife, and the fastest for an American OEM, too. For reference, the limited-production, track-only version of the Ford GT lapped the Green Hell over 14 seconds faster than the F1-engined Mercedes-AMG One.

The Ford GT Mk IV debuted in 2023 as a tribute to the Le Mans-winning GT40 Mk IV from 1967. Compared to the standard GT, Ford only sold 67 hand-made examples of the Mk IV. It had a longer wheelbase, a longtail body, a racing gearbox, adaptive suspension from Multimatic, and a beefed-up Ecoboost V6 twin-turbo engine pushing over 800 horsepower.

For the record-breaking attempt, the Ford GT Mk IV was driven by the brand’s factory driver Frederic Vervisch. Despite the cold weather limiting the track-only supercar to a top speed of 193 mph (311 km/h), the Ford GT Mk IV and Vervisch were able to put it together and deliver a performance that etches the brand into the history books.

Here's the onboard video. And yes, it's not on fast forward: