Ford Mustang RTR Becomes The First Car To Drift The Entire Nurburgring

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 12.8 mile (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 (671 kW / 912 PS).

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 149 mph (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.”