The Nürburgring stands among the world's most celebrated racing venues. Carved through Germany's scenic Eifel Mountains, the 12.9-mile Nordschleife — also called the North Loop — carries the legendary nickname "Green Hell." It's also the battleground where manufacturers trade bragging rights through lap times. Ford has now entered that conversation in a big way: the Ford GT Mk IV has posted a 6:15.977 lap, planting the brand firmly on the podium of all-time fastest cars around the circuit.
With Ford Racing factory driver Frédéric Vervisch behind the wheel, the GT Mk IV now holds the title of third-fastest car ever to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife. As always with 'Ring times, context matters. Although buyers who clear Ford's vetting process can actually purchase a limited-production Mk IV, the car's track-only status bars it from the official Nürburgring production-car record classification — a category currently topped by the street-legal Mercedes-AMG One.
The AMG One — AMG's hybrid hypercar — set a 6:29.050 time back in 2024. The GT Mk IV doesn't qualify for production-car status as the AMG One does, but it's remarkable that Ford's machine demolished that benchmark by more than 14 seconds, particularly given that the AMG One itself holds an approximately 16-second lead over the next-fastest road-legal production car.
In the prototype and pre-production category where the GT Mk IV competes, the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo sits unchallenged at the top with its 5:19.546 lap. The fully electric Volkswagen ID.R Pikes Peak racer occupies second place after posting a 6:05.336 time — about 10 seconds ahead of the Ford. The GT Mk IV's 6:15.977 puts it third, edging out the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype (6:22.091) and the Lotus Evija Hypercar (6:24.047). Given that three of those four rivals are electric and the Porsche is a hybrid, the GT Mk IV earns the additional distinction of being the fastest gasoline-powered car to complete the Nordschleife. The nearest competition in that regard is the Manthey-tuned Porsche 991 GT2 RS, at 6:43.300.
The Ford GT Mk IV made its debut in 2023, with production capped at 67 hand-built examples, each carrying a price tag exceeding $1.7 million. Beyond a reworked carbon-fiber body and an extended wheelbase, the Mk IV packs a race-specification gearbox and an enlarged version of the EcoBoost twin-turbo V-6 that exceeds 800 horsepower.
