Click for more.
A Ford Mustang GTD (NYSE: F) professionally driven broke its own record with a new 6:40.835 lap time at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Previously a 2025 Ford Mustang GTD completed of the 12.9-mile at the 73-turn “Green Hell” in 6:57.685 at the Nürburgring on 10 December 2024.This is the sixth fastest time in the Nürburgring Pre-Production / Prototype Class record book.
“Driven once again by Ford Racing and Multimatic factory driver Dirk Müller, the Mustang GTD Competition secured the sixth fastest time on the Nürburgring Pre-Production / Prototype Class leader-board,” said Joe Bellino Mustang GTD brand manager today. “Ford Racing engineer Steve Thompson also piloted the GTD Competition to a time of 6:49.337 around the Nürburgring – faster than Müller’s original record. Thompson has modest driving experience at the ‘Green Hell,’ having cumulatively driven the Nürburgring fewer than 40 laps,” Bellino said. Continue reading
IMSA Street Fight – 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Click to enlarge.
The Long Beach street course will showcase Acura versus Aston-Martin versus Cadillac versus Corvette for the 100-minute race that is considered Honda Racing’s home event in the U.S. It’s exciting racing on the 1.968-mile Long Beach street circuit. That’s because teams and drivers start “cold” and have to work through significant track condition changes over three sessions Friday while four other classes add rubber to the surface. The field of 28 cars is split between the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) classes.
Penske Racing President Jonathan Diuguid said the team’s Long Beach approach is, well, flexible. “At Daytona and Sebring[ much longer endurance races – AutoCrat] we said, ‘I don’t care if you’re last place after the first corner, we don’t really want you to be aggressive on the start,” Diuguid said. “It’s probably the opposite (at Long Beach). I think in ’24, Nick (Tandy) went from eighth to second on the start. Those are the kind of aggressive moves you’re gonna see in the first couple laps. I think you’re going to see the drivers be a lot more aggressive in traffic, and that’s definitely a clear mentality change. “Really, it’s just, it’s aggressiveness from the drop of the green flag until the checkered flag, which is probably slightly different from the approach that’s been taken in Sebring and Daytona.” Continue reading →