Fast Fords occupy a special place in the road and racing hierarchy and a trio of the very latest are set for an airing at the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard this year (29th June - 2nd July).
JUN 06th 2017
Brand new GT and Mustang GT4 to headline Ford's 2017 FOS lineup!
From three-pot screamers in the new Fiesta to the 216mph Ford GT road car – the fastest fast-Ford ever – the Blue Oval’s FoS focus this year will be very much on performance.
FoS will be the first time fans can see the new GT road car in the UK. Thought to cost US$450,000 each, the supercar sold out long ago and only started reaching customers’ hands in January.
With 647bhp from its 3.5-litre Ecoboost V6 the GT road car is a lot more powerful than the race version that won its class at Le Mans last year. For FoS, Ford’s answer to Ferrari and McLaren supercars will be driven up the hill by Ford Chip Ganassi team drivers Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell.
Also sure to fly up the hill will be the new Mustang GT4, the turnkey race car unveiled late last year to take part in GT4 racing around the world. Powered by a 5.2-litre V8 and based on Shelby GT350R-C, the ‘Stang GT4 aims to offer privateer racers a more affordable package in the professional/amateur class. It will be showing what it can do at FoS in the hands of Ford/Ganassi team driver Billy Johnson.
There will be more Mustang action in the form of the RTR version, expertly steered by drift star Vaughn Gittin Jr, in the new-for-2017 drift competition.
Real-world Ford fans aren’t left out with the UK debut of the new Fiesta, though alas not yet in new ST200 form for which we will have to wait until next year – no hardship perhaps since the current ST200 Fiesta continues to win driver’s choice awards. The sporting emphasis continues on the Ford pavilion with Ford Performance-inspired ST Line versions of Focus, Kuga, Mondeo – and, for the fist time, an ST Line S-Max family wagon.