700hp Ford GT Mk II track car revealed

Ford's new toy has 30 per cent more power than the race car and is 90kg lighter than the road model

Ford has revealed a track-only version of its GT supercar that uses a ramped up version of the 3.5-litre EcoBoost producing 700hp, making it faster than the Le Mans-winning racer that inspired its setup. Just 45 examples of the circuit toy are to be produced, with each utilising the most potent version of Ford’s turbocharged V6 yet within a motorsport-inspired setup - one so extreme that it's capable of generating 2G of lateral force.

Without WEC or IMSA racing regs to worry about, the Mk II is 200hp up on the Balance of Power-regulated GTE that competed at Le Mans, as well as a not insignificant 44hp up on its roadgoing counterpart. Since it’s more closely related to the road car, the Mk II’s 1,295kg kerbweight leaves it 95kg heavier than the thoroughbred GTE, but with such a power advantage, it remains by far the fastest. Evidence comes with the hp per tonne figures: the Mk II has 540hp, the GTE has 417hp while the road car has 473hp.

With all that extra muscle to manage, the Mk II makes use of water-cooling technology, which sprays atomised H2O onto the intercooler to prevent things getting too toasty at high revs. The car also borrows a roof-mounted air scoop from the GTE to blow cool air onto the engine, clutch and gearbox. The latter, by the way, is the road car’s seven speed dual clutch transmission, rather than the racer’s six-speed sequential, but the calibration has been retuned to suit the extra grunt, so expect a bigger thump with each upshift.

You might think Ford would want to leave its racing car with an aerodynamic advantage over the track car, but, well, it hasn't. The Mk II exterior includes an enormous front splitter, side skirts and the largest rear wing fitted to a GT, as well as a massive rear diffuser. The result is 400 per cent more downforce than the road car; couple that with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport slicks and 394mm/358mm carbon ceramic brakes (which are banned by GTE regulations), then add the more potent powertrain and no wonder Ford is claiming this is the fastest GT to be made yet.

Inside, drivers are greeted by a cabin of pure motorsport-specification, with a bucket seat, harnesses and digital race displays making it look more like a plush GTE cabin than stripped out supercar’s. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? And so it should, for £955,000 - which is a price that ranks Ford’s Le Mans-aping Mk II in the track car stratosphere. But then again, this is essentially a Le Mans winner's more powerful sibling.