We haven’t heard a great deal of the Ford SuperVan 4.2 since its imperious appearance in the summer of 2024, when it not only romped to the Shootout crown at the Festival of Speed, but also made a whirring mockery of the closed-wheel lap record at Mount Panorama Circuit. Ford left Pikes Peak this year to its sibling, the SuperTruck, which somehow failed to have quite the same impact (at least to European eyes). At any rate, it lacks the zany, combustion-powered heritage of the SuperVan, which is rightly lauded.
Anyway, it turns out Ford Performance hasn’t been resting on its laurels; evidently, it spent part of this year limbering up to make an appearance at the one place where a lap record guarantees you some ink. Even better, it apparently turned up at the Nurburgring with an additional purpose in mind: to celebrate the late, great Sabine Schmitz and her memorable place in Transit history. Certainly no one reading this needs reminding of the very Germanic gauntlet she threw down on TG back in the day, or her heroic attempt to back it up.
As you might expect, this event rather stuck in the mind of the good people at Ford Performance - doubly so, since Schmitz passed away in 2021. “Ever since that day, taking a Ford Transit to the limit around the ‘Ring has always been the dream for a few of us at Ford Performance, but it wasn’t until now that we had the right Transit, the right driver, and the right conditions to see what might be possible,” said demonstrator programme manager, Michael Norton.
Well, guess what. The right Transit turned out to be the 2,000hp SuperVan; the right driver was EV lap specialist Romain Dumas; and the right conditions, it seems, were available this summer. The result, somewhat predictably, was a monster lap, as evidenced in the video. It goes without saying that it was the fastest van ever on the Green Hell, but the mind-bogglingly brevity of its 6:48.393 lap does require some standing back and more than a little blinking.
After all, according to Ford, that makes it the ninth fastest ‘car’ ever to complete a timed lap. And even if you were inclined to quibble with that count, there isn’t really any arguing with it stealing the Corvette ZR1X’s thunder (6:49.275) nor eclipsing Ford’s own Mustang GTD time (6:52.072). It’s even quicker than the lap Porsche recorded in 2022 for the 911 GT3 RS (6:49.328). Obviously, we’re talking about preposterously powerful EV custom-made to set absurd lap times— but still.
In fairness to it, Ford acknowledges this fact and does admit to the SuperVan being on slick tyres (which the other cars mentioned were definitely not). But you only need to watch the lap to see that Dumas had his work cut out. Or to begrudge the firm’s core message: “There is more to come, not least with the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck that was also at the Ring on the same day,” noted Norton. “For now, we will celebrate this achievement and also remember Sabine Schmitz and her part in this amazing story. She will never be forgotten.”
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