In an iconic episode of Top Gear that aired 20 years ago, Sabine Schmitz once clocked a Nurbürgring Nordschleife lap time of 10:12 in a Ford Transit van. On Monday, Ford announced that its Transit SuperVan 4.2 Pikes Peak racer beat that time by over three minutes.
The lap was run by Romain Dumas, Ford's usual EV demonstrator driver and the winner of the 2024 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the brand's F-150 Lightning racer. Dumas ultimately finished the run in 6:48.42, slotting the van right in between the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X and the last-generation Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series.
While the lap is impressive for something shaped like a van, it is an apples-to-oranges comparison with production cars because the 2000 hp SuperVan 4.2 ran on slick tires. The Mustang GTD, by contrast, completed its official lap of 6:52 with a set of road-legal tires. Because of the slicks and the van's status as a purpose-built racing vehicle, it is most directly comparable to the Volkswagen ID.R that currently holds the all-time electric record of 6:05 at the Nordschleife.
Notably, Romain Dumas also set that record behind the wheel of Volkswagen's electric racer. The overall 'Ring record remains the unbelievable 5:19 run by Porsche's 919 Hybrid Evo in 2018. Ford's electric SuperVan may not be in the same range as those dedicated prototypes, but neither the Volkswagen nor the Porsche share their shape with a delivery vehicle, either.
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