Ford Mustang pulls off epic 975m drift

Formula D champ Vaughn Gitten Jr pulls off ridiculously awesome drift on Formula One track.

The Catalunya Grand Prix circuit is a state-of-the-art racetrack with a butter-smooth surface, and sweeping curves for the best Formula One, MotoGP, and GT3 drivers and riders in the world to attack at full speed.

But the Spanish track is more renowned for grands prix than the tyre-frying antics of drifters so Formula D (Drift) champion Vaughn Gitten Jr decided it was time to change that fact.

The Ford Performance driver took his Mustang RTR drift car to Catalunya with the sole intention of frying rubber in the most spectacular fashion.

The complex from turn one to four at Catalunya is 975 metres long, with a massive, constant radius curve in the middle, and Gitten Jr slid his Mustang the entire length!

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Now a couple hundred metres is an impressive drift for the best slide-ways stars, but frying treads for near enough to an entire kilometre is nuts!

With a Roush Yates V8 under the bonnet, Gitten Jr's 2015 RTR Mustang puts 850 horsepower (634kW) to its tortured rear tyres, which is actually a rather modest amount of grunt for a top-of-the-line drift car.

Formula D, the championship this particular car once raced in, is the highest-power stock-chassis motorsport in the world, with cars regularly cracking 1000hp (746kW) at the wheels, and Giittin Jr’s 2016 Mustang packs 50 horsepower more than the car you see here.

Gitten's performance makes for impressive viewing, with the pro drifter holding a solid angle for the whole run, throttle planted firmly into the firewall, and smoke billowing from the rear tyres.

To be honest, this is just proof that drifters should take to more Grand Prix tracks.
Just imagine guys in 1000 horsepower cars pulling big smoky slides up Eau Rouge at Spa in Belgium, or through the Swimming Pool corner in Monaco. Formula One might look a little dull after that…