It's Awesome This Place It Really Is

As I stepped out onto the track, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and awe at the surroundings. The circuit was designed by a consortium of Scandinavian engineers who drew inspiration from various tracks around the world. The result is a unique and challenging layout that requires drivers to be on their game at all times. Despite its slightly shabby edges, the track has a certain charm that I found irresistible.

The Track Itself

One of the standout features of the circuit is the North Pole corner, which is designed to mimic the iconic Corkscrew. However, there's a catch - if you fail to navigate this turn correctly, you risk hitting something hard and fast. The runoffs are quite large, making it crucial to maintain control throughout this section. But as I soon found out, who needs caution when driving at high speeds?

Handing Over the Keys

It was time for me to hand over the keys to Stefan, our pace driver, and let him take the wheel of the Ford GT. With a lap already within striking distance of the record, we were eager to see what he could do next. As I watched from the sidelines, Stefan took the car out onto the track, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline as the twin-turbo V6 engine roared to life beneath him.

The Lap Record

With Magoo's straight lined and the sound of the GT's exhaust echoing off the scenery, Stefan set to work. He was determined to push the car to its limits and claim a new lap record. And claim it he did, with just four laps under his belt and already three seconds inside the previous mark. As the car crossed the finish line, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride - we'd blown that lap record out of the water.

Dropping the Pressure

But Stefan wasn't done yet. He climbed back into the cockpit, chatted with the technicians, and made some changes to the tires. Dropping the pressure on the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s by 4psi all round seemed like a minor tweak, but it proved to be the key to unlocking even more performance from the car. With the ride height lowered and the rear end biting into the track, Stefan was able to push the car even harder.

The New Record

With the tires tweaked just so, Stefan set off once again, this time with an even greater sense of urgency in his driving. He took the turns with precision and finesse, short-shifting through the gears as he attacked each corner. The onboard footage showed just how hard he was pushing - from fifth gear at 140mph, braking into turn one before taking it in third. This was a car that truly came alive when driven with passion and precision.

The Final Stretch

As Stefan approached the final corner of the track, I could feel my heart pounding in anticipation. Would he be able to tame this beast of a machine, or would he push it too far? The answer, of course, was evident as soon as he crossed the line - with a lap time of 1 minute 36 point two nine seconds, Stefan had shattered the old record by almost five seconds.

A New Standard

The Ford GT had done it again - blown its way onto the leaderboard and set a new standard for the track. As Mucker put it, "Sticker set a slicks on the GT and it would have gone six maybe even seven seconds faster." It was clear that this car was capable of anything, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at its raw power.

A Final Fling

With the lap record safely in the bag, I knew it was time to hand the keys back over to Stefan. We took the car out for one final spin, just for old times' sake. The result? A car that still felt like a beast, even when driven at leisurely speeds. It may have some flaws, but overall, I found myself growing more and more fond of this incredible machine with every passing minute.

A Legacy Born

As we packed up the Ford GT and headed back to its box, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. This car had truly earned its place among the greats - it was an experience that would stay with me for the rest of my life. And as Mucker so eloquently put it, "There really is nothing else out there quite like this car."

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enNorway a beautiful looking country with some of the most incredible looking roads in the world as you can see I know your life gets much better than this this car the Ford GT on this road the Atlantic Ocean Road is an absolute dream come true if you're a petrol head the Ford GT is really rather an enjoyable thing just a toodle about it yes you want to let rip in it yes because it's got 647 horsepower and a cardan tub carbon ceramic brakes this thing is basically a live long car that's been legalized for the road I drove in estates this car and I just thought it was a little bit hoarse for a road car but having spent a lot more time in it now on these fantastic Norwegian roads I'm really really absolutely falling for the Ford GT but the only trouble with Norway from a ref heads point of view is that the speed limits are pretty draconian which means that in a car like the 647 bhp Ford GT it can get a touch frustrating to be honest even if the scenery is completely stunning but there is one place you can go in Norway where the rules don't count and it's called the Arctic Circle Raceway Wow here we are here we are the Arctic Circle Raceway I built it in the middle of a quarry but it's actually a lot more beautiful than that already because there are trees everywhere and it's slow and the mountains up there man this place is barking the tracks like what all the layouts the Arctic Circle Raceway was built in 1995 and sits just a few kilometres outside the Arctic Circle itself it's the northernmost racetrack in the world and is used mainly for bike racing nowadays in any car but especially a Ford GT it really is a proper driver circuit with 13 corners most of which are seriously quick and all of which have a lovely natural undulating fluidity to them and when it's damp which is quite often the case in this part of Norway the ACR is just about the perfect place in which to let rip in a 216 mile an hour Ford GT our plan at the raceway was always to try and set a new road car lap record for the track not with me behind the wheel but instead with Ford's LeMond pace Stefan looker but before that happened it was time for me to go out and have a little play it's awesome this place it really is and when it's a little bit shabby around the edges but I kind of like that it's just it's a proper drivers track this it was designed by a kind of conglomerate of Scandinavian engineers and they asked quite a few circuits end up doing nowadays they've been pinched or Brett try to replicate the kind of not exactly the style but the nature of various different tracks so you've got a bit right up there which they call the North Pole which is very much meant to kind of have the nature of the corkscrew they're gonna say cur but there is a problem that if you fall off you're going to hit something very hard and very quickly because the runoffs are very big but our who cares so I think before I shunt the GT by playing around with it too much more I just need to hand the keys over to Stefan and see what you can do once the circuit had dried out Magoo's straight on it and we could hear the gt's twin-turbo v6 and this monstrous exhaust noise echoing off the scenery all the way around the lab within four laps he was already three seconds inside the lap record and then he came back into the pits climbed out how to chat with the technicians and they decided to drop the pressures on the big Michelin Pilot Sport cup 2 tires by 4 psi all round and then he was back into the car back into track mode which drops the ride height theatrically as you can see and back out onto the Raceway again this time trying a fair bit harder both visually and audibly in the end Stefan got down to a one minute 36 point two nine second lap which was almost five seconds inside the lap record and this is what that looked like from onboard the car itself as he starts the lap booker is in fifth gear and hits 140 miles an hour before braking very hard for turn one which he takes in third gear he short shifts back up to fifth through the next two corners before again down shifting to third for a tighter left-hander and has a bit of a moment and then from here down to second for the tightest corner on the track and you can see just how hard he's pushing from the onboard footage from here he short shifts again up through fourth into fifth through a fast came onto the back straight and then down to fourth for a hug when dysley fast chicane Mary then goes back up to fifth for what's probably the hardest corner to get right at the Raceway a third gear left-hander that just goes on forever and which is slightly off camber out of this he gets forth momentarily and then down shifts back to third for another difficult right-hander then back up to fourth momentarily again before another third getting right-hander but tightens at the exit watch out for the flick of oversteer he gets here and it's another short burst up to fourth before breaking over to evil bumps into the final corner as you can see in the final corner II down shifts halfway through to get second to get a better exit onto the cut straight then it's just back up through the gears to fifth as he crosses the line and one minute thirty six point two nine seconds later that's that a new lap record by almost five seconds for Stefan mukha and the Ford GT even the bike Brigade up at the Raceway were mildly impressed with that especially on road tires sticker set a slicks on the GT and it would have gone six maybe even seven seconds faster reckoned Mercker interestingly Stefan also said that the road car which he'd never driven before felt quite a lot faster than his racing car in a straight line but then that's because the road car has 647 bhp whereas the racer is restricted to less than 500 bhp at most circuits either way Mooka was deeply impressed with our bright yellow road-going ford GT a car we'd all grown rather fond of during our week with it in this extraordinary country but once mucker had blown the lap record to smithereens and I'd gone back out in it just for one last play it was time to put the Ford GT back in its box still in one piece still flawed in one or two aspects perhaps but overall in a much better place than I thought when I first drove it in the United States because warts and all there really is nothing else out there quite like here at the moment and so for this reason and more yes the Ford GT does deserve its place among the true greats and in Norway especially they just can't get enough of this incredible car you youNorway a beautiful looking country with some of the most incredible looking roads in the world as you can see I know your life gets much better than this this car the Ford GT on this road the Atlantic Ocean Road is an absolute dream come true if you're a petrol head the Ford GT is really rather an enjoyable thing just a toodle about it yes you want to let rip in it yes because it's got 647 horsepower and a cardan tub carbon ceramic brakes this thing is basically a live long car that's been legalized for the road I drove in estates this car and I just thought it was a little bit hoarse for a road car but having spent a lot more time in it now on these fantastic Norwegian roads I'm really really absolutely falling for the Ford GT but the only trouble with Norway from a ref heads point of view is that the speed limits are pretty draconian which means that in a car like the 647 bhp Ford GT it can get a touch frustrating to be honest even if the scenery is completely stunning but there is one place you can go in Norway where the rules don't count and it's called the Arctic Circle Raceway Wow here we are here we are the Arctic Circle Raceway I built it in the middle of a quarry but it's actually a lot more beautiful than that already because there are trees everywhere and it's slow and the mountains up there man this place is barking the tracks like what all the layouts the Arctic Circle Raceway was built in 1995 and sits just a few kilometres outside the Arctic Circle itself it's the northernmost racetrack in the world and is used mainly for bike racing nowadays in any car but especially a Ford GT it really is a proper driver circuit with 13 corners most of which are seriously quick and all of which have a lovely natural undulating fluidity to them and when it's damp which is quite often the case in this part of Norway the ACR is just about the perfect place in which to let rip in a 216 mile an hour Ford GT our plan at the raceway was always to try and set a new road car lap record for the track not with me behind the wheel but instead with Ford's LeMond pace Stefan looker but before that happened it was time for me to go out and have a little play it's awesome this place it really is and when it's a little bit shabby around the edges but I kind of like that it's just it's a proper drivers track this it was designed by a kind of conglomerate of Scandinavian engineers and they asked quite a few circuits end up doing nowadays they've been pinched or Brett try to replicate the kind of not exactly the style but the nature of various different tracks so you've got a bit right up there which they call the North Pole which is very much meant to kind of have the nature of the corkscrew they're gonna say cur but there is a problem that if you fall off you're going to hit something very hard and very quickly because the runoffs are very big but our who cares so I think before I shunt the GT by playing around with it too much more I just need to hand the keys over to Stefan and see what you can do once the circuit had dried out Magoo's straight on it and we could hear the gt's twin-turbo v6 and this monstrous exhaust noise echoing off the scenery all the way around the lab within four laps he was already three seconds inside the lap record and then he came back into the pits climbed out how to chat with the technicians and they decided to drop the pressures on the big Michelin Pilot Sport cup 2 tires by 4 psi all round and then he was back into the car back into track mode which drops the ride height theatrically as you can see and back out onto the Raceway again this time trying a fair bit harder both visually and audibly in the end Stefan got down to a one minute 36 point two nine second lap which was almost five seconds inside the lap record and this is what that looked like from onboard the car itself as he starts the lap booker is in fifth gear and hits 140 miles an hour before braking very hard for turn one which he takes in third gear he short shifts back up to fifth through the next two corners before again down shifting to third for a tighter left-hander and has a bit of a moment and then from here down to second for the tightest corner on the track and you can see just how hard he's pushing from the onboard footage from here he short shifts again up through fourth into fifth through a fast came onto the back straight and then down to fourth for a hug when dysley fast chicane Mary then goes back up to fifth for what's probably the hardest corner to get right at the Raceway a third gear left-hander that just goes on forever and which is slightly off camber out of this he gets forth momentarily and then down shifts back to third for another difficult right-hander then back up to fourth momentarily again before another third getting right-hander but tightens at the exit watch out for the flick of oversteer he gets here and it's another short burst up to fourth before breaking over to evil bumps into the final corner as you can see in the final corner II down shifts halfway through to get second to get a better exit onto the cut straight then it's just back up through the gears to fifth as he crosses the line and one minute thirty six point two nine seconds later that's that a new lap record by almost five seconds for Stefan mukha and the Ford GT even the bike Brigade up at the Raceway were mildly impressed with that especially on road tires sticker set a slicks on the GT and it would have gone six maybe even seven seconds faster reckoned Mercker interestingly Stefan also said that the road car which he'd never driven before felt quite a lot faster than his racing car in a straight line but then that's because the road car has 647 bhp whereas the racer is restricted to less than 500 bhp at most circuits either way Mooka was deeply impressed with our bright yellow road-going ford GT a car we'd all grown rather fond of during our week with it in this extraordinary country but once mucker had blown the lap record to smithereens and I'd gone back out in it just for one last play it was time to put the Ford GT back in its box still in one piece still flawed in one or two aspects perhaps but overall in a much better place than I thought when I first drove it in the United States because warts and all there really is nothing else out there quite like here at the moment and so for this reason and more yes the Ford GT does deserve its place among the true greats and in Norway especially they just can't get enough of this incredible car you you\n"