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Ford GT Competition Series confirmed

A customer racing version of the new Ford GT has been revealed, just days after the existence of the Competition Series car was uncovered in the super coupe's owners manual.


Essentially a 'no frills' version of the limited-edition road-going GT, the GT Competition Series builds on the car's lightweight development program, removing even more bulk and shifting the centre of gravity even closer to the track.

“The Ford GT has racing in its blood,” said Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, global product development, and chief technical officer. “The Competition Series was developed with the most hardcore track enthusiasts in mind, providing a tailored set of lightweight features and unique livery to match.”

Among those features are a Perspex engine hatch cover with a manual latch (as described in the owner's manual), and a carbon-fibre prop rod. The Corning Gorilla Glass behind the driver is also half as thick, and therefore lighter.

As a racer, based on the Rolex 24 Hour winning car, the GT Competition Series also features an FIA-certified steel roll cage and active aerodynamics.

And as you'd expect, the GT Competition Series car has had its air conditioning, radio, speakers, stowage bins and cup holders all deleted, such is the drive for saving weight.

The hints that led to this week's unveiling:

In the manual (which can be viewed here), there are two mentions of the GT Competition Series - also hinting that this additional variant could be a lightweight a-la Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

On page 42, the document outlines the functions of the key fob for the intelligent access key, which does not include a rear hatch (which provides access to the engine bay) release button in Competition Series models.

Additionally, the manual states the hatch has to be manually released and requires a traditional key rather than a remote.

Rumours of a new variant are strengthened by the fact the latch system in the illustrations is also different from the GT Le Mans race car, the only other version of  the GT that has been revealed so far.

On page 149, the manual goes into greater detail about the rear hatch, which is held open by a two-piece prop rod as opposed to a gas strut - a weight-saving method.

Ford hasn't given any confirmation on whether a more focused version of its flagship supercar, though it's an exciting prospect that the company could extract even more performance from the 475kW/745Nm GT.

While a 0-100km/h time hasn't been revealed, the 'standard' GT's top speed has been confirmed at 216mph, or 347km/h - a record for the company's turbocharged Ecoboost engine family.

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