Watch this 2019 Shelby GT350 rip around VIR in two minutes flat
Welcome back to the work week. After a three-day weekend, even coffee doesn’t provide enough energy to get the day going in earnest. Thankfully, Ford recently released some raw video of a 2019 Mustang Shelby GT350 singing all the way to its 8250-rpm redline at Virginia International Raceway. This particular pony is getting down to business.
The hotshoe is Steve Thompson, a vehicle dynamics engineer for Ford Performance. While the 2:00.57 lap time set during this development run isn’t a new record, it’s still blazing fast for a showroom-stock production car. Save for minor safety modifications, which are standard in these track mules, the GT350’s 2-minute lap time puts it on the heels of the SCCA’s GT3 and GT2 race cars on VIR’s full course. Even without the lauded GT350R package upping the ante, this feat shows just how focused this flat-plane-crank wonder is on track. Ford may never again produce a wild card engine like this, and rumor has it that the GT350 and GT350R will be dropped from the lineup for 2021.
For now, we have bliss—and a wonderful jolt to kickstart the short week. A 5.2-liter V-8 churning out 526 angry horsepower simply never gets old.
