Watch Vaughn Gittin Drift A Ford Raptor Around The Nürburgring

This is what professional hooning looks like.

Apr 25, 2018 at 2:54pm ET

Imagine flying all the way to Germany to tackle the Nürburgring in a Mustang only to get there when it’s raining. For most people, it’d be a major letdown – a missed opportunity to drive one of the world’s most legendary and iconic race tracks. However, if you’re Vaughn Gittin Jr., Formula DRIFT racer, you have other options available like the Ford F-150 Raptor. You see, Gittin went to Germany to drift his Ford Mustang RTR drift car, but Mother Nature had other plans. Apparently drifting isn’t fun in the rain, according to Gittin, so, he slipped behind the wheel of a Raptor and let that tail end swing.

It’s fascinating to see the large, gangly American pickup truck with its raised suspension slipping and sliding around the Nürburgring. It’s a track where automakers take their highest-powered car and compete to see which can set the fastest lap. It’s not a place for a drift-happy racer to test the limits of an off-road capable pickup truck. However, it is fun to watch it slide all around. The truck looks massive on the narrow track. And apparently, Gitting agrees, saying in the video, “That’s a big mama jama to be flicking around here!”

In the right, professional hands, anything can dominate on the track. Or drift with precision. Ford seems to have a thing about letting its professional race car drivers behind the wheel of the Raptor for a bit of fun. A few years ago Ken Block got behind the wheel of a Raptor and took it out to play in the snow. Now Gittin is at the Nürburgring? Talk about having some fun.

While the new Raptor may have three-inch diameter Fox Shocks, which are 44-percent larger than those found on the previous-generation Raptor, the current-gen truck packs massive amounts of horsepower and torque. The biturbocharged 3.5-liter V6 produces 450 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque, which is available at 3,500 rpm. That’s plenty of power, with a little help from the rain, to break the back end loose and have some serious fun.

Source: Ford Performance via YouTube