Vaughn Gittin Jr. is no stranger to The Blue Oval, having spent years competing in Formula Drift behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang and the Ultra4 Racing series in his 4400 Class Ford Bronco, not to mention the fact that he’s also the mastermind behind RTR Vehicles and the many modified FoMoCo-based rides it cranks out. Vaughn Gittin Jr. also owns his fair share of Ford vehicles – including a Ford Bronco Raptor – and he typically gets to drive new models such as the 2024 Ford Mustang before the general public. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Gittin Jr. will soon make his return to pro drifting competition behind the wheel of the brand new Mustang-based Spec 5-FD Formula Drift racer.
The two-time Formula Drift champ took last season off, but during that timespan, he’s been working with Ford to cook up something extra special – a total of three new Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD racers, which feature exterior styling based off the production S650, along with a unique livery inspired by photographs taken from the James Webb Space Telescope.
Of course, the new RTR pony car racer has plenty of wizardry going on underneath its revised skin, including a fortified suspension setup designed to slide around corners at high speed, along with a whopping 1,300 horsepower to boot. The new rides will be driven by RTR’s Drift Team – a group that includes Vaughn Gittin Jr., Chelsea DeNofa, Adam LZ, and James Deane – starting in Long Beach, California, April 7th-8th.
“We took the bad ass styling, technology, and overall progression of the all-new Mustang as inspiration to develop our new Mustang RTRs for Formula Drift,” Gittin Jr. said. “The result is the best looking and best performing Mustang RTRs that we have ever created, and they are so fun to drive!”
We’ll have more on Vaughn Gittin Jr. and his new racing Mustang soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Mustang news and ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comment
Have been a motorsport fan for to nearly half a decade. Have yet to understand what the point of drifting is other than to wear out a set of tires in five minutes.