Ford's Goodwood surprise is the MK II GT track monster

Having spawned a successor race car, the Ford GT has been transformed into a track-only customer car. Called the Ford GT Mk II, it broke cover at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed and takes the American supercar to the next level by providing a program similar to those offered by Ferrari and McLaren.

The Ford GT Mk II is a GT race car for private use

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Created by Ford Performance and Multimatic, the same high-performance arms that crafted the GT road and race cars, the GT Mk II promises to deliver "the full potential of the Ford GT in a track-only version." In short, it follows in the footsteps of automakers like Ferrari and McLaren, which offers track-only versions of their range-topping supercars. Just like the Ferrari FXX K and the McLaren Senna GTR, the GT Mk II takes things up a notch but takes it to the race track. I guess it's time to welcome Ford to this exclusive club.

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The Mk II begins life as a regular GT at the car's main factory, but it's being transferred to a different facility at Multimatic Motorsports where it's modified for track use. The Mk II was developed based on learnings from Ford's successful campaigns in the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship campaigns with the GT race car, but it's not restricted to racing series regulation.

The Ford GT Mk II is a meaner version of the GT race car

Like any track version of a road vehicle out there, the Mk II looks notably more aggressive than the road car. Actually, the GT Mk II looks meaner than its race-spec counterpart as well, mostly because it's not subject to racing regulations. As a result, Ford was able to add a much larger rear wing in a dual-element design. The wing also extends farther away from the body, which increases downforce, placing it above that of the race car.

Although the front hood and headlamps remain unchanged, the bumper sports a revised intake layout and features a bigger splitter and a pair of dive planes on each side. It also has bigger louvers in the front fenders, as well as wider fenders and a revised outlets in the side skirts. Just like the race car, the GT Mk II sports a big scoop on the roof.

In all, the redesigned aerodynamic package enables the GT Mk II to generate up to 400 percent more downforce than the GT road car. That's also more than the race car generates as well.

The Ford GT Mk II has a full-fledged racing interior

The Ford GT is already very similar to a race car inside the cabin, but the GT Mk II takes things up a notch. Ford also modified the center console, now sitting higher and featuring a different button layout, plus a carbon-fiber cover. It also features a new screen atop the center stack, which is connected to a MoTeC data acquisition system that provides vital information for track use. The screen also acts as a display for the rear camera. A racing passenger seat is available as an option.

The Ford GT Mk II generates 700 horsepower

The Mk II features the same twin-turbo, 3.5-liter V-6 engine as the road and race cars. But the EcoBoost was modified to generate more power. Although Ford doesn't say what kind of upgrades it made, the unit now cranks out 700 horsepower. That's 200 horses more than the race car and an extra 53 horsepower over the road-going model. All told, the GT Mk II is the most powerful version of the current Ford GT.

All that oomph travels to the rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch. The transmission was borrowed from the road-going model, but it was recalibrated for this version in order to handle the extra power and more aggressive driving on the race track.

The upgrade engine needs better cooling, so Ford added some new cooling technology as well. Upgrades include a high-capacity air-to-air outboard-mounted air cooler with spray technology that activates automatically. The scoop on the roof also sends additional air to the engine, clutch, and transmission coolers to keep the cool during high-speed driving at the track.

Moving over to the suspension system, Ford removed the adjustable ride height and the drive modes in order to save more than 200 pounds. The GT still rides on five-way adjustable shock absorbers though. Stopping power comes from carbon-ceramic brakes as standard. The Brembo-made rotors measure 15.5 inches in the front and 14.1 inches in the rear. The 19-inch wheels are wrapped in race-bred Michelin Pilot Sport GT tires for extra grip.

The Ford GT Mk II is exclusive and very expensive

If you thought that the GT, limited to only a few hundred units per year, was exclusive, then you should know that the GT Mk II will be built in just 45 units. And it's expensive too, fetching $1.2 million before options. That's a massive hike from the regular GT's base price of just under $500,000.