Vaughn Gittin, Jr is well known for his drifting antics. The Ford Performance driver is a regular on the world drift stage but he recently took on his most ambitious challenge to date: to drift the entire 20,8 km of the world famous Nurburgring. Having successfully done so, Gittin Jr is now the Drift King of the Ring.

Gittin Jr. took his 670 kW Ford Performance Mustang for a completely sideways laps of the entire circuit, making him the first person to do so. A YouTube video titled “The Drift King of the Ring” showcased the feat. Vaughn and his team visited the track earlier this year but they were foiled by poor weather. That did not stop the showman as this drift video in his Ford pick-up proves.

“I was out of my comfort zone for the majority of the hot laps,” Gittin Jr. said. “I did not know the Green Hell nearly as well as I thought I did. Everything changes when you’re going sideways at those speeds. When we stopped for the first tyre change I was elated. I had to catch my breath, which is something I have never experienced behind the wheel since I was a rookie in Formula Drift.”

Gittin Jr. didn’t do the entire lap on a single set of rubber especially as you’re unleashing massive amounts of power to maintain wide drift angles.

“The Nordschleife is one of, if not, the most iconic track in the world and I have been in love with the danger and folklore of the famous Green Hell at the Nürburgring since I can remember,” said Gittin Jr. “I finally went there in person in 2013 and it was then that I made a promise to myself that one day I would return to drift it in its entirety.”

“Drifting the Nürburgring represents the ultimate challenge to me: it is something that many questioned whether it would be possible and whether the car and driver could do it and come out in one piece,” he said. “Something inside of me had to take this on to find out. I didn’t go there for a lap time; I went for a good time!”