World Drift Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. uses his 900-horsepower Mustang RTR to make the ascent in his signature fashion.
According to the site for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the annual event is “an unforgettable experience: a visceral assault on the senses; an intoxicating display of speed and power.” This video of Vaughn Gittin Jr. tearing up the Hillclimb in his extensively modified Mustang RTR is the physical manifestation of that description.
It’s definitely an assault on the senses — for us as viewers and for the people there in person. When the Mustang RTR rounds corners – sideways, of course – its rapidly disintegrating tires let out wails born from chronic torture. The RTR’s revs must have been ear-splittingly loud to nearby spectators.
We’ve been inside of an S550 Mustang GT after using its Line Lock feature to warm up its rear tires, so we have a good idea of how thick and choking the clouds of expensive smoke the Professional Fun-Haver generated had to have been to his onlookers, who also got big whiffs of cooked brakes.
Gittin’s Mustang RTR certainly has plenty of power, too. It uses 900 horsepower to vaporize its rear rubber. The speed part of all of this is up to your interpretation. Gittin’s car has enough power to outrun a plane, but given that Gittin is a World Drift Series champion, it’s more his style to make his way through the climb with the tail of his car hanging out.
That means he doesn’t make the ascent in the best time, but he sure makes the trip up into a loud, smoky spectacle. Although that’s probably not the most eloquent description, it fits – just like Gittin’s hooning and showboating lines up perfectly with Goodwood’s description of the Festival of Speed.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
