Jethro Bovingdon is a professional automotive journalist with 34 recorded laps across 32 vehicles on LapMeta—nearly one-to-one ratio characteristic of professional systematic vehicle testing. Born in the UK, Bovingdon began his career at evo magazine in May 2001 as motoring journalist and road tester, becoming one of automotive journalism's most respected voices. He currently serves as Editor-at-large at Road & Track magazine, previously hosted the U.S. edition of Top Gear TV show, and now presents World Endurance Championship coverage on Max streaming service.
His motorsport credentials extend beyond journalism—remarkably achieving three class wins from five starts at the notoriously demanding Nürburgring 24 Hours, demonstrating professional-level driving competency in endurance racing's ultimate test. His work has appeared in BBC Top Gear, Road & Track, evo, The Telegraph, Auto Express, Automobile Magazine, and numerous international publications. Bovingdon earned a degree in English and History from University of London at Queen Mary. His LapMeta data shows distributed testing: 9 laps Coastal CW, 9 laps West, and 8 laps International GP—systematic vehicle comparison across varied configurations. With 34 laps across 32 vehicles and three Nürburgring 24 Hours class victories, Jethro Bovingdon represents the rare automotive journalist whose exceptional driving skill, endurance racing success, and articulate communication combine to deliver authoritative vehicle evaluations trusted internationally across print, digital, and television media.
Welcome to our PCOTY track notes. These are the stream-of-consciousness scrawlings from our resident hot shoe, editor-at-large Jethro Bovingdon, following his hot-lap sessions in each contender:
So. Much. Grip. The Mustang, equipped with the Handling Pack and hence fitted with the new Pirelli Trofeo RS tire, was borderline outrageous on track for a car of this size, weight and at this price point.
Huge lateral grip, the braking performance to match, and a 5-litre V-8 with wicked response married to the superb 6-speed Tremac gearbox (the standard Mustang has a Getrag 6-speed). It would be an exaggeration to say that the Dark Horse ever feels small or truly nimble, but it hollers and bullies its way around the racetrack with such intensity and focus and is properly fast. Faster than a 911 Carrera T, for example.
It’s odd to sit so high and sense the sheer scale of the Mustang (it actually feels even bigger than it is from the driver’s seat), but still have such dependable front-end response. The rear axle can live with the turn-in, too. In fact, the locked-together feel of the front and rear really allows you to compress the phase between corner entry and exit. There’s an innate neutral balance that builds confidence whereas in, say, the M2, you're forced to manage the power and oversteer all the time. The Dark Horse frees you up to unleash the engine. You can really attack in this car. Oh, and the engine and gearbox are superb and really humble the Nismo's slightly flat V-6 and automatic gearbox.
On track, the very stiff ride isn’t a problem and although the Dark Horse never feels subtle or nuanced, there’s no denying its effectiveness, its character, and the entertainment it serves up. You don't get the magic of the old GT350R here, but for a standard production Mustang, it’s a mighty performer.
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About PCOTY hot laps:
Our lap times are simple. They are meant to inform us about how these cars perform on track, not to chase an elusive or ‘ultimate’ time that would require multiple sessions in each car. The laps were set after just a few sighting laps and no prior experience on the circuit. Unless a car didn’t get a fair shake, we did one out lap, three hot laps, and a cool-down. Whilst all the cars could go quicker, the times are representative. The delta between the cars would be consistent even with many more laps and sets of tires to burn through.