Ford Puma ST Vs 1:10 Scale Electric Version of Itself Makes for a Tight Race

The stunt took place at the UK's Brands Hatch famous circuit that measures just 1.18 miles (1.9 kilometers) in length and is made up of six corners. Wait a minute - a vehicle ten times smaller racing against a full-size one can't be a fair match-up, so what gives?

Indeed, the Ford Puma RC was placed on the adjacent kart track that replicates the full-scale circuit almost to a tee. It also measures roughly ten times less in length (0.22 kilometers or 721 feet), making it as close to a ten-to-one scaled replica as you'll ever find.

However, it turns out that the RC's performance is not ten times worse than the Puma ST's, with each circumvolution of the smaller track taking roughly 20 seconds, whereas the gasoline-powered crossover needed about a full minute to complete its lap. To even the playing field, they decided to make the remote-controlled Puma complete three laps to the ST's one.

With that settled, there was only the question of who would drive each of the two Pumas that needed sorting. For the ST, Louise Cook stepped up - a young but experienced British rally driver, winner of the FIA Production Car Cup for 2WD as well as the British Rally Championship Ladies’ title. Competing against her would be Lee Martin, a professional RC racer with six European and 13 British championship titles to his name. This could go either way.

It probably could, but since we're not dealing with an actual competition set up by an independent party, we're left with your typical artificial nail biter that can only end in one way. Yup, you guessed it, the ST wins by the narrowest of margins, and you know why? It's because Ford doesn't make its money selling RCs, but actual cars, and losing to a toy would look pretty bad, even if it's a toy that will reach 50 mph (80 km/h) in three seconds. Still, that doesn't mean it's not an enjoyable video, so give it a watch.