It’s not a battle you see too often, but what would happen if a Focus RS lined up against a Shelby GT350 at the drag strip? On paper, you might assume that Ford Performance’s top-tier Mustang would simply dominate its hottest hatchback. However, reality can often be a bit different than theory.

From the factory, the Focus RS packs 350 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque delivered by a performance all-wheel-drive system that uses torque vectoring technology to evenly apply the power. That means it car really make the most of its available power, and it only weighs 3,434 pounds.

A Ford Focus RS squared off against a Shelby GT350 at Island Dragway in New Jersey and it was closer than you might expect.

The stock Shelby GT350 sports 526 horsepower and 429 lb-ft of torque, but it tips the scales at 3,655 pounds. Moreover, its traditional rear-wheel drive arrangement can make applying all that power off the line a bit tricky.

Now both vehicles feature launch control, which uses all those onboard computers and traction control to help you efficiently apply the power off the line. We can’t say if the drivers in this video used that feature or if it was even a match-up of bone-stock vehicles. However, what we can say is this race was much closer than you might expect — and the Focus RS definitely gets the jump when the tree drops.

Ultimately, the Shelby ran the quicker time, clicking off a 13.17 at 106.81, while the Focus RS ran a respectable 13.41 at 104.10. Certainly there are plenty of variables in a pairing like this — like driver skill, modifications, and track conditions — but the moral of the story is not to sleep on those hot hatches. If you aren’t on your game, your Mustang might get gapped.