Porsche 911 GT2 RS breaks Nurburgring lap record for road-legal sports cars
New performance model managed to get around the ‘Ring in just six minutes 47.3 seconds
A Porsche 911 GT2 RS has smashed the road-legal sports car lap record at the Nurburgring with a time of six minutes 47.3 seconds.
The time is nearly five seconds quicker than the previous record, set by the Lamborghini Huracan Performante in March, and almost 10 seconds quicker than Porsche’s flagship performance car, the 918 Spyder.
Porsche racing drivers Lars Kern from Germany and Nick Tandy from the UK were behind the wheels of a pair of 911s that lapped the famous German race circuit. The manufacturer says the record-setting lap time was posted at the first attempt, with a further five laps coming in at under six minutes and 50 seconds.
Andreas Preuninger, director of Porsche’s GT cars, said: “It’s not just the record time achieved by the GT2 RS that demonstrates the vehicle’s class, but also its consistent performance in every lap.
“We’re particularly proud of the fact that this was achieved with two different vehicles and two different drivers, as this underlines the GT2 RS’s ability to reproduce this record result over and over again.”
The GT2 RS is the most powerful 911 on sale today, producing 691bhp from its 3.8-litre engine. It has received an aerodynamic makeover and comprehensive weight saving to improve performance.
The Nurburgring, set in the forests of Germany’s Eifel region, has become the go-to place for car manufacturers to benchmark their high-performance models.
Record attempts take place on the legendary 12.5-mile Nordschleife (North Loop) section, which held Formula 1 races until 1976 when it was deemed too dangerous after numerous deaths and serious injuries.
However, it undergoes constant changes to improve safety and remains open to anyone who wants to test their car on the circuit, while a number of sports car series still race there.
