Why Porsche breaking the Nurburgring record is a big deal
By now the news is out, Porsche just broke the Lamborghini’s record with a shattering time of 6:47.3 That’s almost five seconds faster than the Sant’Agata attempt. The handful of road legal vehicles have bested this time and the Porsche, lest we forget, is a full production model, unlike the modified Lanzante Mclaren P1 or the electric NIO EP9, both of which, are slightly quicker around the ring.
The 520kW GT2 RS is the most powerful 911 ever produced and although doesn’t produce as much as the all-wheel drive Hybrid 918, is still faster around the Green Hell. Porsche prepared two GT2 RS for the attempt, each fitted with the road legal Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2. The drivers were Nick Tandy and Lars Kern and reportedly, 5 separate laps were logged under the 6:50 mark.
But this record runs deeper than just numbers and who gets to buy the drinks at the pub after the hostilities. This is about pride.
Porsches 19th Lemans win was what some would call one of the easiest LMP1 wins for many years, and I’m sure they’d love to forget what was sure to be a PR nightmare had they lost to an LMP2 car… But losing was not an option when it came to the production car lap for the Nürburgring and one has to wonder who’s next to take on the challenge of going even faster. Gone are the days of the sub 8-minute laps.
The other caveat to this story is that Porsche now holds two records. One for the fastest ever time around the Nordschleife, set by Stefan Bellof in a 956 in 1983. The time? A scarcely believable 6:11 seconds.
These two feats combined, plus a Leman’s win for 2017 put Porsche back on top of the ever more competitive sports car pile. For now, Stuttgart gets all the bragging rights…for now…
