On October 5, 2016, Lamborghini set a new record for the fastest road-legal car at the Nürburgring with a time of 6 minutes and 52.01. It lost that title on September 20, 2017 when Porsche with its 911 GT2 RS needed 6:47.3 to complete a lap of the challenging Green Hell. That wasn’t the end of the brotherly ‘Ring time duel between Sant’Agata Bolognese and Stuttgart as Lamborghini returned to the Nordschleife with the Aventador Superveloce Jota. Time? That would have to be 6:44.97.
Gallery: Porsche 911 GT2 RS MS
Porsche is now back with a vengeance, and with the help of Manthey-Racing, it once again holds the record for the fastest car at the Nürburgring you can legally drive on public roads. The newly gained performance kit has enabled the 911 GT2 RS to cross the finish line in 6:40.3, thus making it a full seven seconds quicker than the standard version. Behind the wheel of the record-breaking car was none other than 31-year-old Lars Kern, the very same Porsche test driver and development engineer to establish a record with the stock 911 GT2 RS.
Details about the upgrade package have not been disclosed, but Porsche does say the 911 GT2 RS featured an “an overall vehicle setup tailored to the circuit characteristics of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.” In addition, the driver’s seat was modified compared to the version of the track-focused car available from Manthey-Racing.
The impressive lap time makes the modified GT2 RS faster than the exotic McLaren P1 LM – a P1 GTR modified by Lanzante – which needed 6 minutes and 43.2 seconds. At the same time, it’s also faster than the fully electric Nio EP9 (6:45.9).
It’s only a matter of time before another car will claim the record, and two models spring to mind – the Mercedes-AMG One and the Aston Martin Valkyrie.