Porsche set a new record for road-approved sports cars on the 20.6km Nurburgring Nordschleife in the 911 GT2 RS on 20 September 2017. The record time of 6 minutes and 47.3 seconds was achieved in the presence of a notary and surpassed even Porsche’s own expectations.
This record was not a one-off. Lars Kern from Germany and Nick Tandy from the UK broke the previous record for road-approved sports cars (6 minutes and 52.01 seconds) on their first attempt and subsequently finished five laps in under 6 minutes and 50 seconds.
Porsche factory driver Tandy travelled straight from a six-hour race in Austin, Texas to the Nurburgring, swopping the Le Mans prototype Porsche 919 Hybrid for the 700bhp 911 GT2 RS with Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tyres.
It was Lars Kern, a Porsche test driver by trade with a passion for racing, who ultimately set the final record time. In addition to the Carrera Cup Australia, Kern regularly competes in the VLN Endurance Championship on the Nurburgring and knows the Nordschleife inside out.
The subsequent record lap began at 7:11 pm and finished 6 minutes, 47.3 seconds later in ideal outdoor conditions. As is customary for record drives, the time was measured along the 20.6-kilometre stretch. The vehicle’s average speed was 184.11km/h.
At the heart of this high-performance sports car is a 700bhp/750Nm 6-cylinder biturbo flat engine. Weighing in at 1470kg with a full fuel tank, the lightweight two-seater accelerates from zero to 100km/h in 2.8 seconds. The rear-wheel-drive coupe has a top speed of 340km/h. With its near-motorsport drive technology, the new 911 GT2 RS trumps its 3.6-litre predecessor by 80bhp and 50Nm.
Frank-Steffen Walliser, Porsche’s vice-president, Motorsport and GT Cars, said: “At the start of the development process, we set ourselves a lap time target for the GT2 RS of less than 7 minutes and 5 seconds. The credit for beating this target by 17.7 seconds goes to our development engineers, mechanics and drivers, who demonstrated an exceptionally strong team performance. This result makes it official – the GT2 RS is not only the most powerful, but also the fastest 911 ever built.” 
Read more about the new 911 GT2 RS here.
Read about the Nurburgring performance of Porsche’s new 911 GT3.
