Ferrari Claims Record Nurburgring Lap Time

LaFerrari at the Geneva Motor Show 2013 (Credit: Wikimedia)

The world-famous Nurburgring race track is often used by automakers as a benchmark measurement of the performance capabilities of a particular performance model. Porsche set a new lap record for street-legal cars with its new 918 Spyder supercar, with an official time of 6:57. While many marveled at the lighting-fast lap time set by the hybrid performance vehicle, others wondered what the new hybrid supercars from McLaren and Ferrari would achieve. Ferrari is now unofficially claiming to have smashed the Porsche’s record, achieving a record-setting lap time of 6:35.

As can be expected, the claim has become controversial. Of course nothing is official at this point, but the rumor among automotive enthusiasts is that Ferrari will claim the new record lap time. The other piece of controversy is about which Ferrari car achieved the record time. Many naturally have assumed that the LaFerrari is the car used for the record lap, but some of the rumors are stating that the Ferrari FXX, which is based on the legendary Enzo, is the vehicle used for the new lap time. The controversy continues because the FXX technically is not a street legal vehicle, thanks to its non-street legal tires.

Porsche enthusiasts are triumphantly declaring that the FXX would not claim the fastest lap time for a production-based car, thanks to the 6:11 time achieved by Stefan Bellof behind the wheel of his Porsche 956 back in 1983.

Interestingly enough, McLaren has not published the claimed lap time of its P1 hybrid supercar. The company has only stated that it clocked a time that was under 7 minutes, avoiding any kind of dispute or bad blood between it and the other two companies.