Timo Bernhard and That Nürburgring Lap Record

Timo Bernhard has won Le Mans twice, taken the chequered flag at the 12 Hours of Sebring, has stood on the top step of the podium at the 24 Hours of Daytona and is a five-time winner of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

It's fair to say that he's fairly handy behind the wheel and has some hair-raising stories of racing at these blue-riband events. But when Wheels caught up with him at the recent launch of the Porsche 718 Spyder RS, there was one thing we had to know. What was it like to smash the Nürburgring lap record?

Some backstory first. The pre-existing lap record had stood since 1983 when the late and great Stefan Bellof set a mark of 6m11.13s in his Porsche 956 while qualifying for the Nürburgring 1000km. That's an average speed of 202.073km/h. For years, this mark seemed unassailable.

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Stefan Bellof's Porsche 956

Porsche owned the record then and would come to own it again when they unleashed the 919 Hybrid Evo.

In 2007, internet sleuths pieced together the full throttle parts of 'Quick' Nick Heidfeld's demonstration lap in his BMW Sauber F1 car and came to the conclusion that if he'd stayed on it throughout the lap rather than slowing for photographic duties, it was likely that the laptime would have started with a five. Bellof's mark was mortal after all.

Maybe it wasn't BMW's time to take. Porsche owned the record then and would come to own it again when they unleashed the 919 Hybrid Evo. Here's where things get a little controversial for this was a car developed from the LMP1 racer but was designed outside of racing formulae.

Its sole purpose was to demolish lap records and with ex-World Endurance Champion Bernhard at the wheel, it did exactly that.

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Porsche 919 Hybrid

When the watches stopped as the 919 Evo screamed across the line, the result was astonishing.

A new mark of 5m19.546s had taken nearly a minute off Bellof's mark for the 20.832km full lap. The average speed? A scarcely credible 233.8km/h.

The technical details of the 919 Evo are dizzying. Its 2.0-litre hybrid V4 develops a system output of 853kW and weighs just 849kg. Its active aero system generates over 50 percent more downforce compared to the WEC formula racer. During the Nordschleife lap Bernhard logged a v-max of 369.4 km/h on the Dottinger Hohe straight.

Watch the onboard video [↗] of Bernhard lapping the Nordschleife and it's almost detached from reality. It looks improbably sped-up. So when we got the chance to ask Bernhard a few questions about the lap, we wanted to know a few key details.

ANDY ENRIGHT: When you set that lap time, did you think there was some time left on the table or did you think you'd pretty much nailed it?

TIMO BERNHARD: It was hard to know. We'd done a lot of work on the car and had one last chance that day. We'd had issues with the car boosting at certain places in the lap.

We'd originally had the boost set automatically and we were still finding it boosting as I was [trying to come off gas for corners]. We also had to change the ride height and play with the balance of the motors.

AE: So there were many different variables to contend with?

TB: Yes. I don't know what the 'perfect' lap time would be but we were happy with what we achieved. I'd set up the DRS system manually beforehand and during the record run, I didn't need to operate that manually at all. It was all pre-set.

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AE: The in-car footage was crazy. How did it feel?

TB: There were points when it was relatively comfortable to manage and there were also sections where everything was coming at me so fast that I was just holding on. At Pflanzgarten I was thinking, okay, that's the limit for my comprehension.

AE: Was the 919 Evo an intimidating car to drive?

TB: It was super-intensive. At those speeds you need to take into account every single surface change. And the 919 would wheelspin in fifth in the dry. I'd never experienced a car that would do this, so that was something that I needed to get used to.

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AE: Did the speed of the 919 Evo turn what used to be sections where you might lift off the throttle into proper braking zones?

TB: No, not so much. It had so much downforce that you just needed to stay committed and trust that it would stick.

AE: How was the response?

TB: It's been crazy. I had one fan come up to me and he had the lap time tattooed on his leg. 5:19.546 – three decimal places! He was super-excited.

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After setting the record, Bernhard drove himself home and took a phone call en route.

The caller? Stefan Bellof's father. Georg went on to thank Timo for tributes he and the Porsche team had paid to his son, and was keen to send his regards to the new king of the 'Ring.