2018 Porsche GT2 RS reportedly laps Nurburgring in under 7 minutes

THERE could be a new Nurburgring Nordschleife lap record holder upon us.

Experts in all things Nordschleife, Bridge to Gantry, are reporting a Porsche 911.2 GT2 RS has been spotted lapping the Green Hell during industry pool sessions. Not unusual behaviour for a pre-production prototype, but what IS noteworthy is that it’s been lapping the 23km circuit in less than 7 minutes.

According to the blog, Porsche had booked two full evenings for lap record attempts with 7 minute-plus laps being clocked during the first day.

Things heated up on the following evening, with the GT2 RS touring the circuit in under 7 minutes – a scorching time for a road car.

While Bridge to Gantry is adamant its stopwatch is accurate, it was unable to report a 100 percent verified laptime as the industry standard start/finish line was just out of sight of the vantage point. The driver of the GT2 RS likely coasted from the finish line back into view.

Bridge to Gantry speculates it’s likely the Porsche was able to lay down a time as low as 6:54.00 or less.

Oh, and that was on the first attempt.

The current production car lap record is held by the Lamborghini Huracan Perfomante, with a 6:52.01 laptime.

It’s likely this is the benchmark time Porsche is hoping to best with the GT2 RS. They are putting a mighty effort into the record attempts as well, with a large factory presence at the track that allegedly includes on-site tyre-heating tents for the car’s Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 treads.

The reported sub-7 minute laps are obviously not official, but it gives us a good indication of the GT2 RS’s performance. For further context, the Nissan GT-R Nismo could ‘only’ achieve a 7:08.68 when it went for its own lap record attempt in 2015.

Porsche’s current fastest Nurburgring laptime is held by the 918 Spyder, with a 6:57.00 effort.

The GT2 RS is the most powerful Porsche 911 ever, sending 515kW and 750Nm from a rear-mounted 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six cylinder engine exclusively to the rear wheels.