The 991.2 GT3 RS makes history on the North Loop
In the relative secret of a private test session, the new 911 GT3 RS has just lapped the Nordschleife in under seven minutes. The official fastest time of the day, a 6:56.4 minutes, was set by works driver Kévin Estre, but all four attempts, two of which were undertaken by development driver Lars Kern, were under the hallowed seven-minute mark.
This makes the GT3 RS the third production Porsche to manage this remarkable feat, hot on the heels of the GT2 RS last year and the previous record held by the 918 Spyder. But where the turbocharged GT2 has near 700bhp on tap, and the 918 a combined output north of 880bhp, the naturally aspirated GT3 RS has a comparatively modest 520bhp to play with.
The combination of reduced weight, motorsport-derived chassis enhancements and the advantage of atmospheric induction seem to have played a decisive hand. VP for Motorsport and GT Cars Frank Walliser shed a little more light on how this happened:
“No other Porsche model gets as close to racing as the new GT3 RS. Many innovative ideas from top-level motorsport were transferred; for example, from the 911 GT3 R. This is what our philosophy for GT models is about: highest technology must be fascinating but tangible. In this regard, there is no harder test for our ideas than the Nordschleife.”
Put in another context, the best time last week was a full 24 seconds faster than the previous generation of GT3 RS managed.
The 29-year old Estre began his record lap at 11:40 am in ideal conditions, with 14 degree Celsius ambient and 18 degree Celsius track temperature. “This lap was a sensational experience for me”, he revealed afterwards. “Through the fast corners and on the brakes in particular, the GT3 RS is unbelievably close to our racing car GT3 R. This is also thanks to the new generation of tyres for road going sports cars. I like the engine of the GT3 RS a lot. Up to 9,000 revs per minute from a six-cylinder engine just feels fantastic. The sound is a dream and the torque is massive.”
Huge improvements in tyre technology do seem to be significant factor in these increasingly remarkable lap times. The 911 GT3 RS was equipped with a new generation of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres, which although optimised for track day use, are fully compliant with EU and US law.
Andreas Preuninger, Director GT Model Line, was at the Nurburgring to witness this latest milestone for Porsche’s road-car programme: “All four lap times of both drivers were below seven minutes and only tenths of a second apart. This proves not only the outstanding power of the GT3 RS, but also its extraordinary driveability at the limit. A perfectly composed overall system allows for highly dynamic performance even with a relatively modest engine power. For a driver, each of the car’s thousands of parts have to feel like one – that’s an unbeatable strength of the GT3 RS. And what especially delights me is how much fun Lars and Kévin had when driving that car.”
You can watch the onboard of this stunning run in our Video Hub. Fun is one way of putting it…