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Porsche smashes Bellof's Nordschleife lap record with uprated 919

Porsche has unofficially smashed the late Stefan Bellof's outright lap record for the Nurburgring-Nordschleife with its 919 Hybrid Evo.

Two-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Timo Bernhard knocked nearly a minute off Bellof's 1983 Nurburgring 1000Km pole position time of 6m11.13s around the 12.94-mile Nordschleife.

Bernhard, who is a lifelong Bellof fan, bettered that mark with a succession of laps in the uprated version of Porsche's 2017 LMP1 challenger on Friday morning, ending up on a 5m19.546s.

That followed laps by Bernhard of 5m31.899s and 5m24.375s aboard a machine that has already lapped quicker at Spa-Francorchamps than Lewis Hamilton's Formula 1 pole time for the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix.

The 919 Evo has more power, both from its conventional V4 turbo engine and its energy retrieval systems, giving it a peak output of 1160bhp.

It also has 50% more downforce and active aerodynamics, including an F1-style Drag Reduction System incorporated into its rear wing.

Bellof's pole time around the Nurburgring in a Rothmans Porsche 956 Group C car and his subsequent all-time race record of 6m16.85s were never beaten.

The classic 12.94-mile Nordschleife lap was created for 1983 after the demolition of the old pits and start-finish loop in readiness for the construction of the current Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit.

The Nordschleife on its own was used for racing for only a couple of major international events in 1983, the Group C fixture in May and the round of the European Formula 2 Championship the previous month.

Zdroj: autosport.com