Video: Watch Porsche's astonishing GT2 RS 'Ring lap

Just three months after its world debut at the Festival of Speed the Porsche 911 GT2 RS has backed up its billing as the fastest and most powerful 911 ever with a lap of the Green Hell in 6 minutes, 47.3 seconds – enough for Porsche to claim a record for road-approved sportscars. 

True, both the Lanzante McLaren P1 LM (6 minutess 43.22 seconds) and electric NextEV NIO EP9 (6 minutes 45.90 seconds) have gone round the ‘Ring quicker, but the key words here are “road approved”. The 700hp (690bhp) GT2 RS is not just unequivocally road-approved but also in regular production.

The record lap – watch the video to see just how smooth it was – came on September 20^th in ideal conditions at the Nordschleife with 30-year-old Porsche test driver and racer Lars Kern behind the wheel.

Development target for the car had been a lap under 7 minutes 5 seconds but in the event it beat that by an incredible 17.7 seconds, making the lightweight rear-drive coupe almost 10 seconds quicker than the Porsche 918 Spyder.

Keen to prove it wasn’t a one-off, Porsche had a pair of the biturbo ultimate 911s attack the famous course, Kern joined by British driver Nick Tandy. Porsche says the pair beat the most recent fast time – 6 minutes, 52.01 seconds by the Lamborghini Huracan Performante – in their first attempt and then reeled off five laps under 6 minutes and 50 seconds. 

Porsche GT chief Andreas Preuninger said: “We’re particularly proud of the fact that this was achieved with two different vehicles and two different drivers, as this underlines the GT2 RS’s ability to reproduce this record result over and over again”. 

The 911 GTS RS accelerates from 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds and tops out at 211mph. Its average speed around the Nordschleife was 184.11 km/h, just over 114mph.

Road-legal 'Ring records under 7 minutes

McLaren P1 LM

6mins 43.22secs

2017 

NextEV NIO EP9

6mins 45.90secs

2017

Porsche 911 GT2 RS

6mins 47.3secs

2017 

Radical SR8LM

6mins 48.00secs

2009

Lamborghini Huracan Performante

6mins 52.01secs

2017

Porsche 918 Spyder

6mins 57.00secs

2013

Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce

6mins 59.73secs

2015