Porsche, an automaker whose head of GT cars once said that Nürburgring lap times aren’t a priority, is apparently out to punch the Nürburgring lap time sheet in the face. The new 2018 GT2 RS was just spotted at the ‘Ring making a sub-seven minute run of the Nordschleife course where the battle over lap records goes down.
Friend of Jalopnik and Bridge to Gantry scribe Dale Lomas studied the EXIF data of two pics he took of the new twin-turbo, 700-horsepower GT2 RS making its run around the ‘Ring for the first time on Wednesday. Lomas found that it made its way back into his view in less than seven minutes, and said the driver had plenty of room to find more speed:
By listening to the driver come off the gas pedal, I’d say there’s a few more seconds you can take off this time. He cruised into sight taking several seconds to arrive in front of the camera. So don’t think 6m56s, think 6m54s or maybe less.
The runs Lomas spotted were on a cool, sunny evening—the perfect conditions for a record ‘Ring run. Porsche had been out there on Tuesday as well, but the track was cooler and had less grip, with lap times locals said were over the seven-minute mark.
The videographer behind the YouTube channel EMS Nordschleife TV was also standing at Turn 13 near Lomas Wednesday evening, and also wrote in their video description that the Porsche took less than seven minutes to return to that corner.
Lomas also said that Porsche brought their own tire heaters for the GT2 RS’s runs:
The whole Touristenfahrten carpark has been taken over by Porsche Sport. The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s even have their own tyre-heater tents hiding behind the bushes!
Porsche’s clearly goin’ for it.
Look, Porsche, we get it. One does not merely opt out of every automaker’s favorite schlong-measuring contest, even if a good setup for the Nürburgring is unlikely to work well on smoother tracks or on the road. I’m glad to see you’ve embraced this fact, as setting a fast ‘Ring time is my favorite battle for automotive bragging rights in existence.
More importantly, the original GT2 RS was made to retake the Nürburgring record back from the Nissan GT-R, and was even codenamed Project 727 after their target lap time. It is a model made for ‘Ring domination whether GT head and master troll Andreas Preuninger likes it or not. The deed must be done.
The Lamborghini Huracán Performante did its record lap in 6:52.01. Does this mean the new GT2 RS was Project 650?