Extreme Porsche 911 GT3 RS Misses Sportscar Record On Germany’s Nürburgring

Porsche has missed out on reclaiming the Nürburgring sportscar lap record, with the new 911 GT3 RS managing just third.

The new flagship supercar might have whipped around the 20.8 kilometer Nürburgring Nordschleife course in 6:49.328 minutes, which made it 10.6 seconds faster than the current 911 GT3.

The new 911 GT3 RS supercar ranked behind the much more powerful Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey Performance Kit, whose 6:43.3 time was set in 2021.

Missing the Mercedes-AMG Black Series’ second-placed time by a 1.3 seconds will sting Porsche, though.

Porsche nevertheless insisted it was happy with the 911 GT3 RS’s 6:49.328 lap time, with highly successful racer Jörg Bergmeister at the wheel, in cold conditions with gusty headwinds on the fastest parts of the infamous German mountain racetrack.

“Considering the far from ideal conditions, with a strong headwind on the long straight of the Döttinger Höhe and cool asphalt temperatures, we are satisfied with this time,” Porsche’s Director of GT Cars, Andreas Preuninger, said.

“The 911 GT3 RS is setting new standards for aerodynamics and the chassis. Never before has a road car embodied so much motorsport.”

The 386kW 911 GT3 RS uses a naturally aspirated engine, where both the Manthey and AMG sportscars use turbocharged engines.

The GT3 RS tries to make up for its lack of turbo torque with 860kg of aerodynamic downforce at 285km/h, which Porsche admits is three times the downforce of the standard GT3.

“We lost a little downforce due to the strong, sometimes gusting wind, but I’m still very happy with the lap,” driver Bergmeister said.

Porsche considers the Nürburgring to be its homeground, and owns the Nordschleife outright official lap record with the 919 Hybrid Evo’s 5:19.5546, the production EV lap record with the Taycan Turbo S’s 7:33.35 and the SUV record with the Cayenne Turbo GT’s 7:38.9.