Back in 1983 the late Stefan Bellof climbed into his 462kW Rothmans Porsche 956C and ran around the 20.832 kilometre Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6 minutes 11.13 seconds. It was a lap of the gods and a time that seemed unbeatable.
Well today it was obliterated by 51.58 seconds.Yep, nearly a full minute. Timo Bernhard early this Friday morning took to the infamous track in a 865kW / 849kg Porsche 919 Hybrid to set a jaw-slackening lap-time of 5 minutes and 19.55 seconds. That's an average speed of 233.8 km/h. Completely and utterly insane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQmSUHhP3ug
“This is a great moment for me and for the entire team – the 919 programme’s icing on the cake," Bernhard said afterwards. "The Evo was perfectly prepared and I have done my best on this lap. Thanks to the aerodynamic downforce, at sections I never imagined you can stay on full throttle. I’m pretty familiar with the Nordschleife. But today I got to learn it in a new way.”
Bernhard is known to be a big fan of Stefan Belloff who tragically lost his life whilst racing at Spa-Francorchamps in 1985. “For me Bellof is and remains a giant”, Bernhard concluded. “Today my respect for his achievement with the technology available back then increased even more.” – Staff Reporter
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