Nürburgring Nordschleife

Lore & Background

The German magazine sport auto publishes its "Supertest" of cars, in which the lap time (usually driven by editor-in-chief Horst von Saurma) at the Nordschleife is the most discussed result. The magazine also runs a challenge for the fastest lap time driven with a car that is road legal (TÜV) and registered in Germany. British motorcycle magazine Performance Bikes began testing their bikes in a regular feature at the Nordschleife in March 2007 and finished in December 2007. Bikes were tested by Dale Lomas and Brendan Keirle (then known only as "The Baron"). As motorcycles are forbidden to participate in industry pool sessions and after-hours test sessions, Performance Bikes were forced to test during quiet mid-week tourist sessions, where speed limits apply in some sections. This means their lap times are measured from bridge to gantry and are approximately 22 seconds shorter than a full 20,832 m Nordschleife lap. Nordschleife runs are conducted or observed by various other media outlets, such as the British Evo Magazine or Auto Bild from Germany.

In Their Own Story

According to Porsche, the Porsche 918 Spyder did set a "Nurburgring record for a street-legal automobile", while the car landed on place 3 on this list behind two Radical SR8. With roof reinforced for safety reasons and observed by sport auto, the record was widely reported by the media. Magazines like Car and Driver and the wider automotive industry declared the worldwide street-legal Porsche 918 the new record holder since the SR8 didn't meet full type-approval and only could get British single-vehicle approval. Two months later, Nissan claimed, which was also widely reported in the media, a ring record for its Nissan GT-R Nismo as "world's fastest volume production car". Engineers later confessed that the car had been "specifically tuned for the Nurburgring" with significant changes from the standard car, including the addition of non-road-legal parts. The Nissan GT-R was fourth place on this list at the time.

Reader's Guide

A full lap of the Nordschleife, bypassing the modern GP track, is 20,832 m (12.944 mi) long. Most laps are completed about 200 metres (656 ft) shorter for safety reasons, such as tests performed by Sport Auto, which uses the 20,600 m configuration. Full uninterrupted flying laps can only be done in closed sessions and race events like Castrol-Haugg-Cup. During tourist driving sessions, the full main straight cannot be driven at speed due to the exit/entrance. These laps are usually timed "bridge to gantry", which is only 19.1 km (11.9 mi). The lap goes from the "bridge" at Antoniusbuche to the "gantry" (currently carrying Audi sponsorship) on Döttinger Höhe. It is forbidden to race on tourist days. Additionally, there are two speed limits (one in Breidscheid, and one on "Döttinger Höhe") on tourist days.

Did You Know?

• The original Nürburgring track, the Gesamtstrecke, was 28.265 kilometres in length, composed of the Nordschleife (22.810 km) and the Südschleife (7.747 km). The Betonschleife was a separate 2 km concrete test track, not
• British motorcycle magazine Performance Bikes tested bikes at the Nordschleife from March 2007 to December 2007, with lap times measured from bridge to gantry and approximately 22 seconds shorter than a full 20,832 m lap
• The German magazine sport auto publishes its 'Supertest' of cars, with the lap time usually driven by editor-in-chief Horst von Saurma.
• Nissan claimed a ring record for its 2013 Nissan GT-R Nismo as 'world's fastest volume production car', but the time was later disputed because the car was a pre-production prototype fitted with a roll cage and other non
• During tourist driving sessions, laps are timed 'bridge to gantry' (19.1 km) because the full main straight cannot be driven at speed due to the exit/entrance.