New car news

20 August 2009 - 10:00

Germany reclaims the 'Ring

The infamous Nurburgring has a new master, with Gumpert claiming the angry Apollo Speed has set a new record for the fastest production car to have ever lapped the 'Ring.

The title use to belong to the Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR, which held the seemingly uncatchable time of -7min, 22.1sec.

Well, it seemed uncatchable. But the Apollo not only beat the record, it absolutely belted it - how does 7min, 11.57sec sound?

That's right, in the hands of 26-year-old Florian Gruber, it wiped a staggering 11 seconds off the long-standing lap record.

It may have a daft name and look like an enraged, steroidal cyborg, but hell, the Gumpert Apollo Speed is fast.

Maybe Gumpert's astonishing time isn't surprising - the Apollo Speed is motivated by a twin-turbo version of Audi's 4.2-litre V8 putting out a giant 521kW. And don't forget that the sedate, standard, non-Speed Apollo set a Top Gear lap record last year, too.

But jeez, 11 seconds is a lot, even on a circuit as long and complex as the Nurburgring. Don't forget that all Nurburgring records are unofficial... but thankfully Gumpert has posted a video showing the lap in all its apex-clipping, Green Hell-taming glory. Take a look.

Anyone reckon he could take a few more seconds out of that record?