Saar: This tweaked and road-legal version of the Porsche 911 GT2 RS lapped the ‘Green Hell’ in 6 minutes and 40.3 seconds.

Here we go again! The Nürburging-Nordschleife is back in the news. This time around, we have a new lap record holder for road-legal production cars. In other words, we have a new king of the ‘ring. It is the Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR. No points for guessing, it is an even more bonkers version of the already bonkers Porsche 911 GT2 RS. The new iteration went around the 20.6km circuit in 6 minutes and 40.3 seconds. That’s seven 7 seconds quicker than the standard 911 GT2 RS and 4.64 seconds faster than the former lap record holder – the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.

The Porsche 911 GT2 RS is no slouch but beating its time by 7 seconds is a big deal. So, how did Porsche manage that? Well, the hint is in the model’s name – the MR at the end is actually short for Manthey-Racing. Porsche engineers used the experience gained from MR events, which take place at the ‘ring, as well as the technical know-how from the development of the two race-oriented cars – 911 RSR and the 911 GT3 R. Certain tweaks were made to the chassis and the aerodynamics of the 911 GT2 RS to create the MR-spec version. The only other modification was the inclusion of a racing bucket seat.

The Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR, like the standard 911 GT2 RS, is powered by a 3.8-litre, twin-turbo flat-six engine which produces 700PS/750Nm. The engine, like in all 911s, is at the rear of the car and comes mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission. The rear-wheel-drive, two-seater sports car can hit 100kmph from a standstill in 2.8 seconds and reach a top speed of 340kmph. No other road-legal model in Porsche’s history has had that kind of performance.

The lap record was set by Lars Kern – a professional racing driver who is well-versed with the challenges of the ‘Green Hell’. As for the car, it can be ordered from Manthey-Racing, which is a Porsche-controlled company, for club sport and track day events.