For at least the last decade Porsche has been treating the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit as its own private stomping grounds, and as of the 5th of October companies from Stuttgart, Germany hold the top three fastest production car laps of all time. Porsche still holds the outright fastest lap with the GT2 RS Manthey Racing edition, which set a lap of 6:38.835 in June of last year. That time took Mercedes-AMG’s GT Black Series down a notch to second with a 6:43.616 lap back in November of 2020. Just a few days ago the new 992 GT3 RS really threw down the gauntlet with the third fastest time in ‘Ring history, setting a 6:44.848 timed lap (from bridge to gantry), and it managed that with *just* 513 horsepower (compared to the GT2 RS MR’s 700 and the AMG’s 720)! That’s how dialed this new GT3 RS is, it’s nearly 11 seconds per lap faster than the 991.2-generation car it replaces! It even ran a faster lap than the non-MR version of the 991 GT2 RS (6:47.25), and the 760-horsepower Lamborghini Aventador SVJ LP770-4 (6:44.97).
“Today the 911 GT3 RS delivered what it had already promised at first glance – absolute excellence on the racetrack,” says Andreas Preuninger, Director GT cars. “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. The 911 GT3 RS is setting new standards for aerodynamics and the chassis. Never before has a road car embodied so much motorsport.”
Porsche shoved a lanky German behind the wheel to set the lap time named Jörg Bergmeister. You might know who he is if you’ve watched any kind of sports car racing over the last twenty years. He’s talented, to say the least. Talented enough to string together a full lap of the ‘Ring in a 992 GT3 RS faster than some people can do a lap in a proper race-spec car. This is an incredibly fast time, and while I don’t normally put much stock in lap times for street cars, it’s impressive what technology has been packed into this car to make it possible. It’s fair to say that the 992 GT3 RS is much more race-car-for-the-street than it has been in the past. At least 10.6 seconds more.
In the above image, the sign shows 06:49.328 because Porsche has taken to running their lap times the full 20,832 meter lap instead of the traditional 20,632 meters. In typical German fashion, Porsche provides both times for official scoring purposes, but really the shorter of the two is the only one that people really know and compare.
“We lost a little downforce due to the strong, sometimes gusting wind, but I’m still very happy with the lap,” says Bergmeister. “In the fast sections in particular, the 911 GT3 RS is in a league of its own. Here it’s on a level usually reserved for top-class racing cars. The car is also setting new standards in braking. Fast laps on the Nordschleife are simply so much fun in this car.”
Watch the whole lap from onboard the car below.
If this is how fast the GT3 RS is, how fast is the next GT2 RS going to be?