Nordschleife fastest lap times

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The 20.832 km (12.9 mi) Nordschleife since 1983, with 33 left and 40 right turns (actually about 100 corners, as counted by enthusiasts)

The Nürburgring (Nordschleife) in Germany with its remaining 20.8 km (12.9 mi) long old section dating from 1927 is used by various motoring magazines and vehicle manufacturers for testing. Lap times of so-called "road legal" "production" cars are reported for comparison or promotion purposes.

[edit] Timing by magazines

The German magazine sport auto publishes its "Supertest" of cars, in which the laptime (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. The road legality rule also applies for the tires.

British motorcycle magazine Performance Bikes Magazine began testing their bikes at the Nordschleife early in 2007. Bikes are tested by Dale Lomas and a character named only as The Baron. As with sport auto, all machines tested are road-legal (albeit in the UK) and shod with road-legal Bridgestone BT002 Pro Race tyres. To date there are 28 laptimes published in the regular feature. 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 laptimes are measured from bridge to gantry (see below) and are approximately 22 seconds shorter than a full 20.832 km (12.944 mi) Nordschleife lap.

[edit] Track lengths and timing

Porsche 956 - Overall Record Holder on the current 20832m variant

Not all of the following laptimes are comparable. A full lap of the Nordschleife, bypassing the modern GP track, is 20.832 km (12.944 mi) long. Most laps are completed 200 metres (656 ft) shorter for safety reasons. Full uninterrupted flying laps can only be done in closed sessions and race events like Castrol-Haugg-Cup.

During the industry testing sessions in which sport auto records its "Supertest", the track can not be traveled at full speed past "Tribüne 13" (T13, grandstand 13) in order to allow safe access from the old exit/entrance there. Thus, sport auto Supertests cover only about 20.6 km (12.8 mi), which in average yields a 7 s shorter lap time compared to a full lap.

There are 5 sections on the 20,600 meters long Supertest-Nordschleife:

• The first is 3,850 m (2.4 mi)
• The second is 4,235 m (2.6 mi)
• The third is 4,825 m (3.0 mi)
• The fourth is 4,846 m (3.0 mi)
• The fifth is 2,844 m (1.8 mi)
• The total is 20,600 m (12.800 mi)

Some lap times are even claimed to have been done during tourist driving sessions. Because it is forbidden to race on tourist days as it is very dangerous to drive fast among the general traffic one should not try to measure the lap time on a tourist day. As the full main straight cannot be driven at speed due to the modern exit/entrance there, these laps are usually timed "bridge to gantry", which is only 19.1 km (11.9 mi) and thus about 30 seconds shorter. Additionally, there are two speed limits (one in Breitscheid, and one on "Doettinger Hoehe") on tourist days, which also impacts the lap time.

[edit] Production car, best lap times (unmodified)

These lap time were measured under different levels of scrutiny, conditions, track lengths, drivers and preparation time. They are not intended for comparison.

[edit] Official Lap Times in Competitions

General Note: International motorsport sanctioning bodies used the 20.832 km Nordschleife variant in 1983 only.

[edit] Qualifying Times

[edit] Official Lap times in Races

[edit] Motorcycles, Official Lap Records

[edit] Motorcycles, unofficial times, public sessions

In public sessions, it is not possible to do full laps as it is required to pass the ticket gates. Enthusiasts time themselves from the first Bridge to the last Gantry. These are about 1720 m apart on the main straight, and depending on top speed of the vehicle, this Gantry-to-Bridge section could be covered in under 30 seconds. See also Bridge To Gantry website

[edit] Unofficial F1 Lap Record

On 28 April 2007, Nick Heidfeld drove a BMW Sauber F1.06 Formula One car around the Nordschleife, on a BMW publicity day in combination with a VLN 4h endurance race[10]. For safety reasons, BMW announced that the car was slowed with hard demonstration tyres, maximum ride height, and 275 km/h top speed limited by the transmission. Heidfeld drove three laps on the combined Nordschleife and short GP-track, as used in VLN races, with a track length of 24.433 km (so comparison with older records is difficult). The official lap time released by BMW Sauber was declared to be 8:34 (thus ca. 30 secs slower than the fastest Porsche 996 turbo in VLN). The German press duly reported this lap time, yet criticized BMW. In each lap, Heidfeld slowed down once to pose for a slow video truck, at Schwedenkreuz on the first lap 1, Kesselchen in lap 2, and Döttinger Höhe in the last lap. The two time spans in between the three passes of Heidfeld were clocked by some fans around the track, first Wehrseifen to Wehrseifen in about 7:28, then 7:22 from Klostertal to Klostertal, which is over 50 secs quicker than the fastest current Porsche 997 GT3 RSR in VLN. This translates to an average of about 200 km/h, similar to Bellof's record, but considering the slow GP section, Heidfeld probably was faster on the Nordschleife, close to 6 minutes. Fans who respect the official record of the late Stefan Bellof settle for an "estimated 6:12".

Road & Track magazine reported Heidfeld's lap was a 5:57 or 5:58 (for the Nordschleife only), breaking the track's six-minute barrier for the first time in history.^[28] However, their times were done by measuring the speed in some corners, and then calculating a laptime, and not timing a full lap. A BMW video montage [11] with onboard, track side and helicopter camera views gives a better estimate of 6 minutes 40 seconds to the last corner.

Heidfeld has since expressed his desire to repeat the experience with less restriction.

According to F1 Racing magazine of June 2006, BMW engineers had estimated that a BMW-Sauber F1.06 could lap in under 5:15.8^[29] which equals to an average of 237 km/h.

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Road legal sports car lap times and comparison
• Database with lap times of racing events and magazine tests
• Castrol-Haugg-Cup lap records of various classes recorded on Nordschleife 1990 - 2006
• One of the oldest/largest lists of Nordschleife lap times, with track length and average lap speed
• Laptimes achieved in public sessions