Ah, Nurburgring records. Where would we be without them? Automakers would have one less benchmark to fight over, and we'd miss some fantastic footage with fast cars lapping the Nordschleife. 2018 is already an interesting year with Porsche having broken the all-time record set by Stefan Bellof way back in 1983, but it's about to get even more fascinating. That's because Aston Martin could improve on that record with the upcoming Valkyrie supercar.
According to Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull F1, which helped develop the Valkyrie, the British hypercar could be quicker than the Porsche 911 Hybrid Evo around the 'Ring. "I'm not sure a Formula 1 car could actually do it, but I think that the Valkyrie — certainly the track version of the Valkyrie — could be a contender," he said.
The car he's referring to is the Valkyrie AMR Pro, which will be more powerful, lighter, and should have more downforce than the regular supercar. The latter tips the scales at 2,200 pounds and uses a 900-horsepower V-12 engine and a kinetic energy recovery system that adds another 230 horses. The Valkyrie is rumored to generate up to 4,000 pounds of downforce at a top speed of 225 mph. Granted, the Valkyrie is significantly heavier than the 919 Hybrid Evo, which is no longer restricted by motorsport regulations, but the AMR Pro should at least match the Porsche's specs.
The 919 Hybrid Evo lapped the Nordschleife in an incredibly fast five minutes and 19.55 seconds in June. The benchmark is nearly a minute quicker than the all-time record set by Stefan Bellof in May 1983. The Formula One driver lapped the "Green Hell" in 6:11.13 in a Porsche 956C race car. Given that this record stood for an amazing 35 years, Porsche's run is incredible, to say the least.
It remains to be seen if Aston Martin will be able to take it down, but it's very likely that the new record won't stand for so many decades.
Further reading
The Porsche 919 Just Smashed the 35-Year-Old Nurburgring Lap Record by 51 Seconds
Read our full review on the 2018 Aston Martin Valkyrie.
Read our full review on the 2019 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro.
Read more Aston Martin news.