A previous-generation Ford GT race car driven by Belgian racer Nico Verdonck has set a new VLN record lap time at the Nürburgring when it blasted through a 15.2-mile version of the course in 7:58.558.

Before any confusion starts, this new lap record is different from other lap records that have been set around the world's most famous race track. The Ford GT's lap was accomplished during a Veranstaltergemeinschaft Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring (VLN) race over the weekend, beating out the previous record set by Jens Klingmann in 2014 when he clocked in a time of 7:59.045 while racing with a BMW Z4 GT3.

There are also a number of other classifications for record lap times depending on different conditions. The VLN qualifying lap record, for instance, is also a different animal from the VLN race record. That record was also broken over the weekend by Walkenhorst Motorsport and driver Christian Krognes, who piloted a BMW M6 GT3 to a blistering lap time of 7:53.375, beating out the record held by the Audi R8 LMS, which posted a lap time of 7:57.474 in 2014.

In any event, Verdonck’s breathtaking lap time with the V-8-powered Ford GT racer is just as impressive as all the other records considering that he set it seemingly from out of nowhere. At the very least, it’s a new 15.2-mile lap record that’s going to be difficult to beat in racing conditions.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

Production car lap records were not broken

For those who are wondering, this is a different record from the one automakers routinely try to break when they do flying laps around the 12.9-mile Nordschleife. The record for OEM-spec production cars remains in the hands of the Porsche 918 Spyder, which set a lap time of 6:57 back in 2013. The Radical SR8 LM, on the other hand, still holds the record for the fastest lap time around the Nordschleife for a road legal production car with a time of 6:48, which it set all the way back in 2009.

So while Verdonck's record lap with the Ford GT doesn't affect those production car records, given the longer layout of the track he raced in, the times are proportionately in the same neighborhood. The fact that Verdonck set the lap in the middle of an actual race only adds to the credence and significance of what he and his Ford GT racer accomplished.

Now we wait to see how long before this new record is broken.