Dunlop

Dunlop Sets Another ‘Ring Record’

DUNLOP IS CELEBRATING A NEW LAP RECORD AT GERMANY’S FAMOUS NÜRBURGRING NORDSCHLEIFE, AFTER BEING CHOSEN BY RADICAL SPORTSCARS TO PROVIDE THE GRIP FOR THEIR ATTEMPT AT SETTING A NEW BENCHMARK FOR ROAD-GOING PRODUCTION CARS.

Radical Sportscars smashed the Nürburgring production car lap record with driver Michael Vergers posting a committed 6m 48s lap time on Sept. 3. The road-legal SR8LM smashed the previous record, also held by Radical since 2005, by an incredible eight seconds. All this less than 24 hours after the car was driven from England to Germany for the record.

The latest Dunlop road-legal tyres were used to drive from the UK to Germany – and the same set of tyres was then used to set the record.

The Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany’s Eifel Mountains is renowned to be one of the toughest tests for man and machine in the driving world. In 1976 it was deemed too dangerous for Formula One – but it established a new role as being the definitive place for high performance car manufacturers to test their cars, and tyres, to the limit.

When launching new supercars, car manufacturers wear a Nordschleife lap record as a badge of honour. More relevant than maximum speed or acceleration times, a ‘Ring lap time’ tells the story of how fast a car is in an environment with every type of corner, crest and camber to challenge its dynamic capabilities. As production cars and tyre technology gets faster and more effective, they get ever closer to the outright lap-record for racing cars, set by Stefan Bellof in a Porsche 956 in 1985 in 6m 11s on slick tyres.

Radical co-founder Mick Hyde said, “I’m obviously delighted; the record has been a real team effort. Dunlop has supplied us with brilliant, hard-wearing track day tyres, indeed we’ve only used one set to both drive to the Ring and set the record. We’ve proven that the SR8LM is not only the world’s best track day car, but also that it is practical enough to drive to and from the circuit. It is a genuine production sports car, with genuine performance credentials, as we’ve shown today.”

The Dunlop tyres chosen by Radical were 225/45R16 Direzza DZ03G front tyres and 255/40R17 Direzza DZ03G H1 on the rear.

“Some major car manufacturers may claim the Radical is merely a ‘racing car with number plates and a tax disc’ and highlight Nissan’s recent 7m 27s lap with their GT-R as truly representative of the ultimate lap for a car with a ‘roof and four seats’, but Dunlop is comfortable with this debate: both the Nissan GT-R and indeed Bellof’s 956 record-breaker were shod with Dunlop tyres as well,” said Frederic Schilling, Dunlop brand director Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Tags: Dunlop, Nürburgring Nordschleife