Lap records

The kings of the Nordschleife

With the construction of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in 1927, the initiators around District Administrator Dr. Otto Creutz succeeded in creating something unique, both then and now. No race track in the world had been more fascinating, attractive and challenging than the winding curves in the Eifel for decades. 73 bends, 20,8 kilometers (only the Nordschleife!) and over 500 vetical meters create a unique challenge and for many the most beautiful piece of asphalt between the North and South Poles.

Lap records on this legendary track are among Nürburgring fans little heroic deeds and their owners “Kings of the Nordschleife”.

Switzerland’s largest daily newspaper BLICK compiled the record figures in 2014. They can be found below as an interesting addition to the records for cyclists.

The records were set on different track lengths due to various reconstruction measures. The course of Rad am Ring has also changed several times since 2003. In addition, there are different tracks for different disciplines. We are therefore renewing our lap records at the end of 2015, without taking into account the different equipment requirements of the individual cycling disciplines.

Lap records road- and mountain bike

Course 24h cycling race – record time: 37:25 minutes

Average speed: 41.69 km/h
Route: Grand Prix Circuit (Sprint Circuit), paddock crossing plus Nordschleife
Length: 26 kilometers
Record holder: Team Ledschends I
Set: 2016; 24h cycling race (team of 4) in round 1

 

Mountain bike course – record time: 16:39 minutes

Average speed: 30.75 km/h
Route: Parts of the Grand Prix circuit and Nordschleife; off-road around the Nürburg.
Length: 8.4 kilometers
Record holder: Mike Kluge
Set: 2011; 24h race (team of 8) in round 3

 

Amateur races 75 km/150 km – record time: 38:24 minutes

Average speed: 38.12 km/h
Route: Grand Prix circuit (sprint circuit) plus Nordschleife
Length: 24.4 kilometers
Record holder: Jonas Leefmann; Team Drinkuth-Multipower
Set: 2016; 75 km race

 

22 km time trial – record time: 31:12 minutes

Average speed: 42.35 km/h
Route: Pit lane (opposite) plus Nordschleife.
Length: 22 kilometers
Record holder: Victor de la Parte, Team Vorarlberg
Set: 2015

 

Formula 1 – record time: 7:06.4 minutes

Swiss Formula 1 driver Clay Regazzoni, who died in a car accident in 2006, set the current F1 record at the 1975 GP Deutschland with his F1 Ferrari on the 22.835 km long Nordschleife with an average speed of 192.8 km per hour.

 

Race car – record time: 6:25,9 minutes

In the 1983 1000 km race, Stefan Bellof, who died in an accident in 1985, drove the fastest time ever on the Nordschleife with a Porsche 956 and an average speed of 194.33 km/h. However: during a training drive he was even faster with 6:11.1 (not considered an official record) and is thus the only one who conquered the Grüne Hölle with over 200 km/h on average.

 

Production car – record time: 6:57,0 minutes

At dawn on September 4, 2013, Porsche factory driver Marc Lieb drove the fabulous time in the Porsche hybrid super sports car 918 Spyder. Lieb not only undercut the previous record of 7:11 (Gumpert Apollo Sport of 2009), but was also the first “mass-produced sports car with road-legal tires” to stay below the 7-minute sound barrier.

 

Race motor bikes – record time: 8:22.2 minutes

The Italian Marco “Lucky” Luccinelli rode his record lap with a 500cc Suzuki at the 1980 German GP (average: 163.6 km/h). At that time, the official Nordschleife distance was 22.835 km, three years later the distance was shortened to the current 20.8 km.

 

Production motorcycles – record time: 7:49,7 minutes

German race rider Helmut Dähne set his record on May 22, 1993 on a production Honda RC30, and as long as the motorcycle industry does not discover the Nordschleife as a yardstick for its sports motorcycles, this time should not be undercut so quickly. For safety reasons, motorcycle races have not been held on the Nordschleife since 1994.

 

Inline skating – record time: 10:06 minutes

This time is almost unbelievable – and did not come about completely without outside help. In 2000, extreme athlete Dirk Auer was pulled over the track by an Alfa 159 before the 24-hour race – partly at speeds of over 200 km/h! Of course, this is nothing compared to the 307 km/h top speed Auer managed to skate at in 1997 behind a Porsche GT2 in Nardo…

 

Nürburgringlauf – record time: 1:15:15 hours

The current lap record (extrapolated to the current distance of 24.4 km) is 1:15:15 hours for men (Francis Nade; TAN) and 1:26:31 hours for women (Nadezhda Ilyina; RUS). Both were set in 1993.