A new Nurburgring Record – on Dunlop
Dunlop - Alzen Ford GT sets new lap record
A landmark new lap record was set at the daunting Nurburgring last weekend.
In the VLN race on Saturday 24th September, Nico Verdonck (Alzen-Ford GT) stormed to a new lap record, equipped with Dunlop’s standard specification GT3 tires.
The Belgian ace took a mere 7m: 58.558s to circumnavigate the 24.358 km long combination of short version of the Grand Prix circuit and the infamous Nordschleife. He undercut the previous record of 7m: 59.045s, set in 2014.
It was a record breaking weekend for Dunlop teams. In qualifying, Walkenhorst Motorsport set a stunning new unofficial lap record on Dunlop tires. The Norwegian Christian Krognes (BMW M6 GT3) set a time of 7m:53,375s – but it is race times only that count as ‘Official Records’
This lap record continues a proud Dunlop tradition at the Nurburgring. The outright lap record for the Nordschleife (without GP loop) is the legendary 1983 lap by the late Stefan Bellof (Porsche 956 on Dunlop race tires) and the fastest ever lap by a road-legal car is by Michael Vergers in 2009 (Radical SR8LM on Dunlop road tires). It is also a circuit where Dunlop develop road tires for high performance cars.
Xavier Fraipont , Managing Director, Dunlop Motorsport stated: “The Nurburgring is one of the toughest tests of a car, driver and tires. We have placed a lot of emphasis on creating a durable and fast GT3 tire this year. This lap record and also VLN victories this year show that we are in a strong position as we prepare for 2017”
Bonk Motorsport within touching point of VLN title
It was a successful weekend for Dunlop partner, Bonk Motorsport, in the same race. As VLN heads to its climax, the Bonk duo of Alexander Mies and Michael Schrey are heading towards glory in their BMW M235i Cup, finishing third to secure the lead in the championship with two races to go.
Class Wins for Dunlop Teams
Franck Mailleux and Felipe Fernández Laser took the chequered flag after 28 laps with the Dunlop-shod Glickenhaus SCG003C. Audi A4 pilots Thomas Hanisch and Markku Honkanen also took a class win to round off the successful weekend for the tire brand.