P1 LM could go after the Nürburgring lap record.
Ciprian Florea wrote:The P1 is McLaren’s quickest and most powerful supercar yet. It is also the company’s first hybrid and will most likely inspire other similar vehicles in the future. More importantly, especially for die-hard enthusiasts, the P1 is a full-fledged, modern interpretation of the F1 in just about any department. Not only fast, powerful, expensive, and rare, the P1 also spawned a couple of stunning variations, the GTR and the LM. Come 2016 and the P1 could have yet another thing in common with its spiritual predecessor by setting a world record.
But unlike the F1, which became the world’s fastest production car in 1993 and held onto its record until 2005, the P1 could become the quickest production model to lap the Nurburgring. That’s the word from Lanzante, the British firm responsible for converting the P1 GTR into the road-legal P1 LM, which unveiled that the supercar is set to go for a Nürburgring lap record during a development testing phase planned by the end of 2016.
Lanzante will run the supercar at the Nurburgring to finalize its setup and said that even though a lap record isn’t a priority, an attempt is in the books, given that track and weather conditions are right. Company boss Dean Lanzante is confident that the P1 LM has what it takes to smash the current record
“We’ve seen what the road car is capable of there and we’ve got simulations of what our car can do,” he said according to Autocar. “Kenny Bräck is doing all of the driving, so if an opportunity arose, we have the right man for the job.”
On the other hand, Lanzante claims an attempt will only happen in certain conditions, as the firm doesn’t have the means to spend too much time at the "Green Hell."
“We don’t have the finances or the time to do something like Porsche,” he said about the 918’s testing program and lap record. “If it rains, the track isn’t fast enough, so we can’t do a lap. And we don’t want to do a Koenigsegg,” he added in reference to Koenigsegg crashing the One:1 at the ’Ring ahead of its record attempt earlier this year.
There’s no estimate as to how quick the P1 LM would be around the Nordschleife, but it should be quicker than the standard P1, which lapped the track in less than seven minutes. As a brief reminder, McLaren declined to reveal the Nurburgring lap time of the P1, instead choosing only to confirm that it completed a full lap in under seven minutes.
The current lap record sits 6:48.00, a benchmark achieved in 2009 by the Radical SR8LM. The Radical SR8 is second with 6:56.08 (2005), while the Porsche 918 Spyder ranks third with 6:57.00 (2013). The Lamborghini Aventador SV is the last car with a sub-seven-minute lap, at 6.59.73 (2015).
Breaking the current Nurburgring lap record isn’t a very difficult task, and the fact that the current record dates back to 2009 is the best proof you can have. For seven years several companies have struggled to lap the ’Ring in less than seven minutes, but most failed, with only Porsche and Lamborghini managing to dip below that magical mark. I’m pretty sure that the P1 LM is quick enough to set a sub-seven-minute lap and even defeat the 918 Spyder’s 6:57 benchmark, but it remains to be seen if McLaren’s most extreme road car yet will be able to dethrone the apparently untouchable Radical SR8LM.
