Timo Bernhard lapped the 20.832km Nurburgring Nordschleife race circuit in 5:19.55 minutes. This results in an average speed of 233.8km/h on what is revered by race drivers, engineers and enthusiasts alike as the world's most difficult track. Driving the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, Bernhard beat the previous lap record, set by Stefan Bellof, by 51.58 seconds.
He drove his record on 28th May in 1983 at the wheel of a powerful 620bhp Rothmans Porsche 956 C during practice for the 1000km WEC sports car race. Also his average speed was over 200km/h.
Proud and relieved Timo Bernhard, five-time overall winner of the Nurburgring 24-hours, two-time outright winner of the Le Mans 24-hours and reigning World Endurance Champion with the Porsche 919 Hybrid, clambered out of the tight Le Mans prototype cockpit.
"This is a great moment for me and for the entire team - the 919 programme's icing on the cake. The Evo was perfectly prepared and I have done my best on this lap. Thanks to the aerodynamic downforce, at sections I never imagined you can stay on full throttle. I'm pretty familiar with the Nordschleife. But today I got to learn it in a new way," said the 37-year old.
He is a huge admirer of Stefan Bellof. In 2015, on the 13th anniversary of Bellof's fatal accident, Timo raced at the Spa-Francorchamps 6-hour race of the FIA World Endurance Championship with a helmet carrying the famous black-red-gold design of the 1980s star. "For me Stefan Bellof is and remains a giant," he emphasises. "Today my respect for his achievement with the technology available back then increased even more."
Bernhard's success is the second track record on the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo tally. On 9th April this year in Spa, the dramatic evolution of the three-times Le Mans winner lapped faster than a Formula One car with Neel Jani at the wheel. The Evo version of the Porsche 919 Hybrid is based on the car that took outright victory at the Le Mans 24-Hours and won the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
