Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept smashes Nurburgring lap record

The Renault Megane Trophy-R is no longer the fastest front-wheel drive car to lap the Nurburgring since the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept was timed lapping the fearsome road circuit in just 7min 20.143sec.

That's an incredible 20 seconds below the previous fastest front-drive record of 7:40.1 set earlier this year by Renault and, perhaps more impressively, three-seconds quicker than the all-wheel drive Jaguar XE SV Project 8.

Despite the achievement, the authenticity of the Lynk & Co lap has already been called into question by enthusiasts as it involved a time set by a concept and not a fully-fledged production vehicle.

Addressing criticisms, Lynk & Co has announced that the 03 Cyan Concept will go into limited production and will be offered through Cyan Racing to a "select number of VIP customers", with deliveries expected towards the end of 2019.

The Swedish race World Touring Car team, which prepared the record-breaking 03, said sales would not be restricted geographically by location, hinting that the 03 Cyan could be available in limited volume for the Australian market.

It's not known if right-hand drive production will take place, or whether or not the 03 Cyan will be road-legal.

According to Lynk & Co, the lap record attempt was part of the development program for the 03 Cyan.

Revealed earlier this year at the Geneva motor show, the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept was claimed to draw direct inspiration from the 03 Touring car.

Mooted as a potential BMW M3 rival, the 03 Cyan produces an incredible 389kW and 504Nm from its 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder.

Unusually, back at the Swiss show, the car-maker said the powerful four-cylinder engine combined with a race car-style sequential transmission and a traction-boosting mechanical differential.

Despite the lack of all-wheel drive, Lynk & Co claimed that thanks to a low 1287kg kerb weight the 03 Cyan could hit 100km/h in just 4.4 seconds, 200km/h in less than 10 seconds and top out at 309km/h.

Featuring a wider track and a bespoke suspension set-up compared to the 03 sedan it's based on, engineers said the 03 Cyan was capable of generating up to 1.5g of cornering forces.

Helping bag the record Nurburgring lap, the 03 Cyan comes standard with a big motorsport aero package that includes a huge rear wing, deep side skirts, a large front splitter and a huge rear diffuser.

For the lap record run, current WTCR racer Thed Bjork was behind the wheel trading his Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 TCR for its road-going tribute.

After setting the record-breaking Nurburgring lap, the 03 Cyan will return to Spain for more track-based testing alongside the 2020 03 TCR racer.