Nurburgring bans lap records

Germany’s Nurburgring has ended the practice of car-makers recording high-speed lap times by introducing speed limits following a fatal motorsport accident.

The effective ban on high-speed lap times by introducing speed limits follows a crash during a VLN endurance race earlier this year that saw a GT3-spec Nissan GT-R race car became airborne before crashing into the crowd, killing one spectator.

For now, the speed limits are said to be temporary but fans of the fast timed runs fear they will become permanent.

For decades now the 20.8km racetrack in the Eifel mountains, known as the Green Hell, has been used by the likes of Porsche and Nissan to set industry-respected times.

Now that’s all on hold following 200km/h speed limits being introduced at numerous places around the track on which hypercars like the Porsche 918 have to exceed 300km/h to set a sub seven-minute lap.

The potential end of manufacturers recording flat-out lap times will also halt what’s been described as an arms race among car-makers. The bumps, elevations, camber change and various friction surface help give birth to what today is know as the hypercar, accelerating the development of aero aids normally associated with full-blown race cars.

Even the likes of mainstream car-makers such as Renault, SEAT and, most recently, Honda have invested millions to beat eachother on the only circuit that counts.

The last publicised lap time to be recorded without slowing for the 200km/h speed limit was the Lamborghini Aventador SV, which recorded a lap time of just under seven minutes.