The Pagani Zonda Did Not Just Lap the Nürburgring in 6:30
Reports are surfacing that a special edition Pagani has set the Nüburgring production car lap record. It didn’t. And here’s why.
There is a rumor floating on Instagram that a Pagani has broken the Nürburgring production car lap record. Except that’s bullshit. It didn’t, and here’s why...
Some background: Kris Singh, a Miami private equity manager, has amassed a fortune huge enough to afford a fleet of supercars. He’s one of only three owners invited to buy the $4 million Lamborghini Veneno, and created the first special edition Pagani Huayra, nicknamed “La Monza Lisa.” He loves foreign manufacturers so much, he paid Buddy Valastro of Cake Boss to create a birthday treat honoring Horacio Pagani. Singh is committed.
But he just claimed that a Zonda Revolucion has posted the fastest Nurburgring lap time—that snarling, infamous 12.9-mile course in Germany. He claims 6 minutes, 30 seconds, which is flat-out incredible, besting the Porsche 918 Spyder by a startling 27 seconds. Except the 800-hp Zonda Revolucion hasn’t been in production (and by “production,” Pagani means five cars) in two years. And since June, after a fatal crash in March, the Nürburgring has enacted speed limits that essentially ban any record attempts until the track owners revamp the circuit for improved safety. (The limits have been approved for removal next year.)
Pagani makes no mention of the supposed feat, because if it had, it would have knowingly broken the rules and likely would be booted from future runs. Singh makes no mention of the alleged driver, or the fact that automakers cannot make unrestricted timed runs with no other cars present. It’s simply not possible until the track receives FIA approval and lifts the speed limits.
As for real records? The best record ever is a 6:11, set in 1983 by Formula 1 driver Stefan Bellof in a Porsche 956, perhaps the most definitive Le Mans racecar of all time. When anyone talks “record” at the ‘Ring these days, they’re referring to street-legal, unmodified production cars. Any track car, like the supposed former “record” the Pagani Zonda R set in 2009 with a 6:47, can claim numbers all day long. The actual current record holder for a car you can drive on regular roads is that other Porsche, the 918 Spyder, which earned a 6:57. No other real car has beaten it yet, and there’s no proof that this Pagani actually edged the Spyder off its perch.
