It seems as though Audi is the first German manufacturer to set its sights on reclaiming bragging rights at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Following the much hyped times of the Nissan GT-R (7:29) and the Corvette ZR1 (7:26) Audi reckons their upcoming V10-powered R8 will be able to better the times set by these intercontinental upstarts.

The R8 V10 should be good for around 530hp (nudging 400kW) and is expected to go on sale in 2009. Reports suggest that the V10 has already lapped the Nürburgring faster than the ZR1, although nothing official has been announced. Of course, Audi is expected to have overcome their embarrassing overheating issues from April last year!

Meanwhile, Nissan are still beavering away with their GT-R V-spec which is expected to lower the already amazing lap time of the standard GT-R’s even further.

Source: leftlanenews, Henry @ picasa