Forget the Gumpert’s news, the lads from Peterborough have driven their Radical SR8LM from the UK to Germany and then gone on to smash their own four year old record. For so long the previous best time by a “road car” was held by the Radical SR8, at 6 minutes and 55 seconds, but now, the time has been lowered. And by an astonishing margin, too, with a new record time of 6 minutes 48 seconds.

I hope you didn’t miss that factoid in the first sentence. The car used for this record lap was driven to the track under its own power. Not babied on the back of some palatial transporter.

The lap was set in perfect conditions by a casual looking Michael Vergers, wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, would you believe. “The car was great, I could push really hard and it felt clearly faster than the previous SR8 in 2005,” said Vergers. “It’s fantastic that we’ve beaten the record; hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to return with Radical in the future.”

Radical co-founder Mick Hyde was clearly chuffed with the news and boasted about his car’s, erm, practicality, “We’ve proved that the SR8LM is not only the world’s best trackday car, but it’s also practical enough to drive to and from the circuit. It is a genuine production sportscar, with genuine performance credentials, as we’ve shown today.”

Amazingly, just a single set of Dunlop semi-slick tyres were used to drive to Nürburg and then to set the record time.

Expect to see video of the lap online in coming days. In the meantime you can listen (and watch) to Michael Vergers talk you through his previous record lap, set in 2005 at the wheel of a Radical SR8.

[Source: Radical Sportcars]

Radical Smash Nordschleife Lap Record

20th August 2009 – Peterborough sportscar manufacturer Radical Sportscars has smashed the Nürburgring production car lap record, with driver Michael Vergers posting a committed 6m48s lap time. The road-legal SR8LM smashed the previous record, also held by Radical since 2005, by an incredible eight seconds. All this, less than 24 hours after the car was driven from England to Germany for the record.

German motoring magazine Sport Auto oversaw the attempt, with the UK’s evo magazine confirming the time, which will be officially finalised tomorrow (Thursday).

Conditions for the record were perfect, with clear skies and temperatures in the high 20s. Vergers initially battled with the Nordschleife’s fearsome kerbs, jumps and bumps, but soon found the ideal setup, inspiring confidence to push harder.

“The car was great, I could push really hard and it felt clearly faster than the previous SR8 in 2005,” said Vergers. “It’s fantastic that we’ve beaten the record; hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to return with Radical in the future.”

Radical co-founder Mick Hyde said: “I’m obviously delighted, the record has been a real team effort headed up by Phil Abbott and Rob Wheldon. Dunlop have supplied us with brilliant, hard-wearing trackday tyres, indeed we’ve only used one set to both drive to the ‘Ring, and set the record.

“We’ve proved that the SR8LM is not only the world’s best trackday car, but it’s also practical enough to drive to and from the circuit. It is a genuine production sportscar, with genuine performance credentials, as we’ve shown today.”