Ferrari F12 gunning for GT-R's Nurburgring lap time?

Tue, 12 Aug 2014

Ferrari may not play the Nürburgring lap time game to the extent that Porsche, Nissan and Radical do, but it has been known to go for some lap times of its own. And now an F12 Berlinetta has been spotted lapping the Nordschleife in an apparent record attempt.

The F12 reportedly had the track all to itself for about an hour and a half, suggesting one of two possibilities: either Ferrari is testing an updated version, or it's going for a lap record with the existing version. While it's impossible to tell what may be going on under the sheetmetal, the communications equipment taped to the roof appear to be the only outward modifications, and would seem to indicate the latter more than the former.

In between warm-up and cool-down laps, the F12 reportedly lapped the circuit in 7 minutes and 48 seconds – which wouldn't be anything spectacular in and of itself, but that lap apparently included 40 seconds of cool-down between T13 and Hatzenbach, suggesting a possible 7:08 lap time. That's the time which Nissan recently recorded in the GT-R Nismo, indicating that Ferrari could be going for Godzilla's top time as the fastest front-engined, street-legal car ever to lap the 'Ring, ahead of the Dodge Viper ACR, Lexus LFA with the Nürburgring Package and Corvette ZR1 (but behind Ferrari's own track-bound 599XX, which clocked a 6:58 lap time four years ago).

That would also make the F12 the fastest rear-drive, street-legal production car ever to lap the circuit, giving Maranello what to crow about even if its LaFerrari can't beat the 918 Spyder and its 6:57 lap time. Watch the clip right here and draw your own conclusions.

By Noah Joseph