Nurburg, Germany - Lamborghini's new Aventador LP 750-4 SuperVeloce has joined the world's most exclusive supercar club, the elite group of street-legal production cars that have lapped the infamous Nordschleife at the Nurburgring, in less than seven minutes.
To date it has just two confirmed members: the Porsche 918 Spyder, still the fastest with a time of 6:57, set by Marc Lieb late in 2013, and the SuperVeloce, with a time of 6:59.73 on Monday this week.
McLaren controversially claimed that its P1 had done a sub-seven minute lap in 2014 but has scrupulous avoided providing any proof.
The (apparently bog standard) Lamborghini broke through the magic barrier at the hands of Pirelli test driver Marco Mapelli, during the development days for the latest version of its P Zero Corsa street-legal tyres.
NO ORDINARY AVENTADOR
Standard it may have been but the LP 750-4 SuperVeloce, first shown at this year's Geneva motor show, is no ordinary Aventador. Wearing the sexiest aero kit on four wheels, it comes with fifty extra horses in the engine compartment behind the driver (for a total of 750hp or 552kW at 8400rpm) and 50 less kilograms.
It'll launch from a standstill to 100km/h in 2.8 seconds flat, says the maker, and hit "more than 350km/h" flat out. Lamborghini plans to make just 600 examples, at the equivalent of an eye-watering R8.5 million each - that's a cool R1.35 million more than the LP 700-4! One has already been ordered for South Africa, and will be delivered to a customer in Cape Town in January.
The Nordschleife (North Loop) of the Nurburgring, nicknamed the Green Hell by Jackie Stewart, is 20.832km long, although record laps are measured from the footbridge to the gantry, a distance of 20.600km, which includes no less than 154 corners. To get from bridge to gantry in less than seven minutes you have to average 177km/h.