Masters of the ‘Ring - Circuit Driver Magazine, February 2006

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Nürburgring Nordschleife Lap Record Smashed
Michael Vergers during his 6:55 lap!
Radical’s production car lap record around the Nürburgring was snatched away by a rapid Donkervoort last year. Now they’ve returned and put the record beyond all reasonable reach in the mighty SR8 smashing through the seven minute barrier. Michael Vergers is the Ring Master and CD’S Roger Green was there.

The Nürburgring Nordschleife is the stuff of legends. The classic, cult 12.9 mile loop is arguably the greatest test of man and machine – it’s fast, mean and dangerous to know. Get close to eight minutes and you’re seriously shifting, the all new Cayman S in the hands of one of the Porsche test drivers will lap in 8:11, while a Caterham R500 will do it in 7:56. To dip into the mid-sevens you need a honed supercar and a pack of extra strong brave pills – a £323,000 Porsche Carrera GT has completed the course in a blistering 7:32.

Seconds matter
Manufacturers the world over not only flock to the Eiffel mountains to develop their machines but to post a rival-beating time and flog some hardware on the back of it. In the UK lap times are less well known, but in Germany the stakes are high, here seconds matter more than the 0–62mph dash. Sport Auto, a leading German Sportscar magazine regularly test cars on the Nordschleife, printing not only lap times, but a detailed analysis of each car’s performance.

They were here two years ago when a gang from Peterborough arrived to set the outright production car lap record and they’re back today to witness Radical’s return with the SR8. In late summer 2003 Phil Bennett took the honours in the SR3 turbo with a brilliant tour in 7 minutes 19 seconds. It was a one-off lap with no set up work that required a driver with maximum commitment and a small capacity for imagination. Bennett was undoubtedly the man for the job…

Record-breaking car & team
Record-breaking car & team
Since then the record was lowered by the Dutch Donkervoort team with the extraordinary D8 RS chipping a second off PB’s personal best, and Radical didn’t like that. The factory team want to do more than just grab the record back for themselves and Britain, their aim is to put it so far out of reach that no one else is ever likely to get close. Being fastest is not enough; they want to stop the clock with a six still on it!

The SR8 has developed through this season into one of the most dramatic club racing cars available and I speak from experience, I’ve been racing one all season with my team mate, Radical co-founder, Phil Abbott. ‘Fast’ is a word that doesn’t do it justice, powered by a Powertec-developed 2.6 litre V8, it has 360bhp on tap in a body that develops two-and-a-half times as much downforce than the SR3 Turbo. In August, the SR8 broke the long standing outright lap record at Cadwell in the hands of Spanish GT champion, Shaun Balfe, whilst Stuart Moseley recorded an astonishing 62 second lap at Snetterton, so you can understand their confidence.

However, those times were on slicks. To break the production car lap record, the SR8 needs to be road legal, which means an SVA test and of course road legal tyres. While testing at Cadwell back in August I put a set of Dunlop Direnza trackday tyres through their paces, and while they may have been five seconds off the slicks lap time, they proved to be both durable for the run and very driveable. I ticked the box marked ‘pass’, so they’d better do the job…

In the groove
In the hot seat this time would be Michael Vergers, Radical’s original test-driver and all-round ace wheelman. He was the first man ever to drive an SR8, and a couple of days before this attempt he was racing here at the ’Ring in a Porsche GT3 Cup car with Bennett and Juan Barazi. They finished third in class, so its safe to say Verge should be in the groove. A few days after this attempt he would be back in the UK at Rockingham hoping to seal the SCSA stockcar championship. You could say his year rests on this week.

As I arrive the team look ready to go. Yesterday they ran a couple of single laps in a public driving session and while not being able to time a full lap the data trace showed they’re well inside Bennett’s time despite having to overtake bikers and tourists.

This afternoon they will get two runs, each an out-lap and an in-lap starting at the public ticket barrier on the Dottinger Hohe Straight and Sport Auto’s GPS data-logger will record all the details including the all-important fastest rolling lap of each run.

“I can do it,” MV exclaims, “there was some traffic there and I can go quicker in a couple of places. Let’s give it a final shot.”Right now the track is dry, but up above the clouds look dark and heavy, it’s time to go. Vergers climbs aboard without changing into a race suit, having decided to go for the run wearing jeans and a fleece. “It’s a road car,” he says when I quiz him on his choice of attire, and with that he buckles up and heads for the toll barrier and out onto the track. We position ourselves next to the Armco and wait.

The track isn’t exclusively Radical’s there are a few other cars out there, we hope he finds some space. His plan is to warm the car and tyres all the way down the old pit straight, where he begins his run. He will then drive flat-out for a lap and a half before cooling things down and heading back to the public car park. With nothing to do but wait, time passes slowly; I chat idly to the mechanics, fingers and toes are most definitely crossed.

Then in the far distance a small blue speck appears at the far end of the 2km Dottinger Hohe straight and Verge is most definitely on it. The SR8 is working hard, compared to a GP track the ‘Ring is unbelievably bumpy, pummelling both driver and car and it requires a unique spring and damper set up. Ride height has to be raised to prevent the floor striking the ground and advanced Intrax dampers allow suppleness over the bumps without destroying cornering grip. At these speeds you can see the aero pushing the car into the ground as it rips through the air, as it passes you can literally see and feel the violent forces at work and it all comes with a fabulous backbeat. The glorious wail of the V8 wrung out to 10,500rpm has an F1-style bark and the howl becomes amplified echoing between the trees as our man resolutely keeps it nailed through the Teirgarten Kink.

Now or Never
A little while later he’s back at the truck and our German friend from Sport Auto rushes off to examine the data. It’s a 7:01, a record by a huge margin but not the time the team wanted to achieve. “I can do it,” MV exclaims, “there was some traffic there and I can go quicker in a couple of places. Let’s give it a final shot.” Clouds are now very dark – it will be now or never. The SR8 is refuelled and pointed back in the direction of the track. This time I jump into my hire car and head off to Pflanzgarten, here the car should be airborne.

As I wait alongside photographer Oliver Read, several cars go by, most going light rather than escaping gravity over the jump. An M3 acheives a short flight and Ollie fires off some practice shots – Vergers will be here soon. An AMG Mercedes bellows by before a minute of empty track. Then he bursts into view at what seems like twice the pace of anything we’ve witnessed thus far, the downhill acceleration is extraordinary. Approaching the jump he brakes briefly before coming off the pedal as the SR8’s wheels droop as the tarmac drops away from them. Hangtime is brief, after all the aero was designed to keep it all on the ground and the Radical smacks down onto the track with the undertray kissing the deck hard. And in an instance it’s gone. The whole sequence lasted no longer than a handful of seconds and yet I’m never likely to forget it. We head back to the makeshift pits and pull in a moment before Vergers. He’s not sure whether the lap was much quicker than before and knows there won’t be time for another, the tension is thick with anticipation as everyone waits for the downloaded results.

The sport Auto official returns with a smile but says nothing. He walks up to Vergers holding out his hand and announces the time. “Six fifty-six. Many congratulations!” that equates to an average lap speed of 112mph around the world’s toughest racetrack. Astonishing. Cheers, laughter and champagne corks erupt alongside the car, this is one mission accomplished. To put that into perspective, Steffan Bellof holds the outright lap record in a Porsche 956 with a time of 6:25. Vergers believes that with a set of slicks the SR8 would find those thirty seconds and possibly a bit more….

As I head back to the airport the heavens open, dousing the Eifel mountains with the kind of rainstorm required to keep the region so green, the gods were definitely with Radical and Vergers too. A few days later he secured the SCSA crown, winning the deciding race after an engine failure saw him miss qualifying and start from the back of the grid.

Not everything was quite perfect however, the Germans decided not to recognise the record as official as the SR8 was on English plates and not German ones… (the distinct taste of sour grapes?) Still, its an excuse to return next year and go even faster. .

Words: Roger Green | Photos: Oliver Read

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