McLaren nixes Nio at Nurburgring

JUST weeks after Chinese car-maker Nio shocked the automotive world with a record-setting Nurburgring lap time, McLaren has snatched back the title with its P1 LM clocking a time of 6:43.2 – 2.7 seconds faster than the all-electric EP9.

The blistering lap puts the P1 LM well ahead of its rivals, including the Lamborghini Huracan LP640-4 Performante (6:52.01), Porsche 918 Spyder (6:57) and Lamborghini Aventador SV (6:59.73), as well as being almost 20 seconds faster than the sub-seven second standard P1.

Driven by Swedish racecar driver Kenny Brack, the record-breaking lap was achieved in collaboration with Lanzante Motorsport – which also acts as a service centre for road and track McLarens.

Based on the track-only McLaren P1 GTR – a high-performing derivative of the P1 – the LM utilises the same twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 and electric motor powerplant for an output of about 736kW of power and 980Nm of torque.

Acceleration from zero to 100km/h takes about 2.4 seconds while top speed is clocked at 362km/h.

The record-breaking car was also run using a bespoke set of Pirelli Trofeo road-legal tyres, and the P1 LM would have averaged a speed of about 187km/h to cover the 20.83km circuit in record time.

While only five P1 LMs have been built and are spread out between the US, Japan, the UK and the UAE, Lanzante also offers a service to convert the P1 GTR into a road-going P1 LM with about 27 of the limited-edition cars already converted.

The McLaren P1 LM and Mr Brack also hold the world record time for fastest road-legal car at the Goodwood hillclimb with a time of 47.07s.