Thousands of production cars take to the Nürburgring every year, but just 14 of them had ever finished a lap in less than seven minutes and could prove it. Today, a 15th car joins those ranks in the form of the Ferrari 296 GTB.
With that, the hybrid supercar becomes the first ever production Ferrari to join the ranks of sub-seven-minute production cars. It completed the impressive achievement with Sport Auto’s Christian Gebhardt behind the wheel, in a video you can watch below.
Known for his expertise on the Nordschleife, Gebhardt achieved an impressive lap time of 6:58.70 in a model featuring the Assetto Fiorano package and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. That’s about 1.3 seconds faster than he managed with the Ferrari 488 Pista, which just missed out on the sub-seven club in 2019.
Read: New Ferrari 296 GTB Brings Back V6 With A Turbocharged Hybrid Twist And 819-HP
Still Slower Than A Porsche 911 GT2 RS
The time means that the 296 GTB is 0.5 seconds slower than Porsche 911 GT2 RS, which Gebhart drove around the track in 2018. On the other hand, it is roughly one second faster than the Lamborghini Aventador SuperVeloce LP750-4, which is the next-fastest car.
Despite its motorsports history, Ferrari does not frequently lend its vehicles out for hot laps like these, meaning that there is no lap time for, say, the SF90, which could conceivably go even faster than the V6-powered 296 GTB.
Despite having two fewer cylinders than the SF90, the 296 GTB is no slouch. Thanks to its hybrid system, it makes a whopping 819 hp (611 kW/830 PS). That helps the rear-wheel-drive monster hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 2.9 seconds, and reach a top speed of 205 mph (330 km/h).
Meanwhile, the Assetto Fiorano handling package adds no horsepower, but it does equip the car with Multimatic dampers, carbon body parts, a composite rear window and the Michelin tires. Those mods amount to a weight saving of 27 lbs (12 kg). A further 15.4 lbs (7 kg) can be removed with the carbon fiber wheels, which appear to have been fitted here.
It’s hardly a surprise, then, that the Ferrari 296 GTB is capable of setting an amazing lap at one of the most famous tracks on earth. We only hope that this will encourage Ferrari to send more of its cars round the legendary circuit.