When Porsche unveiled the new 911 GT3 RS in February, the data sheet alone already indicated that this would be a remarkable supercar, but it took Porsche works driver Kevin Estre and a lap of the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife to show just how extraordinary this road-legal track weapon really is. The 29-year-old Frenchman recently managed to complete a lap of the 20.6km-long “Green Hell” in an astonishing 6:56.4 minutes while behind the wheel of this 520hp monster, which is an otherworldly 24 seconds faster than the previous GT3 RS model.

Estre even managed to outpace the 918 Spyder in the process, making this latest edition of Porsche’s race-derived 911 the third-fastest production vehicle to blast through the 33 left- and 40 right-handers between bridge and gantry. Only the Lamborghini Huracán LP 640-4 Performante and the Porsche 911 GT2 RS can boast faster laps.

Conditions were ideal when Estre took to the track on April 16 at 11:40am, with 14°C air temperature and 18°C track temperature providing the perfect basis for blistering fast runs. The car was a stock 911GT3 RS fitted with the Weissach package, road-legal Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires, a racing seat and harness for the driver, and the factory option of having the audio and communication systems removed to save weight. This means that, in theory, any GT3 RS owner could do the same time around the Nordschleife, a fact that will make many of them feel like proper racing drivers even when they’re just doing 100km/h on the expressway.