Porsche 911 GT3 RS Goes to Green Hell, Sets Speed Benchmark for Road-Approved Sports Cars

The Porsche 911 GT3 RS, running the demanding "Green Hell"
circuit in Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Photo: Porsche media website.

It's known as the most demanding race track in the world, so demanding that it has earned the nickname "Green Hell." That was the setting that Porsche Works race driver Kévin Estre was dealing with when he set a lap time of 6:56.4 minutes in a 520-hp Porsche 911 GT3 RS, according to a Porsche report released April 20.

Porsche stated that the 911 GT3 RS follows the 918 Spyder and the 911 GT2 RS as the third production Porsche sports car with a notarised lap time of less than seven minutes on the "Green Hell" track, officially known as the Nürburgring-Nordschleife circuit in  Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

“No other Porsche model gets as close to racing as the new GT3 RS," said Frank Steffen Walliser, Porsche's vice president, motorsport and GT Cars. "Many innovative ideas from top-level motorsport were transferred; for example, from the 911 GT3 R. This is what our philosophy for GT models is about: Highest technology must be fascinating but tangible. In this regard there is no harder test for our ideas than the Nordschleife.”

Andreas Preuninger, director or Porsche's GT model line, added that “All four lap times of both drivers were below seven minutes and only tenths of a second apart. This proves not only the outstanding power of the GT3 RS, but also its extraordinary driveability at the limit. A perfectly composed overall system allows for highly dynamic performance even with a relatively modest engine power."