The Nordschleife or Nurburgring as it is more commonly known is possibly the most well known and respected race track in the whole world.Situated in the mountains of Germany, the track dates back to the 1920's.Consisting of 174 corners spread out over 20.8km (12.9mi) the Nurburgring is amazingly a toll road so anyone can pay and drive it, even in a tour bus!

The fastest production cars have to run road legal tires and be full production and totally unmodified to qualify. There has been a lot of talk of the Nurburgring lap record, especially with the battle between Nissan (GTR) and Porsche (997 911 GT2). In mid August 2009 news of a new fast lap was announced, and just 6 days later, the production lap record was smashed by the existing record holder.

Just 6 days after the Gumpert Apollo Speed ran a stunningly quick time of 7:11.5 mins, the Radical SR8LM drove from the Peterborough, UK factory all the way to the Nurburgring, set some warm up laps and went for it. Radical previously held the record with their standard SR8 with a stunning time of 6:55 mins.

The SR8's 455bhp 2.8 V8 engine (A highly modified engine based around two Suzuki 1300 Hayabusa engines) powered the lightweight road legal race car to an astonishing 6:48 mins lap time. To put that in perspective for you, the lap record on the Nurburgring was set in 1984 by a Porsche 956. It set a time of 6:11.3 mins. The next fastest time was a 1983 BMW 832 race car (6:28.03 mins) and the 3rd fastest time around the Nurburgring is this Radical SR8LM!

Not bad for a hand built British car that cost from £89,000!! Check out the video below to see just how fast these awesome little Radicals are.

So this summer we see a new lap record for the legendary Nurburgring, and with the amount of testing currently happening at the track, expect to hear much much more from the German circuit for the foreseeable future.

To full understand the lap record by the Radical, it covered the 12.9mi in 408 seconds, which means it maintained an average speed of 113mph. If you watch the video above, imagine trying to average more than 75 mph and it'll scare you after a few mins. Then try and imagine it at over 110mph. Its an amazing track and if you ever get the chance to drive it, even in a hire care, take it because it's something to tell your grand kids about. Cost for 1 lap is about 15 Euros and your international insurance should cover your trip (although check with them before you go)