Ferrari is always happy to set lap records at their Fiorano racetrack in Maranello. However, when it comes to the Nurburgring, the Italians are just not interested.
Thankfully, the talented folks at Sport Auto are equally curious to find out just how fast modern prancing horses can lap one of the most grueling racetracks on the planet. This time, they took a Ferrari 488 Pista for a hot lap and it went around in 7 minutes flat or 7 min 0.03 seconds to be precise.
The 488 Pista was piloted by Christian Gebhardt. It is powered by a 3.9-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine from the 488 Challenge car. The engine pumps out 710 hp @ 8000 rpm and peak torque of 568 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm. The car was fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R K1 tires at the time.
The 13 mile long lap of the Nordschleife is littered with 170 corners including 2 banked turns, long straights and lots of elevation changes. While a sub-10 minute lap time is considered fast, anything around the 7 minute mark is seriously quick. To put it in perspective, the Lamborghini Aventador SV had set a lap time of 6 min 59.73 seconds and the million dollar Porsche 918 Spyder had lapped in 6 minutes 57 seconds.
Earlier this year, Sport Auto had set a new production car lap record at Hockenheim in a 488 Pista. You can watch the video of the record run here.