Porsche’s official lap time is quicker (6:59), but it takes a great driver to come within five seconds of one of Porsche’s own.
Christian Gebhardt, test driver for German magazine Sport Auto lapped the new 911 GT3 around the historic Nürburgring racetrack in just 7 minutes and 4 seconds several months before the car’s official release.
According to an earlier publishing by Motor1, Gebhardt got the opportunity to unleash the 2022 GT3 on September 18, 2020, just three days after Porsche Test Driver, Lars Kern, set the official time at the same track.
Both driver’s set their lap times with 7-speed PDK cars which sat on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires, and they were within five seconds of one another. On any other track, five seconds is a blowout, but on the 12.9-mile Nürburgring circuit, that is a very competitive time.
Gebhardt has been driving fast for years now, as a journalist, test driver and competitive driver. His Instagram bio says “RACING IS LIFE”, which is about all you need to know.
More On The GT3
The 992 911 GT3 has been circulating around journalists for a couple weeks now and the consensus seems to be one of predictability… in a good way. Those who have driven it knew it was going to be faster, louder, and grippier than the last and some even claim that the GT3 is quicker than advertised.
A Carwow journalist launched the GT3 from 0-60 in a reported 3.11 seconds, a whole tenth of a second quicker than the official 3.2 seconds posted by Porsche. Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire said “The fact that it's light, and doesn’t have much torque at all, stops being kind of an issue. It's enough and it certainly doesn’t feel slow.”
Farah also pointed out that a quick shift in the middle of the corner doesn’t upset the grip, as it commonly does in other sports cars. Perhaps that’s thanks to the new front end. Taken straight off the 911 RSR’s chassis, the 992 GT3’s front end is truly race-ready and is used to handling a rough drive, and apparently mid-corner downshifts.
The 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six is one thing that wasn’t changed in the new GT3, and for good reason. What it lacks in modern levels of torque, it makes up with endless revs. 9000 rpm is the presumed redline for the 992 GT3 and the powerband is readily available through most of it.
Max Larsen is the Porsche reporter at Torque News. Since he was 15 years old Max was building old cars and selling them for profit, spawning his love for cars. He has been around Porsches his entire life. His grandfather had several 911s and he’s owned two Porsche 944s, which made the auto-shop class cars a lot simpler. Reading old car magazines and seeing press cars at shows gave him the passion to write and pursue the industry. He is currently studying Journalism at Western Washington University. Follow Max on Torque News Porsche and on Twitter at @maxlarsencars. Search Torque News Porsche for daily Porsche news coverage by our expert automotive reporters.
