July 1, 2010

6 Minutes 47 Seconds: Pagani embarrases Ferrari


(photo by [ JR ]

In the battle of the track toys, cars that are not road cars but are not really race cars either, Horacio Pagani has just struck a big blow to Ferrari: a 6 minute 47 second lap of the Nürburgring with a Zonda R.
This is even faster than Radical SR8LM some people claim is a "street car" and a massive 11 seconds faster than the recent lap with the 599XX Ferrari claimed as a record for a "production derived" car.

Pagani were cleverer than Ferrari in that they hired Marc Basseng a driver with massive experience at the 'ring who, EVO reports, figures there is is still much time to be had in the car, possibly down to a sub 6:40!

In the end of course Nürburgring track records are about a meaningful as winning the Track Day World Championship, it's time for Pagani to go racing and see how they do.







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8 comments:

  1. Stunning car but it's not road legal in any country (unlike the Radical) so it's a race car. Anyway, sooner or later the Caparo will take the time into another dimension.

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  2. This is really impressive, the Zonda R is such a beast.. But sorry i don't realy think Pagani "Embarasses" Ferrari since the direct competitor of the Zonda R is more the FXX than the 599XX...

    It would be interesting to see the FXX's lap time and i really hope Ferrari is planning to do such a thing!

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  3. Beautiful and Impressive! both on style and engineering counts.

    If I could, I would choose to have one 10X over any Ferrari. Apparently Paganis are very reliable and usable on the street.....
    Hmmmm, only BIG issue is the pricetag!

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  4. The 599XX is just as non-road-legal as the Zonda R, so the comparison is valid. Pagani copied Ferrari's stunt and went them one better.

    -

    The Radical, however laughable as a daily driver, is road-legal. In Germany, to boot, where this "record" is situated. Which puts it about two legs up on the other two cars, which are not... no matter how nice their interiors are.

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  5. Well, it was Ferrari who made the claim of a record for a "production based" car. Now that can be sliced a million ways by PR flacks. they could make the claim that because of the production numbers of the ZOnda vs the 599 it's a different category ... whatever. It's like claiming the Radical or the Caparo are street cars just because of the peculiarities of UK motor laws when in fact you'd be a total tool driving them on the road.

    But back to the Zonda R. I think they one upped what was a silly move by Ferrari. Ferrari chose to use a driver who is not a 'Ring...ringer, I'm sure that's probably good for most of the time difference right there.

    As far as FXX vs 599xx, the 599 is almost as fast apparently, possibly faster depending on track layout.

    Pass the popcorn!

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  6. A Radical is a joke as a Street Car. Even as a track is less reliable with shorter repair intervals than a shifter go-kart.

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  7. Superlite SL-C will pwn these, just pick an LSx engine with enough juice (there is no shortage). And you can drive it to the track. And home.

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