Lelystad, 17 November 2005 – Exactly a year ago Donkervoort pulverised the lap record for street automobiles at the legendary Nordschleife. With ample 14 seconds faster than the Porsche Carrera GT an overwhelming achievement, which is why it took no less than a year before an answer was received. This came from EDO Competition, who broke the record with a FIA GT prepared Porsche 996 GT2R and finished after 7,15,63. But again the manufacturer from Lelystad had a fast and outnumbering answer: barely a few weeks after this record lap of Porsche Donkervoort placed the record at 7,14,89.

The circumstances were less than ideal on that particular Sunday, November 6th. Due to a number of accidents on the dangerous Nordschleife, Donkervoort only received permission from the officials to enter the track for the record attempt late in the afternoon. Dusk could be upon them at any time and the first wet spots already appeared on the track. Joop Donkervoort tells us why it was decided to make the attempt anyway: “The circumstances were getting worse by the minute, and it was one of the last opportunities that year to come up with an answer to the record trip of Porsche. It is therefore absolutely a top achievement of Michael Düchting to break the record again despite the terrible circumstances”. Also, during the first record trip last year, it was the German Donkervoort dealer Michael Düchting, who placed the lap record in name of Donkervoort.

Same car
The record is intended for street automobiles that meet all the demands of the German TÜV. There are very stringent demands with regard to emission output and safety, and the car has to be equipped with street tires as well as have a licence plate. The Donkervoort that broke the record is technically almost identical to the car that broke the record last year. Only a few minor adjustments were made to the wheel suspension and the shock absorbers. “We already knew last year that the car had a lot of reserves and that was shown again this time around, because a few minor adjustments seemed to be sufficient for being almost three seconds faster than last year. There would certainly have been more in it if the circumstances had been better,” states Joop Donkervoort. Due to the wet spots the track was treacherously slick in the bends as a result of which a four wheel drift could sometimes not be avoided. And on top of it all the connection of the right cycle wing broke off during the ride resulting in the wing standing up straight. That reduced the speed considerably which is why the top speed did not get above 259 km/hour. Despite all this Düchting succeeded in getting a time of 7,14,89 and thus be almost a second under the time of the Porsche.

Positive reactions
The record of a year ago created many positive developments worldwide. Not just the large and small firms, but also investors sided with Donkervoort. To pay homage to this victory the D8 270 RS was developed. A car with underneath the same technique as the record car and deliverable with a circulation of only 25. In barely five months time all were either sold or reserved. The lap record has been officially confirmed by the German Magazine 'Sportauto', the initiator of the record attempts at the Nordschleife.