China’s Cyan Racing has taken to the tarmac of the Nürburgring and come out the other side as the holder of two new records. The firm’s Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept was whipped around the famous circuit faster than any front-wheel driven car before it, while also slicing a second off the record for fastest four-door car, set previously by a Jaguar Project 8 that broke its own record earlier this year.
Cyan Racing is the official motorsport partner to Polestar, Volvo's performance brand, and has been working toward a road-going version of its World Touring Car Cup race car, handing world champion race driver Thed Björk the reins to see how its progress so far stacks up.
With 528 hp and 504 Nm (372 lb-ft) of torque onboard, the turbo-charged Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept circuited the full 21-km (13-mi) Nordschleife track in 7 minutes and 20.143 seconds, with an average speed of 170.4 km/h (105 mph). Jaguar's XE SV Project 8 four-door did clock a lap time of 7 minutes 18.361 seconds back in July, but that was around the marginally shorter 20.6-km (12.8-mi) circuit.
Taking to the longer 20.832-km (12.9-mi) circuit, the time recorded by the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept is more than a second faster than the record set by Jaguar as the fastest four-door car ever around the Nürburgring, and almost 20 seconds faster than the previous fastest front-wheel drive production car, the Renault Megane RS Trophy-R.
"We continued our development of the car in torrential rain and scorching sunshine on the most fearsome circuit in the world," said Thed Björk, driver in the WTCR for Lynk & Co Cyan Racing. "The car is rewarding to drive no matter the conditions, be it the Nürburgring or the autobahn. The record that we achieved here is something I rank on the same level as my racing titles and a highlight in my part of transitioning development from race to road cars."
The team refers to it as a production car but it’s quite not there yet. It will continue developing the concept through the latter parts of the year with a rigorous winter testing phase planned for Sweden.
You can see the entire record-setting lap in the video below.
Source: Cyan Racing