Koenigsegg One:1 prepares for Nürburgring lap record attempt

A factory-run Koenigsegg One:1 is currently undergoing testing at the Nürburgring ahead of a planned attempt to set a new production car lap record.

The record run will have to beat the Porsche 918 Spyder’s 6min 57sec lap of 2013.

Technically, the production car record is held by a Radical SR8 LM, which set a time of 6min 48sec in 2009, but that car’s extreme, race-focused nature (and the fact that it is a track-only car in its standard state) means many count the hybrid 918 as the fastest genuine production car.

Koenigsegg expects to beat the 918’s time, but hasn’t revealed what new lap time it is targeting.

The Swedish car maker has already entered the One:1 into a lengthy testing and set-up period, with company test driver Robert Serwanski starting off proceedings before handing over to a yet-to-be-revealed Nürburgring expert.

Although this test period could take many months, Koenigsegg has emphasised that it’ll be made up of just a few days of testing, because it only intends to run during private track sessions, which are few and far between.

The 1341bhp One:1 features such a wide range of adjustability that the test days will be used to fine tune its set-up, rather than make any modifications. The only change to the car has been the fitment of a roll cage, which is standard practice for record attempts of this kind.

Koenigsegg says set-up adjustments will be revealed after the record attempt, so if all goes to plan, One:1 owners will be able to adjust their car to ‘Nürburgring guise’, should they want to.

The One:1 can already lay claim to being one of the most powerful cars ever to have ventured onto the ’Ring. It uses a twin-turbocharged 5.0-litre V8 engine that produces 1341bhp at 7500rpm on E85 ethanol or 1160bhp on super-unleaded petrol.

It wears Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres as standard, the same tyres that the record-holding 918 Spyder used on its run, and it has a power-to-weight ratio of up to 986bhp per tonne, which comfortably beats the 918’s 544bhp per tonne - achievable when Porsche’s optional weight-saving Weissach pack is fitted.

Koenigsegg is yet to reveal what fuel will be used on the record attempt run. An E85-fuelled lap is likely to be faster, but the firm might want to break the record with standard fuel, to dismiss any comments that the One:1 had a significant advantage over its rivals.

Another key production car to set a timed Nürburgring lap is the McLaren P1. McLaren never revealed the exact lap time of its hybrid hypercar, instead choosing to reveal only that a target sub-seven-minute time had been achieved.