Porsche beats 35-year-old Nurburgring lap record

Porsche has smashed the Nurburgring-Nordschleife lap record after setting a 5:19.55 at the historic circuit with its 919 Hybrid Evo.

The previous lap record, set by Stefan Bellof in a Porsche 956 C, had stood for 35 years but was eclipsed by 51.58s on Thursday when Timo Bernhard hooked up a remarkable lap in the 919 Hybrid Evo. The car reached 230mph on the Döttinger Höhe straight but it was its speed through the circuit's 73 corners that beggared belief.

The 919 Hybrid Evo is a modified version of Porsche's most recent Le Mans prototype, which won the Le Mans 24-Hour race in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The same car beat Lewis Hamilton's qualifying lap record at Spa-Francorchamps earlier this year…