It seems that no sports car manufacturer can be taken seriously without having a Nürburgring lap record behind them, so Alfa Romeo recently pitched up at Germany's most famous circuit with its new 4C in order to attempt a record for itself. The 240hp mid-engined sports car managed to complete a lap time of just eight minutes and four seconds at the hands of Nordschleife expert Horst von Saurma, which is the fastest time ever recorded for a car with an engine producing 250hp or less. Von Saurma's record lap was actually completed back on September 12, but has only now been officially recognised.
The Nürburgring, also known as the Nordschleife, has long been used for the development of countless performance cars and is seen not only as a benchmark but also as a badge of honour to hold a lap record there. With tight hairpins, banked corners, huge gradient changes and long straights it is seen as one of the most demanding tests of a car's ability.
Anything else?
In order to help get the very most out of the 4C, Alfa Romeo engineers fitted the car with Pirelli P Zero Trofeo tyres, the sportiest tyres currently offered in the Pirelli P Zero range. As you can also see from the photographs, every last drop of performance was squeezed from the car, as even the panel gaps were taped over to ensure that it was aerodynamically at its very best. Every little helps!
Click here to read our first drive of the new Alfa Romeo 4C.