When the weather was really bad in the UK a few months back,
we did a runner to Portugal
in one of the best circuits in Europe, Portimão.
We had with us some fine motor vehicles.
But perhaps the fastest was the Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR.
I know. Catchy little name.
MR stands for Manthey-Racing.
It's an improved chassis, aero and braking package for a car
that already has more than enough power.
And if you've not heard of Manthey
then think of it as the ultimate skunkworks Porsche outfit.
You have a standard Porsche 911
then you go to Porsche Motorsport and you have a GT3 and an RS.
Well, Manthey makes the RS model even more RS.
Hypothetically, and I mean this hypothetically,
you've gone out in a GT2 RS, right,
and I've said to you, as a friend,
you need to make that car a bit faster around the lap.
Now, of course, your brain would say, "Shut up, mate. That's ridiculous.
I'm still clearing up the mess from my under crackers
after what that car just did to me."
But Manthey, the now mostly Porsche owned race team that deals with this stuff...
Well, it's gone done just that.
It's created the GT2 RS MR Manthey-Racing,
which is an aero and suspension wheel and tyre package for the GT2 RS.
It's about 90,000 euros,
which sounds ridiculous until you experience it.
This is the best car that's based on a normal street car
that you could take on a race track.
I know that's quite a narrow niche but it is sensational.
Because it's like a wild ride, you know.
It's not some accurate little racing car.
This is... This is a yob, this thing, you know.
It wants to slide everywhere.
I got 700 horsepower for God's sake.
I can smoke this bad boy whenever I want to
but I can also set lap times as well.
What a flipping machine!
Now, I do it no justice by just doing great big skids though.
So we'll just go a bit sensible on the straight
and talk you through some of it.
So suspension, basically a KW systems
stolen from the GT3 R racing car is expensive.
Still has the help of spring.
It does that very clever thing that expensive suspension does.
It takes all of those light imperfections and stuff that your eye says,
"That'll cause a bit of a bump," and it just irons it out.
But then the moment you put load into the car,
it supports itself and it stays flat.
It's a magic trick. It's so good.
I mean, it's miles better than the standard suspension
which, in itself, is very, very good.
There's a new brake pad material to give it a bit more bite.
That does make a big difference. This thing really does stop.
Look at the ride heights.
The thing is buried into the ground, especially the back.
They're taking some rake out
and that gives the car much better stability on the entry to a turn.
You can add lock, trail it in. Always a problem in a 911.
But that's just the way the thing goes. Wow.
They've done nothing to the engine.
Well, this one feels pretty angry.
This is an engineering car.
It's done 49,000 kilometres and it feels fit as a fiddle.
And this is the actual car that holds the record
for a modified street car around the Nürburgring
with Lars at the wheel, at six minutes 40 seconds,
which is quite difficult to comprehend really, isn't it?
This also has a lot more aero.
They fitted a massive gurney to the rear wing,
different end plates, a different front splitter.
They've managed the underbody. It's got a different diffuser.
Big difference.
Have a look at the onboard, fast lap now,
and you can see that I can stay flat in places in this car, well,
that you just can't in normal cars, even in hypercars.
So the big question is,
this amazing tweaked up GT2 RS
should have the performance to take care of hypercars
or stay with them...
Let's see what happens.
**** that.
49.5
49.5. Yeah, 49.5
I've not done a complete lap fast this week,
but that's the fastest I've ever done around the circuit on scrubbed tyres.
It's a **** animal. Wow.
-So, 49.5. -We have to look it up.
-I'll take... I'll take it. -It's really fast.
-Not so far off as Lars. -Yeah.
-There's life in the old bog yet. -Yeah.
You just have to recalibrate your head,
'cause it's happening so fast and you have also...
Because it has more aerodynamic than I thought.
-More aero in the quick stuff. -Definitely.
'Cause you're like... I'm wide open through the hole,
which you shouldn't be in the car like that.
And the whole thing is, as you go to it...
Like smashed into the ground. Wow.
So, that's two and a half seconds quicker than I've ever gone around here,
in a 918 or a P1 or anything.
-That's amazing, huh? -In a GT2 RS.
Just an old 911.
Forty-nine thousand kilometres, probably 50 now.
Yeah.
A couple of things going on.
First of all, the performance of the car around Portimão is staggering.
49.5 or just under, 49.45.
It's the fastest I've been here by a long way,
and it's a new lap record for the circuit.
But Lars, the guy that developed it, he went even quicker.
So, he can have the record at 48 something.
We'll confirm it in a minute.
So, fair play to him and he's young and he's good at this,
so I happily defer to the better man.
The other thing that needs to be noted is this car is gorgeous.
The pattern of this car,
this is the car that did the Nürburgring lap record.
I love that it's got a cup car seat in it.
I love the fact that it's got a 911 R passenger seat
with a houndstooth trim.
It's all a bit ratty inside. This should never be changed.
If anyone at Porsche, they're stood there,
if anyone changes this car, tries to make it look optically clever,
then I'm gonna hunt you down.
Leave it as it is because it's a piece of history
and it's just utterly gorgeous.
The only thing is these Alcantara steering wheels get a bit munged up.
They've got too much DNA from other people on them.
So, that's progress. You come here three years
after you drove a McLaren P1 and set a certain lap time,
then you go two or three seconds quicker
in a slightly modified series production Porsche
with no hybridity and nothing clever.
Well done, Michelin. Well done, KW. Well done, Porsche. Well done, Manthey.
So I'm stood on the hill above the beautiful Portimão Circuit
with Lars Kern, who is a Porsche factory race driver
and most importantly a test driver.
Today, we're talking to him as a test driver
and this is the man that set the Nürburgring lap record
in the amazing GT2 RS MR, that stands for Manthey Racing.
But also has just broken the lap record at Portimão.
Everyone, clap behind, please.
-Okay. -Thank you.
Tell us how the car felt around here.
-It felt like it was made for Portimão. -Yeah.
I mean, the downforce is mega.
Also the suspension, which was made for the Nürburgring, fits perfectly for here.
So, this was quite a surprise for us.
Sure, we'll be running a little bit lower compared to the Nürburgring.
I mean, my first lap was already a record-breaker, so...
Without the installation lap, the car had not run
since it broke the Nürburgring lap record.
They said we can go out and do an install lap to make sure it still rolls straight
and the first flying lap was the record.
It was already a record then.
And then they broke it again.
It's outrageous really.
So my thoughts were that I just couldn't believe
how stable the car was on entry.
That lower at the rear and the sophisticated damper
just gave so much confidence to when you rotate the car in.
I think I can go faster, faster, faster and it doesn't follow you around, does it?
Yeah, exactly. This was a key part.
I mean, on the Nürburgring
you need a really stable rear going into the corner
and this was quite important for me as a driver to trust the car
and this is what you feel here.
If you corner the car it rotates really good,
but when you go back with the steering a little bit
the rear just stays and it's like, yeah, it's just perfect on the entry
and also the traction on the exit is incredible.
And this tyre, talk us through this Cup 2 R tyre
'cause this feels like a big step to me.
The tyre is, for sure, it's quite an important thing
but it's not the key part.
I think aerodynamics and the suspension are the key parts of the car.
The tyre we already had on the yellow car
which we broke the record before on the Nürburgring.
So we knew the tyre,
but I think the biggest difference is the suspension and the aerodynamics.
So it's a KW damper, yeah?
Exactly. It's a KW three way damper.
The same damper basically we use with the GT3 R on the Nordschleife.
-Yeah. -It's just different spring rates,
because the car is a bit heavier
and you have to have a bit more control.
-It still runs the helper spring though. -Exactly.
And how quickly are you through the helper spring?
-I have no idea. -No?
Because it has a very, very...
I use the word sophisticated sense of ride, over...
over the sort of the smaller bits of the circuit
where you think you see something
that'll impact quite hard in the car, it floats through it.
-Bit like a rally car. -Yeah.
And that helper spring must be doing something there.
Could be. Honestly I have no idea.
It was just me being the sensor in the car telling the guys,
"Okay, it feels better like this. It's better like this."
And the KW guys and the Manthey engineers they did all the rest
and, yeah, at the end I was just feeling super comfortable
also on the Nürburgring, same like here.
It's super easy to do a quick lap.
Everybody feels comfortable in the car from the first minute
and this is I think what it's all about because this is...
It looks like a monster but it's not.
That's what's interesting, isn't it?
Because inherently you start to question how you felt about the standard car.
-The standard car is fantastic. -Yeah.
It's a great chassis for a road track compromise,
but if you'll do more track driving you have to have that.
Once you driven it it's like really good red wine.
There's no going back.
It's like turning left on an airplane.
-There's no going back. -I mean, sure.
The package is quite...
We talked about yesterday, it's quite expensive but...
But at the end of the day as you mentioned you have to have this
if you want to experience the level of creep
and the level of performance
and the level of trust you can have with this car, you can never go back.
Yeah. It's absolutely sensational.
Now very quickly, talk me through what this was like
around the Nordschleife.
I wonder whether you've been lobotomized.
They just take your brain out like this when you go in to do the lap.
Not at all. Honestly it was really...
It was really comfortable for me. It was...
Also when we prepared to lap,
I already did lap times quite close to the 640
so we knew what we have and what we can do.
So it was not a not a monster lap. We just did what the car can do.
So there's not one part of the circuit that every time you get to you think,
"Okay, I just swallow a bit harder."
There are parts...
You must be going into that thinking, "What if something goes wrong here?"
Yeah, but this is the point where you normally...
Yeah, you need to go through with 270, 275, and that's it.
But parts like Schwedenkreuz and Flugplatz these are the parts like,
"Okay, the boys know you have more aero.
They're gonna see on the data if you use it.
So try to use it."
So these are the parts where it's quite, you're like...
Okay, go through.
But it's normal so it's the lap and it was quite dark.
That didn't help at all.
We wanted to start the lap at 6:00,
but they kept us waiting until half past six
and it was already quite dark.
You see it on the video, you see my lights on the street going.
And in the first part of the track I was quite struggling with orientation.
I was like, "Oh, okay, it's quite dark."
And... But for the rest of the lap it was good.
But sure our target was going sub 40.
Everybody knows that, sure,
but we have just this one lap and, yeah, it's what it is.
I'm sure you'll go back there for another go at some point.
I'm pretty sure as well.
I think it's a stunning achievement
and I hope that you still get a great sense of excitement
when you go there and do that,
because genuinely for so many people you're living the dream.
You're the man that's out there. I bet you can't believe...
When you were young I bet you were reading about...
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
-And now you're that guy. -No, I was reading that stories
and I was following these lap times and I don't know.
I've seen guys crashing trying to do 740
and now we do 640 it's like, "Okay, it's really crazy."
But you see how the car develops and if you go back to an old car
or a car from 10 years ago, 15 years ago with the old tyres, you understand why.
So it's nothing...
Yeah, I mean the technique changed a lot, tyres changed a lot.
So, yeah, it's... I mean for me it's mega. Nothing better.
One of the best cars I've driven ever, honestly.
-Well done. Cheers, boss. -Thank you very much.
So there it is then. Quicker than a hypercar.
The new street-legal record holder at Portimão.
I think we need to keep this competition going.