Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey Beats McLaren Senna in Ayrton's Hometown
Situated on the southern outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Interlagos Circuit is part of motorsports history; it's home to Formula 1's Brazilian Grand Prix since 1973, Interlagos has been home turf for pillars of F1 history such as Nelson Piquet. The road car record belongs to Brazilian driver Ricardo Mauricio, but while he previously held the production car lap record of 1:37.856 with the very appropriate choice of McLaren's aptly named Senna supercar, he and Porsche now have that crown.
The recognition must be split with Porsche's aerodynamic partners at Manthey, however. Using a private 991-generation 911 GT2 RS fitted with a Manthey aero kit, Mauricio has set a lap record of 1:36.967, just under a full second faster. The 2.67-mile track runs counterclockwise and features a number of high-speed braking zones, with onboard footage from the record-breaking lap showing a top speed of 166 mph into at least two different braking zones.
The point-of-view video is reminiscent of everyone's favorite Nürburgring Nordschleife video showing Stephan Rozer barely holding onto a RUF Yellowbird in 1987, as Mauricio exits nearly every bend with a degree of opposite-lock dialed in. The flyer that garnered the new record also appears to have been on an early try, as the VBOX data overlayed into the corner of the video shows Mauricio's previous best lap on the track as a mere 1:55:46.
"Another record for the Porsche 911 GT2 RS with Manthey Racing performance kit from Stuttgart! With this brand, the 911 GT2 RS becomes the fastest original street car on the São Paulo racetrack, surpassing the previous best brand by almost a second," a release from Porsche says, carefully avoiding mentioning their rivals from Woking.
This is not the first lap record Porsche and Manthey have collaborated on; a Manthey 991-generation 911 GT2 RS set a Nürburgring record in 2018 with Lars Kern at the wheel. Meanwhile, the regular GT2 RS even managed to snag a Road Atlanta record in 2019.
It's unclear if any other manufacturers are set to compete with this new Brazilian lap record, but we wouldn't be totally surprised if it stands for some time. Considering this GT2 RS was a private-owner entry, it appears the automakers aren't investing their own money in making a lap record happen at Interlagos. Even so, McLaren has the firepower to strike back at Porsche. We'll see if they choose to go on the offensive.
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