Pagani have just published a YouTube clip showing the Zonda R “record” lap of the Nürburgring. It’s a great lap to watch, too. The car is just so stable, there is no discernable body roll and the way the Zonda R gathers speed is mind blowing. But for a couple of missed gears, most notably on the climb out of Ex-Mühle, a 6:46 time may have been possible.
Click on the image above to watch the clip over at AUSringers.com.
3 replies on “Pagani Zonda R – Nürburgring record lap”
Great footage. Yeh I noticed the missed gear too. Although not really “missed” as such, using his left hand instinctively he pulled on the paddle to grab a lower gear to pull him out of the uphill corner (2:48) but this is the problem with not using paddles that rotate with the column, so he grabbed a higher gear instead of a lower. In rally using the static paddles work because there is a lot of opposite lock and hands off the wheel. In road racing you’re not using opposite lock when wanting a quick lap time so your hands are always on the wheel and smaller steering inputs are required as steering is far more sensitive. Therefore if your hands aren’t coming off the wheel you want paddles that move with the wheel and hand position. Had they paddles that moved with the steering wheel like in F1 cars those gear shift errors would never have happened.
Yep, I get what you’re saying. It’s easier to say “missed gear” though. 😛
As you guys may know, to remain focused on a circuit as short as Monza in Italy (F1 lap record 1:21.046) is a pretty tough feat. To remain 100% focused on a circuit like Nurburgring is just sheer impossible, to miss 2 gear changes, maybe could of gone deeper in a couple of the braking zones, all in all, Marc Basseng did a really great job. No wonder he was happy once he realised what time did. I’m loving this blog 🙂