Closehttp://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/242626/
This car is classified as a production car 
There is a saying that "nowadays you are what you declare that you are". Perfectly applicable to this "production" Radical SR8LM.
more info from http://www.radicalsportscars.com/news/international-news:
Peterborough sportscar manufacturer Radical Sportscars has smashed the Nürburgring production car lap record, with driver Michael Vergers posting a committed 6m48s lap time. The road-legal SR8LM smashed the previous record, also held by Radical since 2005, by an incredible eight seconds. All this, less than 24 hours after the car was driven from England to Germany for the record.
German motoring magazine Sport Auto oversaw the attempt, with the UK’s evo magazine confirming the time, which will be officially finalised tomorrow (Thursday).
Conditions for the record were perfect, with clear skies and temperatures in the high 20s. Vergers initially battled with the Nordschleife’s fearsome kerbs, jumps and bumps, but soon found the ideal setup, inspiring confidence to push harder.
“The car was great, I could push really hard and it felt clearly faster than the previous SR8 in 2005,” said Vergers. “It’s fantastic that we’ve beaten the record; hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to return with Radical in the future.”
Radical co-founder Mick Hyde said: “I’m obviously delighted, the record has been a real team effort headed up by Phil Abbott and Mike Rowe. Dunlop have supplied us with brilliant, hard-wearing trackday tyres, indeed we’ve only used one set to both drive to the ‘Ring, and set the record.
“We’ve proved that the SR8LM is not only the world’s best trackday car, but it’s also practical enough to drive to and from the circuit. It is a genuine production sportscar, with genuine performance credentials, as we’ve shown today.”
Gauss:
Gumpert must feel really gutted. Their record of 7'11,57'' didn't last for very long. Unless of course, they don't agree with Radical's definition of a production/road car.
The little sidekick that the Radical was driven to the Ring on their own wheels and performed the track record with the exact same tires won´t go by unheard...
SportAuto denied credits since the car´d not be road legal but if a car can does the above thing one should rethink that statement.
gangajas:
I feel sorry for the guys who had to drive it all they way to the Nurburgring. By the way, can this car be registered in Germany?
The Radical SR3 can be registered : http://www.sportauto-online.de/einzeltests/radical-tour-radical-sr3-1030745.html
Aug 20, 2009 12:18:43 PM
Gauss:
The Radical SR3 can be registered : http://www.sportauto-online.de/einzeltests/radical-tour-radical-sr3-1030745.html
But only without the diffusor and with a smaller wing, hence not in race trim good for such an incredible laptime 
: Porsche 997 GT3 Arctic/Black
Aug 20, 2009 3:24:12 PM
REALZEUS:
It's a Formula car in disguise, much like the Caparo T1. Next time they will bring an F1 car with license plates into the Ring... this is getting ludicruous!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ceX5Wk-zSY 
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Aug 25, 2009 8:49:41 AM
Aug 24, 2010 6:49:55 AM
Aug 24, 2010 7:21:54 AM
Aug 24, 2010 7:47:43 AM
Aug 24, 2010 7:55:56 AM
Pagani Zonda R review by Autocar...
Pagani Zonda 6.0 V12 R FIRST DRIVE
(23 August 2010)
You could spend hours looking at some of the Zonda's spectacular details...
What is it?
A 217mph, 739bhp track special costing £1.5m, and the pinnacle of a story that started in 1999, when Pagani launched its first supercar.
Although the Zonda R first surfaced in 2007, its appearance here is timely because in July, one had lapped the Nürburgring in 6min 47sec. While the R is not road legal, Pagani claims it is based on a production car. Making that a new record.
Without getting drawn into the murky world of Nordschleife records and definitions the facts are this: however you cut it, 6min 47sec is flipping fast, and some 11 seconds quicker around the ‘Ring than the equally road-illegal Ferrari 599XX.
What’s it like?
Unfortunately I’m not at the Nürburgring but at an Areodrome just outside Modena. Still, there’s more than enough opportunity to explore where the Zonda R sits in the league of seriously brisk cars.
For the sake of the clutch I’m asked not to perform a standing start, so instead I squeeze full throttle in second. The response is instant and frankly shocking. For an engine tuned to provide 123bhp/litre at 7500rpm, the pick-up from low revs is faultless. From there the power simply unfolds with breathtaking linearity.
Compared to current road-going Zondas, the R actually uses a smaller capacity engine. But one lifted from a Mercedes CLK-GTR GT1 racer. Except that here the V12 runs without restrictors to produce its 739bhp - in a car that weighs 1070kg dry.
Beyond 6000rpm the V12 is simply sensational, pulling relentlessly with a soundtrack straight from Le Mans. Even without removing the R’s huge rear clamshell – like the rest of the body and central tub, constructed from carbon-titanium, a fabric even stronger than regular carbonfibre – the exhaust plumbing is visible. And there is not a single silencer.
The Zonda R uses a six-speed XTRAC sequential dog gearbox, with an automated clutch. Which not only means pulling away is not the juggling act of razor throttle and race clutch I’d imagined, but also that the gearshifts are brutally fast. Just 20 milliseconds, or a third of the time it takes in a Ferrari 430 Scuderia.
The Modena runway is just 800m long (allowing room to brake and turn); that’s just 500m of full throttle. But it’s enough for the Zonda R to exceed 150mph, performance beyond that of a Noble M600. And with no turbos to spool up and a kerb weight at least 700kg lighter, probably enough to challenge a Veyron from 30mph to 180mph. The only thing I’ve driven that comes close for sheer lack of inertia is a McLaren F1 GTR running short gearing, and even then the Zonda might just have the edge.
What impresses most, though, is that the R works so well as a package. So often when you have such a stellar engine – and this is unquestionably one of the best – the rest of the car struggles to match up. With the Zonda R that is simply not the case.
While today doesn’t provide an opportunity to test Pagani’s claim of 2.0g of lateral acceleration, there are enough corners to reveal that the R is impressively well balanced. There is, of course, a huge amount of grip; the surprise is that the limit is approachable and exploitable.
Should I buy one?
The key with the Zonda R is that although it is not designed to go racing, you could rock-up at GT meeting and not be embarrassed. And yet, unlike so many competition cars you don’t have to drive it at ten-tenths to enjoy it.
It is worth one and half million quid? Can any car we worth that much? What is clear, though, is that anyone buying the Zonda R will be getting not only a splendid track car, but also a spectacular piece of engineering. You could spend hours looking at some of the details.
In just over ten years Pagani has transformed the car no-one had heard of, into one of the fastest and most expensive in the world. Which is some achievement.
Pagani Zonda R
Price: £1,500,000 approx
Top speed: 217mph+
0-62mph: 2.7sec
Kerb weight: 1070kg (dry)
Engine: V12, 5987cc, petrol
Power: 739bhp at 7500rpm
Torque: 524lb ft at 5700rpm
Gearbox: 6-spd sequential
Pagani-Zonda-R_Autocar-first-drive
Aug 24, 2010 7:56:05 AM
Thanks for posting Boxter Coupe !! the Zonda R is really something, Pagani is really the kind of factory that pushed the limits of the car industry.
PS: On a side note, Boxter Coupe you seem to have all the hookups for the best info and pics lately !! thanks a lot for contributing so much to the rest of us 
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and
This thing takes all the corners 30-35 km/h faster than a GT3 
