WATCH: Unrestricted Porsche 919 Hybrid Laps Nürburgring's Nordschleife in 5 Minutes, 19.55 Seconds

Porsche has broken the fastest overall lap record on the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit yesterday, June 29, with a derestricted version of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid going under the six-minute mark lapping the nearly 21-kilometer track with a time of five minutes and 19.55 seconds. Set by Porsche factory driver, two-time overall 24 Hours of Le Mans-winner, five-time overall Nürburgring 24-hours winner, and reigning World Endurance Champion Timo Bernhard, the record topped the six minutes and 11.13 seconds set by the Porsche 956 driven by Stefan Bellof on May 28, 1983. "This is a great moment for me and for the entire team--the 919 program's icing on the cake," said Bernhard after his run. "The Evo was perfectly prepared and I have done my best on this lap. Thanks to the aerodynamic downforce, at sections I never imagined you can stay on full throttle. I'm pretty familiar with the Nordschleife. But today I got to learn it in a new way." "For me Stefan Bellof is and remains a giant," Bernhard added. "Today my respect for his achievement with the technology available back then increased even more." Bernhard achieved the record by setting an average speed of 233.8 kph around the track to beat the record set by Bellof by 51.58 seconds. To help Bernhard with his record-breaking run, the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo--which is based on the car that took the outright victory at the 2015 Le Mans 24-Hours and won the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2015, 2016, and 2017--was freed from some restrictions set by race regulations. This resulted in its hybrid powertrain now pushing out 1,160 hp and with the car weighing only 849 kilograms--with a strict diet of no air-conditioning, windscreen wiper, several sensors, electronic devices from race control, lights systems and pneumatic jack system--and its modified--and now active--aerodynamics generating over 50 percent more downforce compared to the WEC model. These changes allowed the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo to hit a maximum speed of 369.4 kph on the 2.135-km long Döttinger Höhe straight. The new Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record is the second time the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo has broken a track record. On April 9, the derestricted car, with Neel Jani at the wheel, lapped the seven-kilometer Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in one minute, 41.770 seconds to beat the previous track record set by Lewis Hamilton in qualifying for the 2017 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix by 0.783 seconds (one minute, 42.553 seconds). Watch the record-breaking run in the video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQmSUHhP3ug [gallery size="vw_two_third_thumbnail_no_crop" ids="34078,34072,34073,34074,34077,34076">