From now on, anyone can spice up their track life with a real “Dutch Brownie,” the Donkervoort D8 GTO-JD70 R, something that is claimed to be no less than five seconds quicker than its road-legal counterpart on the Spa-Francorchamps Grand Prix racetrack.
Additionally, it’s no less than three seconds faster than Koenigsegg’s exotic superstar, the Regera, around the same circuit. Well, these are major bragging rights, all right.
Let’s start from the beginning, with Joop Donkervoort’s 70th anniversary, when the company he founded presented its latest road-legal model – the D8 GTO-JD70. It was limited to just 70 examples, capable of pulling 2Gs during corners, and jumped to 100 kph (62 mph) in less than three seconds.
Want something even crazier because it’s specifically built for the track? Cue into this late October release of its “R” sibling, which is considered by Donkervoort to be the company’s “hard-core, uncompromising soul,” because it’s fully capable of “taking the JD70 concept into areas of performance it can only reach on race circuits.”
We’re not exactly sure if the Dutch didn’t eat some of the infamous Dutch Hash Brownies when they developed the D8 GTO-JD70 R, but their ultimate goal with this model is to “embarrass other sports car and their owners and to make its own drivers feel like track superstars.”
They seem to be dead serious, though, because the company puts as much emphasis on performance as it places on increasing safety. “It has race ABS, a firebomb extinguisher, greater fire protection for the fuel tank, a standard six-point harness and full race seats. For every jump in speed with the JD70 R, we added exponentially to its crash protection,” explains Donkervoort Managing Director Denis Donkervoort.
More precisely, the modifications include changes to the transmission, brakes, steering, tires, and the safety package. Also, the company is offering not just the JD70 R from €198,000 (without taxes) / $234k (at current exchange rates), but also complete trackside support.
The racer is extremely lightweight, as always – at 715 kg (1,576 lbs.) - and probably has the same powertrain as its road-legal counterpart, as the manufacturer doesn’t mention any changes in the area. That means an Audi 2.5-liter turbo inline-five with 415 ponies on tap.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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