Photo: S.Baldauf/SB-Medien
Almost two months after it so abruptly started, the Tesla Model S Plaid chronicle on the Green Hell has reached its Grand Finale, at least for 2019.
Apparently, Tesla has packed up and left its temporary Nurburgring base early in the third testing week of the industry pool, when all the carmakers flood the Nordschleife with a bunch of pre-production prototypes.
With so many prototypes running around the track and various speeds, sometimes accidents happen, as Porsche, BMW and even Tesla itself each lost a car due to a crash on the circuit.
That said, Tesla had two Model S cars testing the Plaid drivetrain, and the blue one apparently achieved a rather significant best lap time of 7:13 minutes, not once, but twice. We know for certain that Nordschleife veteran Thomas Mutsch was behind the wheel on each occasion and the fast laps took place during an exclusive booking of the track.
Over the months' old testing saga Tesla played with two prototypes - a blue one and a red one - and the cars went through a lot of body modifications, including toying with a GT3-style rear wing that was apparently used for a single lap.
Speaking of which, the two 7:13 minutes laps were both achieved with the NASCAR-like aerodynamics package and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport RS tires, without the giant wing.
Tesla is expected to return to the Nurburgring early next year, presumably after the imminent snow melts from the track and temperatures rise enough for the semi-slick tires to actually provide some level of grip.
We should remind you that Tesla hasn't officially confirmed that it's chasing a lap record, merely mentioning that the Plaid drivetrain is good enough for a 7:05 minutes time, which it hasn't achieved yet. Still, the addition of so many aerodynamic enhancements, including the giant rear wing, make it pretty clear that the EV maker is definitely rooting for a faster time than its rivals.
The Porsche Taycan Turbo (not Turbo S) was already beaten, albeit not in an official run, so it remains to be seen if next year's Model Plaid will do a lap under 7 minutes.
With so many prototypes running around the track and various speeds, sometimes accidents happen, as Porsche, BMW and even Tesla itself each lost a car due to a crash on the circuit.
That said, Tesla had two Model S cars testing the Plaid drivetrain, and the blue one apparently achieved a rather significant best lap time of 7:13 minutes, not once, but twice. We know for certain that Nordschleife veteran Thomas Mutsch was behind the wheel on each occasion and the fast laps took place during an exclusive booking of the track.
Over the months' old testing saga Tesla played with two prototypes - a blue one and a red one - and the cars went through a lot of body modifications, including toying with a GT3-style rear wing that was apparently used for a single lap.
Speaking of which, the two 7:13 minutes laps were both achieved with the NASCAR-like aerodynamics package and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport RS tires, without the giant wing.
Tesla is expected to return to the Nurburgring early next year, presumably after the imminent snow melts from the track and temperatures rise enough for the semi-slick tires to actually provide some level of grip.
We should remind you that Tesla hasn't officially confirmed that it's chasing a lap record, merely mentioning that the Plaid drivetrain is good enough for a 7:05 minutes time, which it hasn't achieved yet. Still, the addition of so many aerodynamic enhancements, including the giant rear wing, make it pretty clear that the EV maker is definitely rooting for a faster time than its rivals.
The Porsche Taycan Turbo (not Turbo S) was already beaten, albeit not in an official run, so it remains to be seen if next year's Model Plaid will do a lap under 7 minutes.
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