In one of the more surprising nuggets of performance data concocted this year, the new Toyota GR Supra has pipped one of its leading rivals in its first quantified lap around Germany's most famous race track.
Motoring publication Sport Auto, who are known well for their Nürburgring antics, extracted a stellar 7min 52.17 lap-time from the Supra in a recent test; narrowly edging the 7min 52.36 that the same publication achieved with a BMW M2 Competition. Each lap used the same driver, publication tester Christian Gebhardt.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Supra also pips its BMW twin — the Z4 M40i — by three seconds.
It's an interesting result given that a majority (myself admittedly included) sided with the M2 over the course of the year as being the sharper track device. The Supra generally claws things back in the way that its softer, more user friendly demeanor makes it easier to live with.
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For those after numbers, the Supra puts out a claimed 250kW/500Nm to the M2 Competition's more potent 302kW/550Nm. Yes, the Toyota's figures are known to be undervalued compared to independent readings from dyno tests, but the same can likely be said of the M2.
It's a narrow victory for the Supra, one that is perhaps more indicative of the two cars being equal instead of one being the winner and the other the loser. However, what makes it all the more fascinating is how it fits into Toyota's own claims about potential Nürburgring pace.
Speaking to Road & Track earlier in the year, Supra chief designer Tetsuya Tada stated that the Supra would be able to complete the Nordschleife in 7min 40sec — some 12-seconds quicker than the time achieved here.
Given the heightened efforts that manufacturers generally show when taking on serious Nürburgring campaigns, I wouldn't rule it out.