Video: Street racers break unofficial Manhattan lap record

Ever since Claude Lelouch bolted a camera to the front of his Ferrari 275 GTB early one morning in 1976 and recorded C'etait un rendez-vous round the streets of Paris, the illicit city speed record has held a special fascination for hardcore petrolheads.

In America the latest group to pay tribute to Lelouch is a two-man team who circled Manhattan in 26min 3sec aboard a Saturn Sky convertible. That beat the time purportedly set by Alex Roy back in 2001.

Roy is said to have managed 27 minutes, but no tape was ever seen of that run. The anonymous pair from the 'Corporate Broadcasting Company' have corrected that. The sped up footage diminishes the visceral impact, but Lelouch's spirit is clearly alive and well. Click below.