Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept ‘breaks two Nurburgring lap records’

Chinese car start-up Lynk & Co claims to have broken two lap record at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany.

However, as is often the case with such records, there is a huge caveat – in this case, it’s the fact that the records were set by a pre-production development car.

Dubbed the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept, it has lapped the Nurburgring in 7m 20.143s. That means it’s beaten the front-wheel drive record formerly held by the Renault Megane RS Trophy-R by about 25 seconds, and the four-door lap record held by the Jaguar XE Project 8 by approximately three.

Cyan Racing – formerly known as Polestar – is a tuning company best known for its work with Lynk & Co’s sister company Volvo. However, it now runs the Chinese team’s touring car racer and has been developing this road-going version too.

While Lynk & Co says the 03 Cyan Concept is a ‘mass production-based car’, it can’t really claim to hold the records until the final production version sets a time. However, it is mighty impressive that the firm has managed to tune a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine to 521bhp and channel that through only the front wheels in a manageable way.

Technical specifications for the development car include Ohlins adjustable dampers, 20-inch forged alloy wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, and six-piston front brake callipers.

Henrik Fries, head of automotive research and development at Cyan Racing, said: “We continue to push past the boundaries and goals that we have set for the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept, a car that acts as a development platform for future Lynk & Co performance cars and parts.

“While our main purpose for the many laps on the Nürburgring Nordschleife is development, the records that we broke are a true testament to the potential and capabilities of the Lynk & Co platform, as well as our engineering philosophy from more than two decades of motorsport and road car performance.”

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