Polestar claims it set a ‘Ring record in 2016, but did it?

Volvo in-house tuner Polestar last week released a video claiming it set a lap record for “road-legal, four-door cars” at the Nürburgring in May 2016 using a stock S60 Polestar sedan.

The time of 7:51.110 was set immediately after the German round of the 2016 World Touring Car Championship in which the Polestar Cyan Racing team was competing.

Polestar says that because the result was important for Polestar Cyan Racing, which at the time was in the midst of the 2016 WTCC season, it had to keep the details secret for a full year.

The problem is that Alfa Romeo at the 2015 Frankfurt auto show had confirmed that its Giulia Quadrifoglio had lapped the ‘Ring in a time of only 7:39.

When contacted, Polestar Press Manager Johan Meissner said Polestar had the record in May 2016 because the Giulia Quadrifoglio time had been set using “slick” tires, meaning the car in that specification wasn’t road-legal.

Polestar’s evidence were comments of an anonymous source cited by Australian publication Motoring in an article from 2015—not exactly a solid basis for claiming a record.

We reached out to Alfa Romeo for comment. Spokesperson Alexanian Berj said the Giulia Quadrifoglio was equipped with a manual transmission and Pirelli P Zero Corsas, a road-legal tire, when it set the 7:39 time in 2015. Alfa Romeo has since improved on that time, stating in September 2016 that an automatic-equipped Giulia Quadrifoglio had lapped the ‘Ring in just 7:32 which in fact is the current record for four-door cars.