It’s no secret that Nissan have been testing the new 2014 NISMO GTR at the Nürburgring all year. But with the seasons changing and the weather turning cooler, it’s time for them to see what this 600hp+ beast can do.

The Nürburgring is always being used for something, but the prices to hire the track are so expensive that it’s very unusual to hear only one car going past every 7 or 8 minutes. It’s even more unusual for that one car to enjoy a compliment of safety marshalls and timing beacons in the industry/sport-auto positions (T13 start and end). But that’s what the Nismo GTR has this morning.

Conditions are cool, around 11ºC here in Nürburg, but dry. Depending on possible damp patches in key points like Bergwerk and the foxhole, conditions could be good for a laptime. It’s unclear who’s driving, but the car is alternating between ‘hot’ laps and merely ‘warm’ laps – with the odd tyre change here and there (I can hear the airguns rattling).

Also of interest in the video is the wastegate noise, not something I would associate with a normal GTR and a sure sign that this over-boosted monster means business! And check out that wing. It might be ugly, but it’s raised well clear of the rear deck and out into the laminar airflow above the car. That might be bad for your rear visibility, but it should make some real downforce.

Will the new Nismo GTR take the current production car lap record? I doubt it can beat the Porsche 918, but it should have a good chance against the current Viper and Corvette lap records, though both of those laptimes are now set by old versions of those cars. The ACR edition Viper SRT10 and the supercharged Corvette ZR1.

Let’s wait and see what the GTR can really do, no matter what the time I’m expecting an onboard lap of epic effort and anbsolutely no fear. I can’t wait.