Audi RS E-Tron GT claims electric-car lap record at Bathurst

German car-maker Audi claims the RS E-Tron GT has established the lap record for an electric production car at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst – but the hot lap will not be officially counted due to a technicality.

In a demonstration run before the Bathurst 12 Hour motor race over the weekend, Audi racing driver Christopher Mies drove the RS E-Tron GT around the 6.213km-long circuit in two minutes and 28.15 seconds – with no modifications made to the car apart from changes to its tyre pressures.

While Audi claims the RS E-Tron GT is the first electric car to “lay down an official record time” at Mount Panorama, motorsport governing bodies across the globe only recognise lap records if the times are set in formal racing sessions – not demonstration runs.

For context, the production car lap record at Mount Panorama – held by a Porsche 911 GT2 RS sports car – was achieved during an official session at the Challenge Bathurst track-day event in 2020, with drive Jeff Morton completing a lap in 2:14.24 seconds.

In a media statement, Mr Mies said the RS E-Tron GT’s acceleration was “quicker than my GT3 [racing] car”.

However, the electric car's 250km/h top speed limiter – compared to the circa-270km/h speeds being achieved by GT3 cars in the Bathurst 12 Hour race – and lack of racing aerodynamics meant the RS E-Tron GT's time was about 25 seconds slower than the best times achieved by the Audi GT3 cars over the weekend.

The RS E-Tron GT’s unofficial electric-car lap record was also almost 30 seconds slower than the outright Bathurst record of 1:59.29 – also set by Mr Mies aboard an even-faster Audi R8 Ultra GT3 car – which did not need to comply with strict GT3 racing regulations – in 2018.

As reported earlier this month, the Audi E-Tron GT has arrived in Australia almost 12 months after order books opened, with two variants on offer.

Audi’s ‘entry-level’ E-Tron GT starts at $180,200 plus on-road costs, with a pair of electric motors combining for 350kW and 630Nm in normal driving, with ‘boost mode’ delivering a 40kW power increase.

The flagship Audi RS E-Tron GT offers an additional performance boost, developing up to 440kW/830Nm – or 475kW in boost mode – with a price tag of $248,200 plus on-road costs.