Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept sets Nurburgring lap record

Lapping the famed German circuit in 7 minutes 20.143 seconds, the 528hp (394kW) 03 Cyan Concept was three seconds quicker than the original time posted by the manic Jaguar XE Project 8 (four-door production car record holder, though it recently went round in 7:18.361 minutes), and 25 seconds faster than the Renault Megane Trophy-R (front-wheel drive record holder).

Despite still being a 'concept', the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept is set to become a production model, essentially the road-going version of the Lynk & Co Cyan Racing 03 TCR race car, itself spawned from the regular Lynk & Co 03 sedan.

"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," said Henrik Fries, head of automotive R&D at Cyan Racing.

"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."

The company has also released preliminary technical data for the upcoming track special. Under the bonnet is a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine making 394kW at 7800rpm and 504Nm between 4500 and 7000rpm – the redline is 8000rpm, for reference.

Should this tune make it to production, Lynk & Co along with Cyan Racing will nab the title of most powerful production four-cylinder engine from Mercedes-AMG, which recently launched the 310kW/500Nm 2.0-litre turbo in the A45 and CLA45 family.

All that grunt is channelled to the front-wheels via a "six-speed gearbox with paddle shifters", making for a claimed 4.4-second dash to 100km/h.

Lynk & Co also claims the 03 Cyan Concept can hit 200km/h from a standstill in just 10.0 seconds, on its way to a mind-boggling top speed of 310km/h. It'll stop almost quickly as it'll go, too, with the company claiming it can do 100-0km/h in 30 metres.

Helping to achieve those figures and the record lap time are 20-inch forged wheels shod in 285/30 Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, 378mm front and 290mm rear ventilated disc brakes with six-piston calipers up front and two-piston stoppers at the rear, along with Öhlins adjustable dampers.

The Chinese brand will now look to continue development of its road-going race car into the latter half of the year, with the next stage to take place in the north of Sweden "as part of creating a performance car for all roads, all seasons and all conditions".