Alfa Giulia sets 7:32 Nurburgring lap

The ballsiest Nordschleife onboard vid since the Aventador SV? Quite possibly

Say what you will about the relevance of Nurburgring lap records, but the competition does sure as hell make for some spectacular videos. Having been usurped as fastest saloon around the Nordschleife by Porsche (with the new Panamera Turbo), Alfa has returned with the Giulia Quadrifoglio to reclaim its glory.

The result is this incredible video and a 7:32 lap. Which is absurd, quite frankly. The driver Fabio Francia - note the casual jeans and t-shirt combo - is fantastically committed everywhere, right up to nearly crashing on the approach to Adenauer Forst. See the run from Bergwerk through Kesselchen and Klostertal too from 3:20 onwards; it looks like it's in fast-forward!

For the basis of comparison, we'll have to assume that this is a standard 510hp Giulia Quadrifoglio. As you'll see, it has the automatic instead of the manual gearbox and we'll guess it's in Race mode going off some of the oversteer angles. The video features a Pirelli logo too, so guess away now at which trick compound of Trofeo it may actually be using!

However, this is still a staggering time for a four-door saloon. Ignore a regular M3; this is just four seconds off a GTS. Though you could argue the BMW looks rather more suited to the track thrashing. Whatever you're driving at your next tourist lap though, keep a look out for a very rapid Alfa saloon...

Watch the lap record here.