Holden Commodore Ute Nurburgring run confirmed at last

Holden has officially confirmed a Holden VF Commodore Ute has made a lap record attempt at Germany’s famous Nurburgring circuit â€" nearly two months after CarAdvice reported it.

Sources had revealed a time around the 21km-long circuit of “about 8min 20sec” and Holden says the Ute’s exact time was 8min 19.47sec.

The local car maker has used the run primarily as the basis for a new advertising campaign, though while is says it is setting rather than breaking a world record for a commercial and utility vehicle it makes the SS V Redline Ute “faster than many exotic sports cars costing several times more than the Ute” around the Nurburgring.

CarAdvice’s May 3rd story on the VF Commodore Ute’s record run at the Nurburgring.

The 260kW V8-powered Holden Commodore SS V Redline Ute was piloted by Holden vehicle dynamics engineer Robert Trubiani â€" one of GM’s most experienced employees when it comes to the Nurburgring with 150 laps to his credit during three visits.

The SS V Redline Ute completed 35 laps totalling more than 720km over seven days.

“We came up with a plan to tackle the Nürburgring and break the world record for a commercial or utility vehicle but when we did our research it seemed one didn’t exist, so we decided to set a record instead,” said Trubiani.

“Without a lap record to break, we sat down and calculated what we thought the Ute could do and targeted around 8min 30sec. Initial practice sessions at the track confirmed that was a stretch target so that’s what we aimed for. To slash 11 seconds from that time with an 8m 19.47sec lap was incredible. There may not have been a utility-vehicle record before but I’m proud to say the VF SS V Redline Ute is now the Nürburgring benchmark.”

The Holden Commodore SS V Ute starts from $42,490, rising to $50,690 for the Redline auto version.