Last week, Tesla co-founder Elon Musk tweeted that he will be bringing over the Tesla Model S to the holy grail of motorsport - The Nurburgring circuit in Germany. It was thought of as a challenge to the recently unveiled Porsche Taycan Turbo, the iconic German automaker's first-ever fully electric sports car. Setting a benchmark time at the Nurburgring is what most manufacturers swear by, and what better way to welcome the Taycan than throw up a challenge. It now seems the stakes have moved a notch higher as Musk may have just found a "decent driver" to pilot the Model S at the iconic track. Responding to Musk's tweet was former Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg, who has offered his services to take the Model S around the Nurburgring.
And Elon Musk has accepted the offer, on Twitter of course, and we are yet to hear an official statement about Tesla and Rosberg joining hands for this one.
Model S on Nürburgring next week
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2019
Thanks for offering! Sure, that would be great.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2019
There were also rumours about Musk actually going through with his claim on Twitter, as it would require the company to book the Nurburgring for an exclusive lap time. The uncertainty can now be confirmed. Organisers at the track confirmed via email to American publication Road and Track that, "Tesla is excited to be a part at the Industry Pool testing community next week at the Nurburgring. Our participation is confirmed and contracted by the Nurburgring."
This essentially means that Tesla will take the time out, like other manufacturers around the 20.8 km Nordschleife circuit for testing and development. The Industry Pool can is a 16 week period that is co-booked by automakers to fine tune the product for handling on the track, which will translate to the performance on standard roads. The Porsche Taycan has already been around here and set a time of 7:42 seconds last month. Something that even Elon appreciated on Twitter, after questioning Porsche on the use of the 'Turbo' moniker in the electric sports car's name.
But Taycan does seem like a good car. Nürburgring track time is great.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2019
That being said, Rosberg's affinity for green mobility or electric mobility should come hardly as a surprise. The 2016 F1 champion is a co-founder of the Greentech Fest and a strong supporter of Formula E. He also brings years of experience of being a part of the Williams and Mercedes F1 teams, which make him quite the candidate to set the new benchmark laptime in an electric car.
Tesla doing laps at Nerdburgering https://t.co/G7dYVS1Jpn
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2019
It's unclear if Musk and Rosberg have had a chat either on calls, Twitter DMs, or in person, about the visit to the Nurburgring. But, given the nature of the conversation on Twitter, we could hear an official announcement from the Frankfurt Motor Show that kick-starts tomorrow.
