F1, GT racing stars help AMG’s ‘best V8’ set 25 records

Mercedes-AMG has sent what its boss described as its ‘best V8’ around the simulated world in eight days, while breaking more than two dozen distance records.

The next generation of Mercedes-AMG’s jaw-dropping vehicles is on the horizon, and the German giant has flexed its muscles by tasking many of its racing drivers with setting new records.

Behind the wheel of two examples of the Concept AMG GT XX, the 17 drivers – including Formula 1 ace George Russell – took the circa-745kW electric vehicle on hundreds of tours of the Nardo test track in Italy, and finished with numerous accolades.

One of the most notable was covering the greatest distance within 24 hours, with the record for pre-production EVs now standing at 5479km – 1518km more than the previous record, set by the Xpeng P7 last year.

However, AMG’s ultimate goal was to go far beyond that marker in far more time, aiming to pay tribute to ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ by doing the equivalent distance in just eight days.

At a constant driving speed of 300km/h – yes, higher than what most Supercars will hit down Mount Panorama’s Conrod Straight – and with short charging breaks, the 40,075km distance was covered in seven days, 13 hours, 24 minutes and seven seconds, or just over 3160 laps of the circular circuit.

To make the feat more impressive, the two vehicles were reportedly split by just 25 kilometres after the seven-and-a-half day ordeal. The two cars pushed on for another 99km to reach the 25,000 mile marker before finally coming to a rest.

While Mercedes-AMG hasn’t provided detail about the capacity of the Concept AMG GT XX’s battery, the record run vehicles were able to be charged at up to 850kW, something which the carmaker admits is “far beyond what today’s charging infrastructure can provide”.

“This once again underscores the future-proof capabilities of this production-ready drivetrain.”

The brand revealed its flagship EV concept in June, with its three axial flux motors – capable of producing almost 745kW – labelled by one AMG board member to CEO Michael Schiebe as “the best V8 we have ever developed”.

In addition to George Russell, AMG’s driver lineup for the feat included GT aces Ralf Aaron, Marc Basseng, Colin Caresani, Adam Christodoulou, Marvin Dienst, Cesar Gazeau, Marcel Marchewicz, Doriane Pin, Dominik Schraml, Dominik Schwager, Tom Schwister, Luca-Sandro Trefz, Norbert Siedler, Luca Stolz (two-time Bathurst 12 Hour winner), and Fabian Vettel, plus rally driver Uwe Nittel.