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Generally speaking, you don't expect a family-friendly, seven-seat Skoda to be hammering around the iconic Nurburgring nordschleife in search of a lap record, but then this is no ordinary SUV. This is the Skoda Kodiaq RS.
Still covered in camouflage paint, as the new model is not going to be fully shown in public until the Paris motor show in October, the Kodiaq RS will come, initially at any rate, with the 240hp twin-turbo diesel engine from the Volkswagen Tiguan BiTurbo. That car can crack a 0-100km/h run of 6.5 seconds, and has a top speed approaching 240km/h, so the hot Kodiaq is likely to have quite the turn of pace, albeit with the potential for Band D emissions and reasonable fuel economy too.
Judging from the teaser video we've seen (the full version will be released on June 14th) Sabine wasn't driving for economy. The some-time Top Gear presenter, and living 'Ring legend, suited and booted in full Nomex race gear, looks pretty determined as she launches the Skoda off the line and heads out to do battle with the Nurburgring's 20.5km.
Schmitz is familiar with every one of the 73 corners and 300m of hills across the legendary 20.832-km-long circuit in the Eifel region. Schmitz is the first and - to date - only woman to have won the famous 24-hour race there and was an obvious choice to pilot the family-friendly seven-seat performance SUV to the finish line in record-breaking time.
Although in this instance Sabine wasn't racing competitively, she did take a co-pilot along for the ride; František Drábek, Head of Compact Models at Skoda Auto, didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to experience the record-breaking lap from the passenger seat. Drábek played a major part in the development of the high-performance Kodiaq RS and was now in the car during the lap, experiencing its capabilities on the extreme circuit.
We now just need to know exactly what record it broke. After all, it's unlikely to be faster than the 510hp Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, which recently set a 7:51.7 lap record for SUVs. So is the Kodiaq RS now the fastest seven-seater car to lap the 'Ring? We'll find out...