German publication Sport Auto was provided with a Ferrari 296 GTB to take around the Nurburgring's Nordschleife, and it's already one of the most impressive vehicles to take on the circuit with a time below 7 minutes: 6:58.7. That's the quickest official time for any production Ferrari to take on the track so far.

The feat was achieved by the publication's resident test driver, who is no slouch behind the wheel. At the helm of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Christian Gebhardt came within five seconds of Porsche's own factory test driver's time - a highly impressive feat considering that an OEM's test driver knows the ins and outs of a car far better than anyone else.

The point we're making is that the time set here is probably not far off what Ferrari itself would set were it more agreeable to comparative testing.

Ferrari does not often provide its cars to journalists for the purposes of benchmarking their abilities against those of rivals, which is why there is no official lap time for other Prancing Horses like the SF90 Stradale. But on this rare occasion, the Nurburgring lap time appears to have been supported by the Maranello-based outfit.

Ferrari provided the best possible version of the 296 GTB. This example has the Assetto Fiorano handling package that adds Multimatic dampers, a composite rear window, extra carbon fiber, that unique livery, and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R rubber. No increase in power comes with this upgrade, but that's perfectly fine in a car with such a spectacular engine. The 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 with hybrid assistance makes 819 horsepower.

The topic of Nurburgring lap times can be somewhat sensitive at times, with several claims made by small and large automakers alike. But of those to have proved their lap times with video evidence and adjudication, only 14 cars before the 296 GTB have recorded an official time below 7 minutes.

According to Carscoops, the Ferrari's time of 6:58.7 is half a second slower than that set by the same driver in 2018 in the extreme Porsche 911 GT2 RS and approximately a second quicker than that achieved behind the wheel of the Lamborghini Aventador SuperVeloce LP750-4, the next quickest car.

We sincerely hope that Ferrari will open its cars up to comparative testing such as this more regularly, but with the automaker in possession of the private Fiorano test track in its backyard, Maranello will likely continue to maintain the mystique of most of its offerings.