Back in April 2017, the Honda Civic Type R became the fastest FWD car at the Nurburgring after setting a blistering time of seven minutes and 43.8 seconds, smashing the previous record set by the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S. It's taken almost exactly two years, but the Civic Type R's Nurburgring record has finally been beaten by a French hot hatchback.

On April 5 this year, the new Renault Megane RS Trophy-R was let loose around the Green Hell and managed to lap the 14-mile circuit in just seven minutes and 40.1 seconds, beating the Civic Type R by 3.7 seconds. That officially makes it the fastest FWD production car to ever lap the Nurburgring. Behind the wheel was Laurent Hurgon, who set a previous FWD Nurburgring lap record in the last-gen Megane RS 275 Trophy-R.

The hardcore Trophy-R is powered by the same 300-horsepower engine as the regular version of the Megane Trophy but is 286 pounds lighter and features a host of aerodynamic enhancements. Renault engineers have also fine-tuned the chassis to make the new R version better suited to the racetrack.

The all-new Renault Megane RS Trophy-R will make its public debut at this year's Formula One Monaco Grand Prix on May 24, when Renault F1 drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg will get behind the wheel of the hardcore French hatchback.

According to Renault, the new Megane RS Trophy-R will go on sale before the end of the year as a special-edition model limited to just a few hundred units. Sadly, the Megane RS has never been sold in the US since production began back in 2004, so there's zero chance the even hotter Trophy-R will buck that trend. Shame.