Hanover, 8 July 2008 - The ContiSportContact Vmax has set a new record. Jan Fatthauer, boss of the Porsche Tuners 9ff team, took his GT9 up to a speed of 409 km/h with the high-tech tyre on the Papenburg test circuit (Emsland), a new record for the street-legal 987 horsepower racing car, as well as for Continental's high-tech sports tyre. The test was also attended by Holger Berkmann, ContiSportContact Vmax development engineer from Continental Tuning.

The ContiSportContact Vmax, which is actually "only" approved for speeds of up to 360 km/h, was given clearance for higher speeds for the record attempt in the GT9; according to Holger Berkmann, after all, the tyre was expected to be able to withstand a higher load under controlled test conditions.

This is the first time that the ContiSportContact Vmax has gone over 400 km/h. Its previous record was set just under a year ago when the Bimoto Audi TT from mtm clocked a speed of 393 km/h, also in Papenburg.

Europe's leading tyre manufacturer has the world's fastest series-produced tyre, the ContiSportContact Vmax, in its range; approved for speeds of up to 360 km/h, the ContiSportContact Vmax was the only tyre to make it into last year's Guinness Book of Records.