Czinger Takes Laguna Seca Lap Record Back From Koenigsegg, Who Took It From Czinger Last Month, Who Took It From Koenigsegg Last Year, Who Took It From Czinger Earlier Last Year, Who Took It From McLaren In 2021

Everyone in America has been enraptured by "Heated Rivalry," the gay hockey player rom-dram television series that's been a smash hit on HBO Max (by way of Canada's Crave channel). But there's another heated rivalry that has been brewing in the U.S. for the past four years, starring an American and a Swede instead of a Canadian and a Russian. On Monday, California-based hypercar maker Czinger announced it had taken back the Laguna Seca production car lap record from Koenigsegg. That would be newsworthy regardless, but what makes this story really fun is that it's the fifth time the record has changed hands between these two automakers in the last four years.

It all started on July 21, 2021, when Czinger set a time of 1:25.44 with its 21C hypercar, which hadn't yet started series production. Then a relatively unknown company, Czinger broke the record set by the McLaren Senna in October 2019 by nearly two seconds. Fast forward to August 18, 2024, the last day of Monterey Car Week, when Koenigsegg set a time of 1:24.86 with its Jesko. Having just thrown a party the night before where it talked up the 21C's record, Czinger obviously couldn't have that, so it headed back to Laguna Seca on August 26, setting a new time of 1:24.75.

This past summer, Czinger drove a production-spec 21C 1,000 miles across California, setting five production car lap records at five different race tracks over five days, one of them beating its own Laguna Seca record. That new time of 1:24.39 was subsequently beaten by Koenigsegg on November 4, 2025, using the Sadair's Spear, an even-faster evolution of the Jesko. Again, Czinger couldn't let that stand, so it headed back to Laguna Seca on December 9 and took the record back.

Where the past few records have bested each other by mere tenths of a second, this time Czinger really put the hammer down, with driver Joel Miller setting a time of 1:22.30, nearly two seconds faster than the Sadair's Spear. The 21C used was the same one that completed the Gold Rush this year, still wearing its battle scars (though Czinger fixed one of the mirrors that had broken off). It wore road-legal Michelin Cup 2R tires, and the time was officially verified by Race Logic. Company founder and CEO Lukas Czinger said "we knew that under ideal conditions the 21C was capable of earning a much faster lap than we had demonstrated in the past – this lap time now properly reflects its capability." But honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if there is yet more speed to unlock. The 21C is an absolutely wild car, after all, with a tandem seating layout, an in-house-developed twin-turbo 2.88-liter V8 with a hybrid system pumping out 1,250 horsepower, and groundbreaking generative design and 3D printing technology used in its manufacturing.

The best part about this rivalry is how much the two companies and their respective heads and employees are enjoying it, poking fun while always being enthusiastic and respectful. After the Sadair's Spear's lap last month, Lukas made an instagram post congratulating Koenigsegg while saying that Czinger would be returning to the track to try and take it back. Founder and CEO Christian von Koenigsegg commented "Good Luck Guys👍- Healthy Competition 😊 If you really want a challenge – go for a low db day like we did😎 Cheers!" 

That's right — when Koenigsegg was at the track in November, it was on a day with noise restrictions, so the car had to be fitted with a special muffler, and it also was wearing heavier aluminum wheels instead of the normal carbon-fiber ones. So don't be shocked if Koenigsegg heads back to Laguna Seca to try and beat Czinger again. Hopefully this rivalry stays hot for a long time.