It's not fair to compare Ring times directly without stating the distance driven. Sport Autos lap times are run at full lap miuns 200m (von Saurma feels going flat out past the pit/onramp is unnecessarily dangerous, in motorsport full laps are timed from the starting line, while on regular open days, times are BTG since the track is blocked, preventing a whole lap.
A BTG lap is typically about 20s quicker/shorter than a full lap, with some souces claiming a Sport Auto lap about 3s quicker than a full lap. So as you see, a Sport Auto lap is actually a lot (LOT) faster than a similiarly timed BTG lap, hence the list above is not so accurate.
The Ring remains the ultimate test of a car, because driver confidence is a huge player. Going flat out at the Ring, you are driving into blind corners and over blind crests while accellerating absolutely max. As times show, a big engine will do you no good if the rest of the car isn't up to the task, as demonstrated by times posted by lower powered but sweet handling cars like the Golf R32 and the Impreza STi. In a straight line, neither of these would have a snowballs chance of matching the competition in their time bracket... but whan grabbed by the neck and driven all out, they perform like camps. Which probably is no surprice if you've ever driven an STI
