McMurtry hurricane breaks Goodwood Hillclimb record
Over an exceptional four-day event, the biggest highlight of this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed was breaking the direct record uphill. Max Chilton, a former Formula 1 and IndyCar driver, drove McMurtry Spéirling up the 1.16-mile hill in 39.081 seconds.
The thunderstorm is the electric monster specially built to destroy track records. The car has a fan-driven active downforce system that can generate over 4400 pounds of downforce, even at standstill. Spéirling weighs just under a tonne and has almost 1000 horsepower, which allows the vehicle to go from 0 to 300 km / h (186.4 mph) in nine seconds.
The record run is amazing to see when the small machine whizzes up the narrow sidewalk. There is almost no deceleration when Spéirling rounds the high-ball-edged corners of hill climbing. The audience gasps in astonishment as the fan car whizzes past each viewing area. For each camera clip, Spéirling gets faster and faster until it blows over the finish line at significant speed.
The previous direct record of 39.9 seconds was unofficially set by the electric Volkswagen ID.R in 2019, with two-time Le Mans winner Romain Dumas behind the wheel. The record was unofficial because Dumas set the time during a qualifying race on Saturday, not on Sunday during a race in the shootout itself.
Nick Heidfeld set the previous official record of 41.6 seconds in a 1998 McLaren MP4 / 13 during the 1999 Festival of Speed. Although Heidfield’s race was official, the record is still carried like a star because Formula 1 cars can no longer run time-limited competitive races up the hill for safety reasons. When you look at Heidfeld’s run, it is visible how much higher turning speed McMurtry Spéirling has compared to the F1 car in the late 90’s.
