Electric vehicles again broke the record for the fastest at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, last weekend. McMurtry Speirling is now officially the fastest record holder at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Driven by Max Chilton, a car that looks like a Batmobile broke the fastest record.
McMurtry Speirling broke the record during the final shootout session on Sunday (26/6/2022). The record time obtained was not even 40 seconds, 39.08 seconds to be exact. The 1.87-kilometer hill track at Goodwood can be devoured by this car in an instant, thanks to the excellent performance of the electric motor system and its aerodynamics.
With a time of 39.08 seconds, the car made by the British startup company beat the previous record broken in 2019 by the Volkswagen ID.R electric car driven by Loic Duval. It also broke the new record previously held by the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-13 F1 car with Nick Heidfeld which lasted 20 years, with a time of 41.6 seconds.
This electric car, which has a compact design and dimensions, relies on two electric motors that drive the rear wheels. Speirling has a power-to-weight ratio of 1,000 hp per tonne according to McMurtry’s claims. The overall weight of this car is also less than 1,000 kilograms. This means that the ratio between the performance and weight of this car is almost 1:1.
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Not only that, the innovation from McMurtry adopted into Speirling is to install a fan at the rear to create downforce up to 2,000 kilograms at any speed. So it’s not surprising that Speirling can stick to the asphalt when used at high speed. This innovation is like what Gordon Murray did on the Brabham BT46 F1 car in 1978, which was then carried over to the Gordon Murray T.50 supercar in 2020.
The McMurtry Speirling was designed as an experimental prototype, which means it’s not a mass-produced car. The design resembles an endurance racing car with much reduced dimensions. The cockpit can only be filled by one person, with the back of the roof attached with a shark fin as a supporting aerodynamics device. Unlike the initial version introduced a year earlier, the Speirling that appeared at Goodwood was equipped with a large rear wing.
Its streamlined design and sharp-angled aerodynamics have earned it the nickname “Baby EV Batmobile”. The wheels themselves are also designed aerodynamically, most of which are covered with bars to minimize wind resistance when driving.
Signs McMurtry will become a new record holder already seen on Friday. Chilton immediately incised the time that stole the attention during the first try. Then the following day chilton missed being replaced by Alex Summers, with identical times. Then on the final day, Chilton who had raced in F1 sharpened his time and broke a new record.
