Volkswagen made headlines at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed when its ID R electric racer surged to the top of the 1.16-mile course in 39.9sec - and that record stood for three years until being resoundingly beaten last weekend by Wiltshire-based start-up McMurtry Automotive, whose ludicrous Spéirling fan car shaved 0.82sec off that time.
We spoke to ex-Marussia Formula 1 driver and now McMurtry development driver Max Chilton – who was at the wheel of the warp-speed EV for the record run – to find out exactly how it was done, what it means and what’s coming next.
What did it feel like?
“It was pretty astonishing. We had pretty much every manufacturer that was competing in the time trial coming up to have an in-depth look at our car, because they just could not believe it. It’s the biggest reaction I’ve ever had to anything in my 21 years of motorsport. It was still going 48 hours after the event - still the number one trending video on YouTube worldwide. People can’t get their heads around it. They’re all convinced it’s fast forwarded. They just don’t believe a car can do what it’s done.
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“Everyone’s watched the Festival of Speed multiple times, but to see it speed up like that… They can see it looks visibly different, which is great to be a part of, and it’s wicked that it was me driving it. I’ve been going since I was four years old. My dad was in the hillclimb in 1995 – I remember being there to watch him going up the hill – and I’ve known the Duke and Duchess [of Richmond] all my life, so it was a special moment to break a 23-year record with a British-built, British-engineered car with a British driver that’s always been passionate about Goodwood. It really was the most special day of my motorsport career, and I never thought that would be a hillclimb in Sussex...”
He’s done it again! @maxchilton has just broken the Timed Shootout and his outright record in the McMurtry Spéirling. The VW ID.R has been beaten with a ridiculous time of 39.081 seconds. The Future of Motorsport Power presented by @dhlexpressuk #gw_DHL #FOS #Hillclimb #record pic.twitter.com/5Lr2ODJzrt
— Goodwood FOS (@fosgoodwood) June 26, 2022
How do you get used to this sort of pace?
“The first time I did a full-suck-down, full-torque launch, I thought: ‘That is mad fast.’ But you get used to it, and now a 2.5-3.0sec launch feels useless, so blasé, because anything sub-2.0sec really puts the force on the body. It’s still great fun, and the best thing about it is anyone with no driving experience could do 0-60mph in 1.5sec. You literally go full throttle with full brake, and once you let go of the brake, it doesn’t do any torque steering. You’re there in 1.3sec. It’s brilliant technology.”
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