McMurtry showcase two cars running at Laguna Seca during 10 min public display, one accidentally beats EV record
- At Laguna Seca, McMurtry ran two fan cars together in public for the first time
- The demo session was right in the middle of the Monterey Motorsports Reunion race meeting
- The aim was to showcase McMurtry’s prototype fan car’s to highlight longer running and by using drivers who are non-professional to show accessibility of performance
- Philip Kadoorie enjoyed 7 laps during the 10 minute stint in the newest Spéirling PURE VP1 model. Running power and downforce at 50%, he achieved a best lap of 1:18.413 which is a new outright EV record at Laguna.
- For reference, this is also 6.3s faster than the production car record set by the Czinger 21C.
- Philip Kadoorie is currently campaigning a Group C Porsche 962 in historic motorsport. It was Philips first time driving the PURE, having driven the previous model on one occasion before.
- Thomas Yates, McMurtry managing director, was driving the Silver Goodwood record holding Spéirling. It was his debut at this iconic Californian circuit.
- The McMurtry Spéirling PURE hyper-track car starts at £895k + taxes & delivery. (Equivalent approx $US 1.178m)
- The 60kWh battery in the Spéirling PURE Validation Prototype 1 uses high performance Molicel lithium-ion cells and the customer cars will have an enhanced 100kWh battery using the new Molicel P50B cells to achieve a 20 min run time at GT3 pace.
On 17th August, McMurtry debuted on the full 2.238 mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, going the right way round this time, having won the reverse direction Corkscrew hillclimb there the weekend prior. Two Spéirling’s took to the legendary circuit to show drivers and spectators fan cars running again at Laguna during a 10 min demonstration session, over 50 years since the original Chaparral 2J fan car first competed there.
The blue Spéirling PURE VP1 was driven by friend of the company Philip Kadoorie, who completed 7 laps in front of the spectators at the Monterey Motorsport Reunion where he was there to race a Porsche 962 Group C car. He has driven the silver Spéirling once before in the UK.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed record holding Spéirling was driven by Thomas Yates, Managing Director of McMurtry.
The aim was to demonstrate the cars doing longer session durations opposed to single qualifying style laps, and also for the cars to be driven by non-professional drivers to show that this seemingly unattainable performance level is still accessible by normal driving enthusiasts.
Philip’s first flying lap was enough to beat the EV record, almost by accident. His session best was 1:18.413 which is the new outright EV record at Laguna Seca.
In fact, every single one of Philips flying laps was under the existing EV record of 1:26.7 set by the Unplugged Performance modified 1020hp Tesla Model S Plaid which achieved a top 10 at the 2023 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. It’s not massively fair to compare a purpose built track car to other production or production based records but it is noteworthy however that Philip achieved this lap time whilst running in a 50% power and downforce mode for the demo, which highlights the pace advantage inbuilt to a Spéirling fan car. For reference, Philips’ time was 6.3s faster than the production car record set by the Czinger 21C.
This demonstration bodes well for some McMurtry customers who wish to learn with their own Spéirling’s to then set their own records on other circuits and hillclimbs.
Philip enthused he would love to return in future years to Laguna Seca to try the higher settings.
The McMurtry Spéirling generates up to 4,400 pounds of downforce from 0mph, using onboard fans, to give hard to believe dynamic performance. Using advance P50B battery cells from Molicel, the customer version of the cars will perform 20 mins of track running at GT3 pace before recharging again in 20 mins. With the potential to run much faster as demonstrated by other record’s set by McMurtry at Goodwood, Hockenheim, Castle Combe and the Laguna Reverse Corkscrew Hillclimb.
Thomas Yates said “The world’s first fan car took pole position here in Can-am 54 years ago – the Chaparral 2J. To have followed in those wheel tracks, showing what our modern take on a fan car can do, has been really special. There are so many passionate spectators, drivers and collectors here, the reception has been fantastic.”
Philip Kadoorie said “Getting to drive one of my favourite tracks in the Spéirling has been truly great. I have gone four seconds faster around here than I ever have before. The car is easy to drive and invites you to build speed with each lap. The confidence I had with the fan assisted aero is one of the reasons we broke the EV record today without really trying. I’d love to return next year and try the more powerful fan and power settings next for the outright lap record.”
The cars have now headed over the the East Coast of the US for private customer test drives at Lime Rock Park.
Spéirling PURE track car objectives
- To make record breaking performance accessible to track driving enthusiasts.
- To bring back legendary fan car technology
- To restore passion for small and lightweight cars
McMurtry Company Objectives
- McMurtry’s ambition is to become one of the world’s most prestigious and long-standing automotive brands, founded on motorsport innovation.
- Inspired by legends of the past, we champion small and lightweight.
- We proudly showcase British innovation and engineering design.
