- Running at 80% power with a 155mph speed limit, a lap time of 54.559s was achieved at Castle Combe Circuit, Wiltshire, England during private testing
- The car is the McMurtry Spéirling PURE (Validation Prototype 1) fan car driven by Max Chilton on 29th April 2024.
- This is 4.037s faster than the outright fastest race lap record (set by an F3 car in 2021)
- It is 9.796s faster than the GT3 lap record (set by a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 in 2022)
- Castle Combe is often referred to as the prettiest village in England, and its race track, Castle Combe Circuit, has a 74 year racing history. It’s 1.85mile long featuring a mix of fast corners, a blind crest and two technical chicanes.
- McMurtry cars are designed and hand built just 30 mins from Castle Combe so the venue holds a special status as ‘home circuit’
- McMurtry has performed durability testing here since 2021 and has a long standing relationship with Castle Combe. This is the first time a lap time has been released.
- McMurtry are testing and verifying increased power modes under different use cases, and this record was set whilst running 80%. Further record attempts will be made throughout the world in 2024 and 2025, as the test programme moves towards the 100% power and 100% downforce settings.
- High performance Molicel lithium ion cells are used in the battery pack of this car
- The McMurtry Spéirling PURE hyper-track car starts at £895k + taxes & delivery.
Please enjoy this 3 minute video (including onboards) of the lap plus some Castle Combe history here:
The McMurtry team thought it was about time to answer the question asked by a lot of Castle Combe locals in person and online such as ‘how fast is it around Combe?’, ‘Surely it’s got the record already’ & ‘Lap times please???’
On 29th April, The McMurtry Spéirling PURE (Validation Prototype 1) fan car achieved the outright fastest ever lap around the 1.85mile Castle Combe Circuit as a part of routine testing.
The time of 54.559s was set by McMurtry development driver, Max Chilton, who also holds the record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and was 4 seconds quicker than the existing outright race lap record, set by an open wheel single seater F3 car. And nearly 10 seconds quicker than the GT3 lap record, a large percentage on such a short lap.
Interestingly, Castle Combe is McMurtry’s local circuit and is the same venue Max passed his racing license test back in the early 2000s, which gives this lap extra significance to all involved.
Max commented ‘Everyone wants bragging rights at their local circuit, and even running at 80% power and with a 155mph speed limit, we’ve already gone 4 seconds faster than the outright track record. This demonstrates the potential in the car for our customers to achieve the same at their local or favourite circuits’.
The McMurtry Spéirling PURE is a hyper-track car available for order worldwide. It utilises a unique downforce-on-demand system to provide exceptional downforce and grip right from 0mph. This system works alongside the 1000bhp electric powertrain, offering selectable performance drive modes from GT3 to F1-level pace.
Thomas Yates, Managing Director of McMurtry Automotive, “This is a fun milestone to achieve. It’s not everyday you get to see a car and driver go so much faster than what’s gone before. Having tested at Castle Combe for years, it was about time we showed what the car can do around our local circuit”.
McMurtry are now heading to the USA to compete at Laguna Seca in the reverse corkscrew hillclimb with the original Goodwood record holding Spéirling and driver Max Chilton on 10th and 11th August.
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.
