One sleepy week in November, a dim and misty Cotswold morning is slowing breaking. Only to be abruptly shattered by the McMurtry Spéirling zipping around a racing circuit, fans roaring, closer to home than ever before!
Despite being based less than 20 miles away, McMurtry had never visited Castle Combe Circuit with the Spéirling until this week. Busy climbing hills and making friends throughout the summer at Goodwood, Donington Park, Blenheim Palace and more, the Spéirling has always travelled away from home to be seen, heard and driven. But it seems we had been missing out on a lot of fun locally!
The perfect venue for testing this miniature track missile, the McMurtry team are gearing up for a whole week with the Spéirling at Castle Combe including back-to-back testing of new hardware and software, tuning the car to suit the quirks of the circuit, and welcoming special guest drivers into the hot seat.
Interestingly the infield of the circuit contains 60,000 solar panels, perfect for providing green energy to power EV laps with zero tail pipe emissions.
Starting life as an RAF airfield in 1941, Castle Combe hosted its first race with the Bristol Motorcycle & Light Car Club in July 1950. Later that same year, a young Stirling Moss won a F3 race heat. Throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s the circuit hosted rounds of most of the national championships in which big names such as Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, and David Coulthard entertained huge crowds at Castle Combe.
The modern track layout was completed in 1999 and is slightly longer than the original at 1.85 miles (2.98 km). British Formula 3 and British GT Championship races took place at Castle Combe until 2005 when a noise nuisance order prevented their return.
It is opportune then that Castle Combe has opened its gates to McMurtry Automotive to usher in a new era of electric motorsport as, despite the fan-powered Downforce on Demand system making the McMurtry Spéirling the loudest electric car ever, the Spéirling can run in both quiet and louder configurations depending on the downforce level selected.
More recent racing includes a home-circuit multi-class championship, Formula Ford, and racing club championships such as British Racing and Sports Car Club. Castle Combe is home to a weekend of motorcycle racing each summer and also hosts track days, car shows and even filming for famous motoring TV programmes.
The Spéirling flying down the start/finish straight at Castle Combe Circuit
Today the refreshed circuit provides some of the closest circuit racing in British motorsport, all with a stunningly scenic backdrop, making it one of the UK’s best-loved circuits. The McMurtry team are delighted to be able to use such a well suited circuit, so close to McMurtry HQ. Thank you, Castle Combe!
