Crazy electric fan car beats Goodwood’s record for Volkswagen

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Volkswagen and Romain Dumas break their own records at Goodwood. On Sunday, as part of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, former Formula 1 driver Max Chilton first completed the 1.86km track in the McMurty Speirling electric prototype in 39.14 seconds.

The Briton was 72 milliseconds faster than the previous record time Dumas set at the wheel of a Volkswagen ID.R in 2019. With the prototype, which was also powered by electricity, Dumas was the first driver to stay under the 40-second mark in 39.90 seconds in Goodwood.

updated: In the so-called penalty shootout, the grand finale of the Goodwood hillclimb, Chilton improved the time by six hundredths of a second to a new record of 39.08 seconds.

The McMurty Speirling is a more extreme car than the ID.R. The small single-seat prototype is powered by two electric motors on the rear axle, which, according to the manufacturer, produce more than 1,000 horsepower.

The car weighs less than 1000 kg, which means that it can accelerate from 0 to 100 km / h in 1.5 seconds.

The secret behind the McMurty Speirling’s strong performance are two fans that extract air from the bottom of the car thus generating 2,000 kg of downforce even when stationary (all data is manufacturer’s information).

“Virtually constant downforce is an innovative feature that you can take advantage of as a driver,” says driver Chilton. “It’s very different from what I’m used to in Formula 1 and IndyCar, and in the test this year I had to adjust my driving style to maximize performance.”

Brabham’s team used the concept of a so-called fan car in 1978 with the BT46B in Formula 1 – and with great success. Niki Lauda won the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp with her revolutionary car. After this race, this technique was banned. Sports car maker Chaparral has used a similar concept in the past.