This is why fan cars are banned from most forms of motorsport.
McMurtry Automotive uploaded a video of the Speirling lapping Silverstone during what appears to be a test day for GT3 cars. (There’s a winged Lamborghini Huracan, of which there is no GT4 version.) Driven by former Formula 1 driver Max Chilton, the Speirling was apparently set up to generate only 80 percent of its potential power and downforce. That’s still enough to demolish practically any car on track as the onboard video shows.
Chilton laid down a lap of 1:40.92, which needs some contextualization. That’s not quite in the same league as an F1 car, with the 2023 British Grand Prix’s pole time being 1:26.72, making the 107-percent qualifying time a 1:35.141. But it would qualify among the WEC’s old LMP1 cars, slotting between the sixth and seventh-quickest times in qualifying for the 2018 Britcar 6-Hour.
The Speirling did this while dealing with traffic, too. That second car must have held it up by at least a second or two, while the others would’ve docked it several tenths apiece by forcing suboptimal lines. Chilton also could’ve pinched a couple of apexes a little tighter, though that’s not to discount how good of a lap it still was. Suffice it to say, between the track conditions and the Speirling’s restrained performance, we haven’t yet seen what it can do. Maybe it could beat that 107-percent time after all—not that snooty F1 would allow it within a mile of a Grand Prix weekend.
McMurtry Automotive
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