Caparo Lays Claim To Top Gear Power Lap
Company says production car's adjustable suspension will clear speed bumps
Caparo, maker of the outlandish T1, has asked Top Gear for another crack at the programme’s Power Lap leader board.
The T1 set a lap time of 1:10.6 - seven seconds quicker than the Koenigsegg CCX which held the previous record.
However the rules state a car is only allowed on the leader board if it can drive over a speed bump.
Top Gear’s makers decided the Caparo T1 would be unable to do this and removed it from the top of the leader board.
Caparo now claims the production car will be fitted with an adjustable suspension and will therefore be eligible for the Power Lap.
Angad Paul, chief executive officer of Caparo, said: 'We certainly hope that the Caparo T1 is given another chance by Top Gear to take its rightful place at the top of the leader board; even if they put a speed bump on the track we are confident of our success.
The vehicle’s designer, Ben Scott-Geddes added: 'The model we supplied to Top Gear was one of our final engineering vehicles without adjustable ride height and electronic active driver control systems which are standard on our production models.
'When driver’s select the "road" setting, the car is more tractable in slower speed conditions and the ride height is fully adjustable to bring the car up to 90mm clearance, making it more than capable of driving over speed bumps.'
But the Caparo could face stiff opposition if another car, the Ultima GTR720, gets a chance at the Power Lap leader board.
British supercar manufacturer Ultima recently celebrated its 15th anniversary by smashing the lap record on the Top Gear test track.
The Ultima used was fully road legal, with standard tyres, and was even driven to the test track.
Ultima’s director, Richard Marlow, said the company has approached Top Gear on a number of occasions to let the Stig take the wheel of the GTR but has been repeatedly turned down.
They used their own benchmark driver to get the independent figure of 1:12.8, two seconds off the Caparo.
But Mr Marlow wouldn’t rule out further attempts at an even quicker lap with their more powerful and faster GTR800 variant.
I'm actually more interested in the Caparo and the Ultima than I am in the latest Ferrari/Porsche/Lamborghini, because I like the idea of things made in sheds by men in brown overjackets with woodbines behind their ears.
If it's road legal, it's a road car and should be given a chance at the lap.
heck, caterham beat the record too with the CSR260 lapping in 1:17.2
And I would say the Ultima was more of a road car than any of the Radicals/Caterhams/Atoms/Caparos that hav been on in the past. More on par with the Enzo, Koenigsegg, Lambos etc.
I'm actually more interested in the Caparo and the Ultima than I am in the latest Ferrari/Porsche/Lamborghini, because I like the idea of things made in sheds by men in brown overjackets with woodbines behind their ears.
If it's road legal, it's a road car and should be given a chance at the lap.
The T1 is like the Radical, I believe not to be a road car in any sense of the words. They are purely track machines with a few extra lights. Did they put the DB9R around the track? How about that mad racing Aston V8 Vantage that James took to Italy/Alps?
They are just as much track orientated as those other two, I believe them to be unsuitable to be compared with cars designed to handle normal roads.
I'm actually more interested in the Caparo and the Ultima than I am in the latest Ferrari/Porsche/Lamborghini, because I like the idea of things made in sheds by men in brown overjackets with woodbines behind their ears.
If it's road legal, it's a road car and should be given a chance at the lap.
The T1 is like the Radical, I believe not to be a road car in any sense of the words. They are purely track machines. Did they pout the DB9R around the track? How about that mad racing Aston V8 Vantage that James took to Italy/Alps?
They are just as much track orientated as those other two, I believe them to be unsuitable to be compared with cars designed to handle normal roads.
It's a road car.
It's a road car.
So, lets just say it was possible to make an F1 car road legal without changing very much. You think its fair to put next to it the likes of an Atom or a Hot Hatch? Should TG bring on that american abomination that managed to beat the Veyrons max speed? No, they won't, because it would be a shit car. The T1 maybe fast, doesn't mean you should put it on a pedestal.
TG should stick by their guns on this one.
And I would say the Ultima was more of a road car than any of the Radicals/Caterhams/Atoms/Caparos that hav been on in the past. More on par with the Enzo, Koenigsegg, Lambos etc.
It's a road car.
So, lets just say it was possible to make an F1 car road legal without changing very much. You think its fair to put next to it the likes of an Atom or a Hot Hatch? Should TG bring on that american abomination that managed to beat the Veyrons max speed? No, they won't, because it would be a shit car. The T1 maybe fast, doesn't mean you should put it on a pedestal.
TG should stick by their guns on this one.
I don't think one-offs should be put on the board, but at the moment we've got a situation where there's £300,000 cars versus £30,000 cars (CCX versus Atom) and no-one seems to see anything wrong with that, so why exclude hardcore cars like the T1? It's exactly as practical as, say, an Atom.
It's a road car.
So, lets just say it was possible to make an F1 car road legal without changing very much. You think its fair to put next to it the likes of an Atom or a Hot Hatch? Should TG bring on that american abomination that managed to beat the Veyrons max speed? No, they won't, because it would be a shit car. The T1 maybe fast, doesn't mean you should put it on a pedestal.
TG should stick by their guns on this one.
I don't think one-offs should be put on the board, but at the moment we've got a situation where there's £300,000 cars versus £30,000 cars (CCX versus Atom).
It isn't suitable to go on the board, there is no-way you can convince me that the T1 was designed with normal roads in mind, because it obviously wasn't. All the rest of those cars are designed to be enjoyed at the very least on the roads, and some others on the track aswell (the Atom fits here BTW).
Also. It's not beyond the realms of possibility for a normal proffesional to spend £40k on a second hand ultima (fi not less) whereas a Ferrari FXX or something is off-limits even to most millionaires.
Noone really needs to see the F1 cars, as we all know that they're damn fast round a track! The Ultima on the other hand may be a sort of track car, but there are plenty driven on the roads...
Unlike, Caparo, Atom, Radical, Caterfields Etc, Etc
But a £50k refugee from a 60's Le Mans race with a drop-in yank V8? Built near Leicester? That topping the board doesn't have quite the right ring to it, does it?!?
...and they knew from the start it would top the board (until the Caparo came along...)
Unlike, Caparo, Atom, Radical, Caterfields Etc, Etc
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