Wednesday 14th August 2024

McMurtry claims Laguna Seca hillclimb record

Another day, another mind boggling Speirling time - what's next?

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We’re used to seeing Laguna Seca records these days, with everything from a Taycan Turbo GT to a McLaren P1 taking to the iconic Californian track in recent years. The Laguna Seca hillclimb, however, is rather less well known; incorporated into the Monterey car week festivities in 2022, it runs the track in reverse, beginning on the start grid and climbing to the top of the Corkscrew. It’s not very far, but think about the gradient - it’s a proper hillclimb alright. 

Everything from a Bugatti Type 35 to a Mini Cooper, a Ruf Yellowbird to a Lotus Elan, and Doc Hudson from Cars to a Case IH Steiger 620 Quadtrac tractor has competed since 2022, and it’s gaining popularity every single year. Nice to have a break from perfectly presented hypercars for a bit of competition sometimes. For 2024 McMurtry brought a Spéirling to California and, wouldn’t you know, it absolutely monstered all comers (and the previous record) with a 21.958-second run.

Indeed, ‘monstered’ sells it short - decimated might be more appropriate. The second placed car was a 1967 Ford Falcon, which was more than eight seconds slower at 29.004. Think about that - on a run that took less than half a minute, the McMurtry was EIGHT SECONDS faster than anything else that entered. Third was a Ferrari SF90 Stradale - you know, the 1,000hp Ferrari flagship - that managed a 29.822. It’s honestly hard to imagine a car available to the public being capable of such spectacular speed. The previous record was held by a 1976 Lotus Type 77 F1 car, which went around last year in 34.690 seconds. The McMurtry time will probably stick around at the top for a little longer. 

Max Chilton was again behind the wheel of the Spéirling - he’s probably not tired of setting more records, either. It was trackside champagne and pizza for the victors, then presumably off to The Quail for McMurtry. There’s surely nothing like being faster than every single other hypercar out there to draw a crowd…

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• McMurtry smashes Castle Combe lap record
• Mad Porsche Taycan Turbo GT gets up to 1,108hp

[sidesauce]

Love this for them and am a big fan (no pun intended) of McMurtry.

[SydneyBridge]

Is there any track they would not be able to break the lap record? Seems invincible at the moment

As long as the pilot/driver can hold on long enough to get around the track

[British Beef]

Incredible feat of engineering, congrats to the team involved!

Im looking forward to the sub 5 min Nurburgring time....

[Nomme de Plum]

Pity the camera work isn't that great.

Using a dreadful Americanism. Awesome.

British engineering too so should be much celebrated.

[unpc]

I saw this thing at the shootout at the FoS a couple of years ago and it was otherworldly. I like to think I'm a diehard petrolhead but this is so spectacular in the flesh. It will smash records wherever it goes. Like to see what it can do at Mount Panorama.

[Stevemtb]

Amazing, but not as amazing as getting a 1967 Ford Falcon up in second ahead of a Ferrari SF90, bit embarrassing!

[Fetchez la vache]

SydneyBridge said:

Is there any track they would not be able to break the lap record? Seems invincible at the moment

I'm assuming any track that's twisty will play to it's strengths, but until they use 100% of it's power (isn't it still on 80% boost or something?), then any track with long straights it will be harder to be as dominant.

An amazing feat in a car that to me anyway, also looks just fabulous.

[phil4]

Odd they chose not to actually do a full lap, the right way around and set a laptime/record.

[Mr-B]

Stevemtb said:

Amazing, but not as amazing as getting a 1967 Ford Falcon up in second ahead of a Ferrari SF90, bit embarrassing!

That was the thing that struck me most too! Great achievement by McMurtry though.

[swisstoni]

British Beef said:

Incredible feat of engineering, congrats to the team involved!

Im looking forward to the sub 5 min Nurburgring time....

Range could be the only barrier I would have thought. And I’d be pretty sure they’ve thought of that.

[RumbleOfThunder]

Just when I though the Combe lap was irrelevant, they do this.

[ChemicalChaos]

Mr-B said:

Stevemtb said:

Amazing, but not as amazing as getting a 1967 Ford Falcon up in second ahead of a Ferrari SF90, bit embarrassing!

That was the thing that struck me most too! Great achievement by McMurtry though.

This intrigued me as well, but it turns out there's not a great deal of 67 Falcon bits in that car.....

https://www.seymourenterprises.org/ford-falcon-gt1




A "1967 Falcon bodied IMSA/Nascar" might have been a more appropriate description.....

[otolith]

SydneyBridge said:

Is there any track they would not be able to break the lap record? Seems invincible at the moment

As long as the pilot/driver can hold on long enough to get around the track

A long track with high peak speeds. Nurburgring would be interesting/challenging - it has a 300 mile range at road speeds but the range drops as the pace is ramped up, so I suspect that the Nurburgring time would come down to how much they have to peg it back to make it round. It's also currently speed limited and running 80% power, suspect they want to remove those limitations before they have a crack at it.

[C5_Steve]

ChemicalChaos said:

This intrigued me as well, but it turns out there's not a great deal of 67 Falcon bits in that car.....

https://www.seymourenterprises.org/ford-falcon-gt1




A "1967 Falcon bodied IMSA/Nascar" might have been a more appropriate description.....

That's hilarious, what a beast!

Seriously impressive time once again, pleased to see this continuing to redefine what's possible.

[Mr Cod]

I'd love to see this at Pikes Peak.

[cerb4.5lee]

Well done to everyone involved.

I absolutely adore battery powered cars for sure, and they're wonderful in my eyes. Just brilliant.

[EV8]

Am I the only one, who thinks suction fans are just cheating?
And also calling this a car is a bit of a stretch...

[Xenoous]

Well done to everyone involved with that car. I love seeing this car claim so many accolades. A wonderful thing to see.

[griffdude]

It would be interesting skip these demonstration events & to see this at a proper hillclimb- Prescott/Shelsley/Gurston/Harrwood.

[WCZ]

otolith said:

A long track with high peak speeds. Nurburgring would be interesting/challenging - it has a 300 mile range at road speeds but the range drops as the pace is ramped up, so I suspect that the Nurburgring time would come down to how much they have to peg it back to make it round. It's also currently speed limited and running 80% power, suspect they want to remove those limitations before they have a crack at it.

it'll be an absolutely wild lap and take huge bravery - especially at 100% power

would love to see it though