McMurtry Automotive targets Goodwood hill record
Updated Speirling fan car promises more downforce than F1 car and 0-60mph in 1.5 seconds...
The Sunday Shootout at the Goodwood Festival of Speed has become one of the weekend’s biggest draws, with some of the world’s fastest road and race cars attempting to get up the Duke of Richmond’s 1.16-mile drive as fast as possible. It’s become such a big deal for manufacturers, that VW entered a retuned ID.R into the timed runs in 2019 - and wiped the floor with everyone, clocking 39.9 seconds. But for 2022’s FOS, a British EV start up is aiming to beat it…
The McMurtry Automotive Speirling may not be a car you know of yet, but it’s nothing if not innovative. And distinctive - it really is as tiny as it looks, like a Hot Wheels prototype racer. It’s an EV, powered McMurtry’s own 60kWh battery pack (more powertrain details are coming at Goodwood), but that’s not the exciting bit. The exciting bit is that the Speirling is a fan car, and its entry into the timed shootout is the first occasion a fan car has been in official competition since Niki Lauda won the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix in the Brabham BT46B.
Like the infamous Brabham, the McMurtry uses a fan to dramatically increase downforce; 2,000kg is claimed, and that’s from 0mph. Don’t ask us how that’s possible, because we don’t know. With the promise of a 0-60mph time that’s “under 1.5 seconds” thanks to 1,000hp per tonnne, you can see why Sir David McMurtry’s team of former F1 engineers are confident about their chances. The Goodwood hill probably looks like a proper race track in something as small as the Speirling, too.
McMurtry’s project began in 2016, with the aim to design and build the “ultimate high performance car”, without compromise or concession; it was designed “around the twin goals of driver engagement and vehicle performance”, which sound like great building blocks for any car.
The Speirling that’s come out, says McMurtry, aims to “herald a new era of track capability, hasten wider EV development and showcase McMurtry Automotive as EV innovators for road and track cars.” With the shootout as big a deal as it is, a record-breaking run would undoubtedly ensure a lot of attention for the tiny EV.
Max Chilton, who has been lead development driver for McMurtry, will be responsible for the attempt. In fact, it’ll be his first competitive run: “The challenge now is to translate confidence and speed from testing on conventional circuits onto Goodwood’s tight, undulating hillclimb course. We will have limited practice runs and an audience of hundreds of thousands, so it’s a demanding yet great opportunity to show the current pace of this car on the world stage.” Looks like it’ll be well worth hanging around until Sunday afternoon, then - can the VW’s incredible time be beaten?
IIRC, the old F1 ground effect cars worked because they had a skirt to create a very rough “seal” to assist with maintaining a lower pressure area. That was fine until you rode over a large enough bump to lift the skirt clear of the road. As Goodwood is not exactly that wide, it’s going to need some serious skill to be smooth (aswell as balls of titanium). Good luck!
IIRC, the old F1 ground effect cars worked because they had a skirt to create a very rough “seal” to assist with maintaining a lower pressure area. That was fine until you rode over a large enough bump to lift the skirt clear of the road. As Goodwood is not exactly that wide, it’s going to need some serious skill to be smooth (aswell as balls of titanium). Good luck!
But best of luck to them and I hope it gets the record!
I attended a Greystone test at Silverstone when this car was running, earlier this year. Honestly it's astonishing. Rolling down the pit lane it looked slightly comical but I changed my mind the first time it rushed past the pits: at Copse it barely seemed to lift and made most conventional cars like the GT3s or LMP3s (all run by serious teams with pro drivers) look quite pedestrian. In the wet it was on a completely different level and barely seemed any slower than it was in the dry, such was the level of downforce. Without doubt one of the most impressive things I've seen in 40-odd years of watching and working in motorsport.
Given its size and performance it should smash the Goodwood record. The only real question mark is over the impact of the more uneven and crowned road surface on the ground effect, which could make it a really darty handful.
There is an EV record at Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb ripe for the taking too, if the team fancy a follow-up. Would suit the car well as its a narrow hill!
Looks like they have updated it for this attempt - good luck Max!
Good luck to them though.
Somebody with bigger brains than me will know better
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