On 28 February 2005, at 12.08 local time, the Koenigsegg CCR broke the production road car speed record, achieving a new official top speed of 242.42 mph at Italy’s Nardo Prototipo proving ground.
A team of five Koenigsegg engineers and mechanics together with founder Christian von Koenigsegg ran, a technically standard Koenigsegg CCR in order to take the top speed record for productions road cars. The famous supercar test driver, Loris Bicocchi who is a veteran recorder breaker, drove the CCR.
The CCR raised McLaren's previously unofficial mark of 232.5mph set at Nardo/Prototipo in 1993 by 10mph. On top of this the CCR broke the official McLaren F1 record of 242mph, which was set on the 5.5-mile straight line VW Ehra facility in Wolfsburg Germany.
A team of Nardo Prototipo technicians independently verified the speed of the CCR. The car was clocked using Tag Heuer´s Splitmaster 650 with photocells stationary at the track, recording the average speed over one kilometre.
Nardo Prototipo is a circular track with a circumference of nearly eight miles. This means that the car is constantly turning, making the exercise and speed even more impressive. The steering wheel at this speed is kept at around 30 degrees -- a sharp corner for the speed.
The constant turning motion of the car creates extra friction on the tyres, friction that soaks up horsepower needed for further acceleration. The maximum speed was reached at around 6,790rpm, even though maximum hp is reached at higher engine speeds.
With this verification of speed, Koenigsegg said he was even more confident that the CCR was capable of reaching its projected top speed of 247mph, or more, in a straight line.
Driver Loris Bicocchi was very impressed by the performance of the car. “This test was very important for the customers and owners of Koenigsegg cars. It proves that their belief and faith in the small Koenigsegg Company was well founded”, he said.
Filmator, a Swedish film crew that currently is making a documentary about the Koenigsegg Company for Swedish television, documented the record attempt.
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