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McMurtry Speirling Smashes Top Gear Lap Record, Beats F1 Car

  • The pint-sized EV lapped the famous Top Gear test track in just 55.9 seconds.
  • McMurtry’s Speirling was a full 13 seconds quicker than the Aston Martin Valkyrie.
  • The EV’s fan system delivers 2,000 kg (4,400 lbs) of downforce at a standstill.

The McMurtry Spéirling Pure is unlike any other car on the planet. And, as it turns out, it can also go around the Top Gear Test Track unlike any other, too, setting a new outright lap record with ease. While the British EV looks a little funky, there’s no questioning its performance credentials.

Top Gear managed to get its hands on the Spéirling Pure, and it knew it was going to be fast. However, it wasn’t clear if it would be able to topple the Renault R24 Formula 1 car that lapped the circuit in 59.0 seconds back in 2004. Not only did the McMurtry topple that record, but it absolutely destroyed it. The EV needed just 55.9 seconds to complete a lap.

Watch: McMurtry Spéirling Sucks So Much That It Just Made History By Driving Upside Down

The speed at which the Spéirling accelerates and can handle corners is mind-boggling. It needs just 1.5 seconds to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) and cancorner harder and faster than an F1 car. Thanks to its complex fan system, it produces 2,000 kg (4,400 lbs) of downforce at a standstill. The Pure is even more insane than the original prototype, which smashed the Goodwood hillclimb record a few years back.

It comes standard with wider front and rear slick tires and can pull more than 3G in the corners. It also delivers 999 hp, has a 60 kWh battery pack, weighs just 2,200 lbs (1,000 kg), and tops out at 190 mph (306 km/h). The Stig wasn’t able to hit the Spéirling’s vmax at the track, but did get it up to 177 mph (285 km/h).

When watching the onboard video, you could be excused for thinking you’re watching a video game that’s been sped up. The grip on offer is truly insane and out of every corner, the McMurtry bolts off into the distance like a scalded cat.

To put the car’s time into perspective, it didn’t just beat a 2004 F1 car, but it slashed 13 seconds off the Aston Martin Valkyrie‘s time, which until now held the record for the fastest road-legal car ever tested by Top Gear with a time of 1:09.6.

Who Knew A Slow Ride Could Break Records? This Electric Bike Just Did

  • The Verge TS Pro traveled 193 miles on a single charge.
  • Power is provided by a hubless motor with 137 hp and 738(!) lb-ft.
  • The electric motorbike weighs in at a hefty 540 lbs or 245 kg.

This eye-catching all-electric motorcycle is the TS Pro from Verge, and it’s just set a Guinness World Record for the furthest distance traveled by an electric motorbike. Over 16 hours, it was ridden 193 miles (310.6 km) around London and finished the trip with 7% charge still left in its battery pack.

Electric motorbikes have yet to take off in the same way as electric cars, in part because battery packs are heavy, and weight is the enemy on a two-wheeler. However, the TS Pro shows that it is possible to build a compelling electric bike with heaps of power, a usable range, and relatively manageable weight.

Read: Verge’s $87,000 Mika Häkkinen Edition Electric Super Bike Is A Hubless Wonder

Driving the TS Pro is a single hub-less electric motor at the rear with 137 hp and 738 lb-ft (1,000 Nm) of torque. Verge says it needs just 3.5 seconds to hit 100 km/h (62 mph), meaning it can keep pace with some proper sports cars. The bike tips the scales at 540 lbs (245 kg), and while that’s hefty for a bike of this size, it’s not crazy. It also has a claimed riding range of 217 miles (350 km).

To see just how far the TS Pro can travel in the real world, Verge recruited two motorcycle influencers and let them ride the bike around inner London for 16 hours at an average speed of just 12 mph (19 km/h). The bike ended its run, having traveled an impressive 193 miles (311 km), setting a new record in the process.

Admittedly, riding around at slow speeds greatly benefits an EV like this. Had Verge attempted the record while sitting at highway speeds, there’s no way the TS Pro would have been able to travel anywhere near as far as it did.

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Photos Verge Motorcycles

McMurtry Spéirling Sucks So Much That It Just Made History By Driving Upside Down

  • McMurtry Spéirling drove upside down using nothing but active downforce from fan technology.
  • It’s the first demonstration of its kind after years of theorization that it’s possible to do such a thing.
  • The demo opens new possibilities for performance safety and accessible driver-focused engineering.

Somebody call Jim Hall, because his wild idea of using a fan to stick a car to the road just got its ultimate validation—this time, upside down. More than half a century after the Chaparral 2J used fans to create ground-hugging downforce at any speed, the McMurtry Spéirling has shown just how far that tech can go. To put it plainly, it drove upside down, held to the surface not by gravity, but by sheer aerodynamic force.

Read: Rimac Nevera And McMurtry Spierling Show A Red Bull F1 Car What’s What

The Spéirling is a small but intensely capable electric supercar. Pretty much every time we talk about it, it’s breaking another track record. This time, though, it’s setting an all-new benchmark. It’s the first car in history to drive upside down while held to the ground by downforce alone.

999 Horses, Zero Chill

As a reminder, this tiny terror makes 999 hp (745 kW) and weighs just 2,200 lbs (1,000 kg). If those figures weren’t bonkers already, the car leverages a fan system that sucks the chassis to the ground. It can create an incredible 2,000 kg (4,400 lbs) of downforce at 0 mph (0 km/h). That’s how it just pulled off the coolest thing we’ve seen on four wheels in a while.

During the demonstration, if you can call it that, the Spéirling drove up a ramp onto a specially built platform. There, it engaged its “Downforce on Demand” system, sucked itself to the ground, and the the platform rolled. Only when the platform was 180 degrees from right-side-up did it stop. At that point, the driver moved the car forward while staying on the platform. Then, the entire rig finished rotating back to its original position, and the McMurtry drove off like it was another day at the office.

Behind the wheel for the stunt was Thomas Yates, Co-founder and Managing Director of McMurtry Automotive. “That was just a fantastic day in the office! Strapping in and driving inverted was a completely surreal experience,” he said. “The 2,000 kg of downforce that the fan system can generate is truly astonishing to experience, and it’s great to show the reason why our Spéirling continues to take records around the world.”

Yates added that this was just a taste of what the tech could achieve. “This demonstration was an exciting proof of concept using a small purpose-built rig, but is perhaps just the beginning of what’s possible. With a longer inverted track or a suitable tunnel, we may be able to drive even further! Huge congratulations and thanks to the entire McMurtry Automotive team, especially the engineers involved in the car and fan system’s design, they are the heroes of today.”

The Safety Implications

 McMurtry Spéirling Sucks So Much That It Just Made History By Driving Upside Down

Perhaps the most interesting part of the stunt is what it implies for real-world performance—and more importantly, safety. Traditional race cars rely on speed to build downforce. That means during slower sections, spins, or emergency maneuvers, they lose grip when it’s needed most. McMurtry’s fan system flips that logic by providing full downforce even when the car’s barely moving.

“The amount of grip and downforce available means that application of the brakes will often see them (the driver) stop almost immediately, often while still on the tarmac,” says McMurtry. What that means for customers is a safer and more approachable experience.

Which brings us to one of the brand’s core goals: making record-breaking performance accessible to actual driving enthusiasts. And with this kind of tech, it’s not just about going faster. It’s about being able to do so with control, confidence, and—if you really want to flex—upside down.

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Porsche Taycan Turbo GT Topples 911 Turbo S At Interlagos F1 Circuit

  • The all-electric sedan is powered by a pair of electric motors with a combined 1,019 hp.
  • Porsche’s track-focused EV needs less than 2 seconds to rocket to 60 mph (96 km/h).
  • The flagship Taycan also set storming lap times at the Nurburgring and Laguna Seca.

While the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra recently stole the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT’s thunder at the Shanghai International Circuit, Porsche is still eager to show the world just how potent its flagship EV is. In early February, it brought a purple Taycan Turbo GT to Brazil’s Interlagos circuit and set a new lap record at the Formula 1 track.

Behind the wheel of the Porsche was Felipe Nasr, a three-time IMSA champion and a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona. The Brazilian, who also had a stint in Formula 1, lapped the circuit in 1:42.1, almost 8 seconds faster than a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, and dropping almost a second to a 911 Turbo S, which lapped the same track in 1:43.087.

Read: Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Smashes Taycan Turbo GT’s Lap Record At Shanghai Circuit

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the Taycan Turbo GT set a new record given its specifications. Power comes from a pair of electric motors with a combined 1,019 hp, and as a recent Car and Driver test revealed, it can hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in under 2 seconds.

While storming down the curved main straight of the circuit in Interlagos, the Porsche topped out at 272 km/h (169 mph) with Nasr behind the wheel. It launches out of the circuit’s high-speed corners like a rocket, picking up speed in a way that beggars belief. Of course, it’s nowhere near as quick as a Formula 1 car at the track, as they can lap the circuit in less than 1:08. Nevertheless, for a production car, the Taycan Turbo GT’s time is very impressive.

“It’s amazing how quickly the car accelerates and delivers its power,” Nasr said after his run. “The steering of the Taycan Turbo GT was very precise in the slow corners and remained stable even under heavy braking. The balance, the grip – a real performance machine.”

The record lap car had the optional Weissach performance package and was fitted with Pirelli Trofeo RS tires. Last year, the same car lapped WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in just 1:27.87, making it one of the quickest production cars to ever go around the Californian circuit.

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