CASTLE COMBE, U.K. (August 8, 2024) – The McMurtry team thought it was about time to answer the question asked by a lot of Castle Combe locals in person and online such as ‘how fast is it around Combe?’, ‘Surely it’s got the record already’ & ‘Lap times please???’

On 29th April, The McMurtry Spéirling PURE (Validation Prototype 1) fan car achieved the outright fastest ever lap around the 1.85mile Castle Combe Circuit as a part of routine testing.

The time of 54.559s was set by McMurtry development driver, Max Chilton, who also holds the record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and was 4 seconds quicker than the previous benchmark, set by an open wheel single seater F3 car. And nearly 10 seconds quicker than the GT3 lap record, a large percentage on such a short lap. 

Interestingly, Castle Combe is McMurtry’s local circuit and is the same venue Max passed his racing license test back in the early 2000s, which gives this lap extra significance to all involved. 

“Everyone wants bragging rights at their local circuit, and even running at 80% power and with a 155mph speed limit, we’ve knocked 4 seconds off the outright track record. This demonstrates the potential in the car for our customers to achieve the same at their local or favourite circuits.”

– Max Chilton, test driver

The McMurtry Spéirling PURE is a hyper-track car available for order worldwide. It utilizes a unique downforce-on-demand system to provide exceptional downforce and grip right from 0mph. This system works alongside the 1000bhp electric powertrain, offering selectable performance drive modes from GT3 to F1-level pace.

“This is a fun milestone to achieve. It’s not everyday you get to see a car and driver go so much faster than what’s gone before. Having tested at Castle Combe for years, it was about time we showed what the car can do around our local circuit.”

– Thomas Yates, Managing Director of McMurtry Automotive,

McMurtry are now heading to the USA to compete at Laguna Seca in the reverse corkscrew hillclimb with the original Goodwood record holding Spéirling and driver Max Chilton on 10th and 11th August.