In May of 2012 CAR tested the McLaren MP4-12c. When it rushed through the kilometre marker 19,76 seconds after take off it was doing 269,38 km/h. For several reasons that was one of the last very quick cars we tested over the standing kay. It was, and still is, a very fast run. However, the speed and time set by that supercar pales in comparison to a run conducted at ODI Raceway this past weekend.
At the ODI Raceway One Kilometre Invitational, hosting some of the most powerful and fastest road cars in South Africa, Stelios Sissou broke through the 1 000 metre barrier with an official speed of 346,3 km/h shattering a record he set in 2014 of 337 km/h. The speed was set in a 1 200 kW Nissan GT-R35. The monster GT-R35 was faster at the 800 metre mark than the next fastest car was at the end of the full kilometre.
A jubilant Sissou said: “The morning was really character-building, and something went wrong on every run. With the temperatures rising quickly and a bit of a headwind I was worried whether we’d be able to get past 340 km/h. But my final run was perfect: I went for a very conservative start strategy and didn’t use launch control, but when it did all hook up it was like riding a rocket ship – talk about warp speed. I’ve already decided that we’ll be back next year to defend our crown…and not just to win but break 350 km/h!”.
Here are some statistics from the record-breaking run taken from a VBOX datalogger fitted to the car:
0 – 200 km/h 8,37 seconds
0 – 300 km/h 13,48 seconds
100 – 200 km/h 3,19 seconds
200 – 300 km/h 5,11 seconds
0 – 1 000 metres 18,35 seconds @ 346,74 km/h
0 – 800 metres 16,24 seconds @ 334,1 km/h
Maximum speed 349, 6 km/h (achieved beyond the finish line)