SSC Tuatara started 2021 with a bang. The American hypercar reached record speed on its second official attempt, beating critics of the first contaminated attempt last year. Although the Tuatara failed to reach its declared speed during the first race, its average speed of 282.9 miles per hour (455.2 kilometers per hour) broke the previous maximum speed record set by Koenigsegg Agera RS in November 2017.
But that was not the end of the Tuatara’s high-speed hunt. Dr. Larry Caplin, the record holder Tuatara’s owner and driver, said earlier that he is looking forward to going back and trying to reach 482.8 km / h (300 mph).
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And he is very confident in reaching that mark. In an interview with Top Gear, Dr. Caplin said he feels comfortable reaching that goal. He was 2,000 feet (0.6 km) ahead of the flag at 286.1 mph, which was his Tuatara’s absolute top speed in an attempt to break the record. He believes that there is still a little more to come. The question now is when and where.
To put things in perspective, the Tuatara’s second official race took place at Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds at Space Florida’s Shuttle Landing Facility. He had just 3.7 km of track to use, with the Tuatara using 3 km (1.9 mi) to reach absolute top speed.
Because of this, Dr. Caplin had to reach high speeds as quickly as possible, which generated heat much earlier in the race and was different from attempts at maximum speed by other supercars.
In comparison, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport’s 304mph race was done on Ehra Lessen, which had more straights of 8.7 km and a steep curve, allowing it to slowly increase speed over a long distance. The Nevada highway, where the controversial first Tuatara race took place, had an 11-kilometer stretch available.