Taking just 48.07 seconds to blast up the 1.6 mile driveway of Goodwood House, a 800bhp Toyota Celica was the fastest car overall at the famous Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011.
To win, the Celica had to beat many famous racing cars, including recent Formula 1 cars.
The car was driven and built by former British Rally champion, Jonny Milner. Milner had narrowly missed out in previous years and returned in 2011 with an extra 100bhp to clinch the fastest time of the day in front of a massive crowd swelled by the presence of stars such as F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.
Rising over 300ft from the start line to the finish, the course is highly technical and challenging, putting the skills of the world’s very best drivers and riders to the ultimate test of concentration and speed.
A small mistake by former British Rally champion Milner meant he narrowly missed winning the televised “shootout” on Sunday afternoon, but his time set earlier in the day was the fastest of all 200 cars over the prestigious three day event.
Based on the sixth generation Celica, Milner’s car is super-lightweight, tipping the scales at just 1,050kg. For better weight distribution, the driver’s position has moved back 12 inches, and the car’s centre of gravity has been lowered by raising the wheel arches and upper suspension mounts. A flat floor and rear diffuser add a degree of ground effect.
The engine is from a World Rally Championship winning Corolla, newly fitted with a Rotrex supercharger that will help raise maximum output to more than 800bhp. A nitrous oxide injection system helped reduce turbo-lag for quicker acceleration off the line. Super soft rallycross specification Michelin slick tyres also played an important role in getting all that horsepower to the ground.
