When We Heard About the N to 60 World Record Attempt We Just Had to Go Along

We were excited to hear about an event where supercar owners could make an attempt on the N to 60 world record. The location of the hangar at Silverston was the perfect spot for us to be, as getting from 0 to 60 isn't as easy as it sounds. In fact, you need to blend plenty of revs with a delicate clutch control. The Porsche Carrera GT, with its impressive acceleration, should get there in under four seconds. However, its driver couldn't quite achieve that feat, managing only five seconds or so. Surprisingly, none of the supercars present could even come close to the record set by a Ford RS2 200 in 2003, which stands at an incredible 3.07 seconds. Even this rally-spec Lancia fell short.

Only One Man Here Looked Like He Could Beat It

Among the many talented drivers gathered at Silverston was Andy Smith and his Aerial Atom 300. Although this car had previously managed to go quicker than three seconds, it was on a better day than today that he would attempt to break the record. The Atom's impressive acceleration made it look like he might just be the man to beat. With these 35 Grand 456 kg cars present, they had all been recorded hitting 60 in an astonishing 2.9 seconds. However, this has never been officially timed before today, so Andy needed to do two runs from each direction to cancel out any wind assistance that may have helped him earlier.

The Record: A New World Record to Be Guinness-Verified

For a record to be considered official and have the name of its holder engraved in history books, it needs to be Guinness-verified. This means that Andy needed to complete the 0-60 run twice from each direction, with an average time under 3.07 seconds. If he succeeded, his name would go down in the annals of supercar racing as a record-breaker. With the timing gear checked and ready for action, Andy was finally ready to take on the challenge. His first attempt produced a respectable 3.3 seconds, and even better with an average return time of 3.2. This seemed promising, but things were about to take a dramatic turn.

The Disappointment: Not Quite Making it Today

However, disaster struck when the timing gear revealed that Andy's average speed had only been around 3.11 seconds - just 400s over the required threshold for a record-breaking performance. It was clear that something was seriously wrong with his clutch control, which had failed him on this critical run. Despite being tantalizingly close to achieving the record, it seemed that Andy's chances of success were slipping away from him.

An Explanation and A Future Attempt

Although he didn't quite manage to break the record today, we could see why Andy was so close in the first place. His clutch control had been a bit wonky, which made it difficult for him to get the acceleration just right. However, this is an issue that can be worked on with practice and patience. The Aerial Atom's performance did beat expectations, and with some fine-tuning, we're hopeful that Andy will have another chance to break the record in the future.

We Were Close but Not Quite There Today

As we left Silverston after watching Andy take on the N to 60 world record challenge, we couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment. Despite being so close to achieving greatness, it just wasn't meant to be for him today. However, this is often the case in high-stakes competition - you have to be willing to try again and better next time.

The Record Still Stands

Despite Andy's valiant effort, the record still stands at 3.07 seconds, set by a Ford RS2 200 back in 2003. This incredible feat of speed will remain an inspiration to supercar enthusiasts for years to come. We're already looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Andy and his Aerial Atom 300 - perhaps next time he'll be able to take home the coveted record title.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ennow when we heard about an event where Supercar owners can make an attempt on the N to 60 world record we just had to go along the location of the hanger straight at silverston getting from n to 60 isn't as easy as it sounds you need to blend plenty of revs with a delicate clutch control the 300 Grand Porsche Carrera GT should get there in under 4 seconds but its driver couldn't get it under five in fact none of the supercars could get close to the record of 3.07 seconds even this rally spec Lancia fell short that record of 3.07 was set by a Ford rs2 200 and has stood for 13 years only one man here looked like he could beat it Andy Smith and his aerial atom 3 00 yeah the car's gone quicker than 3 seconds before but on a better day than this so it's going to be close these 35 Grand 456 kg cars have been recorded hitting 60 in 2.9 seconds but it's never been officially timed today we'll change all that for a record to be Guinness verified and he needs to do the run in two directions to cancel out wind assistance if the average time is under 3.07 we've got a new world record a quick warm up of the tires and Andy is ready for his first attempt he recorded 3.3 a great first run and the 3.2 return was better still things were looking good for breaking the record 3.06 and he had beaten the record another run like that would secure his name in history everyone waited nervously while the timing gear was checked disaster the average of 3.11 was just 400s over time for one final push 3.3 seconds didn't bode well and the return R signaled something was seriously wrong with the record tantalizingly close the atom's clutch had gone not today though Guinness wouldn't have to rewrite the record book just yet yeah I didn't quite make it we were we were close um million and one excuses that I could use why it didn't happen but um I think it's probably a bit due to driver bit due to conditions we actually beat the record in One Direction but uh not on the return Direction and you've got to have an average of the two and so you got wind I think probably helped in One Direction but not in the other so um just one of those things we were close but not this time no cigarnow when we heard about an event where Supercar owners can make an attempt on the N to 60 world record we just had to go along the location of the hanger straight at silverston getting from n to 60 isn't as easy as it sounds you need to blend plenty of revs with a delicate clutch control the 300 Grand Porsche Carrera GT should get there in under 4 seconds but its driver couldn't get it under five in fact none of the supercars could get close to the record of 3.07 seconds even this rally spec Lancia fell short that record of 3.07 was set by a Ford rs2 200 and has stood for 13 years only one man here looked like he could beat it Andy Smith and his aerial atom 3 00 yeah the car's gone quicker than 3 seconds before but on a better day than this so it's going to be close these 35 Grand 456 kg cars have been recorded hitting 60 in 2.9 seconds but it's never been officially timed today we'll change all that for a record to be Guinness verified and he needs to do the run in two directions to cancel out wind assistance if the average time is under 3.07 we've got a new world record a quick warm up of the tires and Andy is ready for his first attempt he recorded 3.3 a great first run and the 3.2 return was better still things were looking good for breaking the record 3.06 and he had beaten the record another run like that would secure his name in history everyone waited nervously while the timing gear was checked disaster the average of 3.11 was just 400s over time for one final push 3.3 seconds didn't bode well and the return R signaled something was seriously wrong with the record tantalizingly close the atom's clutch had gone not today though Guinness wouldn't have to rewrite the record book just yet yeah I didn't quite make it we were we were close um million and one excuses that I could use why it didn't happen but um I think it's probably a bit due to driver bit due to conditions we actually beat the record in One Direction but uh not on the return Direction and you've got to have an average of the two and so you got wind I think probably helped in One Direction but not in the other so um just one of those things we were close but not this time no cigar\n"