Tuatara to rerun record attempt

The team behind an American-built hypercar are planning a second attempt at smashing the world record for the fastest production car after the validity of its first effort has been thrown into doubt.

The SSC Tuatara reportedly clocked an average speed of 508.73kph (316.11mph) on a road near Las Vegas in October to claim the title.

However, questions have since been raised online about the legitimacy of the car’s performance after video footage of the vehicle apparently failed to correlate with the claimed speeds.

Mathematicians have analysed SSC’s footage and the car’s drive ratios and say the top speed of the Tuatara was nearer 402kph (250mph).

Jerod Shelby, chief executive officer at SSC, explains there was a mix-up between the video and the GPS data when the footage was edited together.

He adds the company is planning to rerun the record attempt in “the very near future” in order to resolve the issue, reports Auto Express.

The Tuatara is seeking to oust the Bugatti Chiron SuperSport, which hit 490.48kph (304.77mph) in a single run in 2019, as the world’s fastest production car.