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The BAC Mono track car is no stranger to setting lap records, having conquered many race tracks over the years with the kind of speed normally associated with supercars. Turns out, the Mono isn’t done laying the smackdown just yet. It has notched another lap record for a road-legal car at the Anglesey Coastal Circuit in Wales. The record was achieved by Evo Magazine’s Richard Meaden, who piloted the Mono to a lap time of 1:07.70, eclipsing the previous lap record that was recently set by the McLaren P1 GTR by exactly one second.
Consider that for a second: the most hardcore version of the McLaren P1 hypercar could only muster a time of 1:08.70 against the BAC Mono. Then again, the Mono has earned a reputation for being a giant killer, having set the fastest lap time at the Goodwood Festival of Speed when it posted a time of 47.9 seconds in 2015. It even took top honors in Top Gear’s Power Lap leaderboard in 2013, and to date, it’s the third-fastest car to go around the Top Gear test track, eclipsed only by the McLaren 675LT and the Pagani Huayra. Those are some serious credentials for a track car that carries a power-to-weight ratio of 525 horsepower per ton.
The Mono’s ability to post blistering lap times was in full effect when it blasted around the 1.55-mile Anglesey Coastal Circuit while riding on a set of Kumho’s Ecsta V70A tires. Meaden actually set the lap record in the final flying lap on a new set of tires so the conditions were optimal for the Mono to make history. But make no mistake, premium tires or not, the Mono has earned a reputation for being a true pace-setter, and that reputation was only strengthened when it obliterated the lap record for a road-legal car in a circuit that has seen no shortage of supercars compete for what the Mono now calls its own.
Continue after the jump to read the full story.
The Mono is a sight to behold
It amazes me how a car like the BAC Mono can have such incredible pace and performance…and then look the way it does. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of the Mono and similar __cars of its kind like the Ariel Atom, but it is amazing how a car of their size can outpace __cars that are three to five times more expensive than them. I know about the science behind it; it’s just incredible to see, especially when you see it in person as I have with the Mono.
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I never got to drive it, but seeing one in the flesh is a surreal experience. That’s why I’m inclined to just shake my head in admiration every time I hear about the Mono setting a lap record. It’s really expected at this point and if it doesn’t get to set a record, it becomes a surprise, at least in my eyes.
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This particular record at the Anglesey Coastal Circuit is especially impressive considering the lineup of cars that have done power laps around the circuit. The McLaren P1 GTR may have earned the distinction of being the car that the Mono cut down, but exotics like the Ferrari 458 Speciale, Porsche 918 Spyder, McLaren 675LT, and even the Radical RXC Turbo 500 have all been cut down by the Mono’s incredible pace. So the track car now holds the lap record around Anglesey and it sits on top of evo’s leaderboard. Suffice to say, if another car wants to eclipse the Mono, it’s got a lot of work to do to get to where it needs to go.
Gallery BAC Mono
Read our full article on the BAC Mono here.
Press Release
Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) has once again made history, as its Mono supercar has become the fastest ever road-legal car to be tested by evo magazine at the Anglesey Coastal Circuit.
With evo’s Richard Meaden in the cockpit, the bespoke British supercar set a truly breath-taking lap time of 1:07.70 seconds to beat the race-specific and slick-shod McLaren P1 GTR’s previous best of 1:08.70 by exactly one second.
The P1 GTR hypercar hit the evo Leaderboard summit last month by toppling the Radical RXC Turbo 500’s time of 1:10.50, but even the most hardcore and focused interpretation of the P1 couldn’t compete with the Mono.
Sitting on Kumho’s Ecsta V70A tyres, the Mono simply surged around the 1.55-mile Coastal Circuit. Its street-legal rubber stuck to the tarmac like magnets, as Meaden gained confidence and relished the accessible nature of the Mono’s power and precision.
In the final flying lap on a new set of tyres, the Mono made history by going a full second better than the £1.98 million P1 GTR hypercar’s seemingly unbeatable time and becoming the new pace benchmark.
The second-generation Mono features a new 2.5-litre Ford Duractec four-cylinder engine tuned by Mountune to deliver 305bhp and 310Nm of torque. And as the supercar weighs just 580kg thanks to innovative, lightweight material used in its construction, its power-to-weight ratio is a staggering 525bhp per tonne.
Having set the fastest-ever Goodwood Festival of Speed Roadcar Hill Climb time last year and topped Top Gear’s Power Lap Leaderboard in 2013, the Mono is no stranger to track success, and its achievement in Anglesey is another example of its giant-killing ability – much like its Hungaroring lap time of 1:54.00, nine seconds faster than a 458 Speciale. It also sets the scene for more iconic circuit record attempts to come in 2017.
The evo Anglesey Coastal Circuit Leaderboard is a fiercely competed series that has seen the biggest supercar brands in the world touch down in Anglesey looking to showcase their speedy creations.
From the Ferrari 458 Speciale to the Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren 675LT, some of the fastest cars ever made have tried to scale evo’s Leaderboard, but BAC’s brilliance means they need to go back to the drawing board.
BAC co-founder and Design Director Ian Briggs said: “What an incredible feat this is for BAC. The Mono has proved time and time again that it can compete with the best in the business, and its remarkable lap at Anglesey has made it a true pace icon. It also proves that the Mono drives as good as it looks – this is a wonderful lap time from a wonderful car.”
Fellow founder and Director of Product Development Neill Briggs added: “We are incredibly proud of this achievement. To go a whole second better than the race-specific P1 GTR is a simply amazing feat and another impressive string to the Mono’s bow. Our talented team work tirelessly to make to Mono the ultimate driver’s car, and it certainly proved its worth with evo. We’re very much looking forward to even more success in 2017!”
Record-breaking driver Richard Meaden from evo said: “Driving the Mono is a quite amazing experience. From the way you climb in to the car to how connected you feel with the road in the single-seat position, you have to constantly remind yourself that you’re in a road car when behind the wheel. Every lap that went by in Anglesey, I got to grips with the hugely impressive Mono more and more. The record lap felt very quick, but even I was shocked by just how quick it was. Beating the McLaren P1 GTR by that big a margin is simply staggering.”
Issue 229 of evo is available to buy from Wednesday 2 November, with video content launching on Friday 11 November.
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