The Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupé has set a new a new record, being crowned the fastest production vehicle in South Africa.
Jaguar South Africa said the car reached in excess of 300km/h on the 4900m runway at Upington Airport.
"The event was the culmination of just over six weeks of planning, and saw Jaguar tapping into its heritage; recalling the 40s and 50s, when it famously set numerous European land speed records with the XK120," Jaguar SA said in a statement.
“Not only do we say that racing is in our blood – we go out there and prove it,” said Richard Gouverneur, Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) South Africa and sub-Sahara Africa. “Aside from being inspired by our history of racing and land speed records, we also wanted to show off the innovation, performance and safety of our vehicles. A car that’s capable of reaching 300km/h safely is many times safer at legal and safe speeds.”
The car was driven by Dawie Olivier, National Aftersales Manager at JLR "and racer with more than two decades of rallying and circuit racing experience – the F-TYPE R Coupé reached speeds in excess of 300km/h on the 4 900 metre runway at Upington Airport."
"For the record to be official, two runs have to be completed in both directions while timekeeping officials from Motorsport South Africa measure speed over a one kilometre distance. On the uphill section of the F-TYPE’S record-setting run it achieved a speed of 288.33km/h, while the complementing downhill run saw it crack the magical 300km/h mark with an officially-measured speed of 301.03km/h."
The land speed record comprises the average of the two runs, and now sits at 294.68km/h – improving on the previous record of 287.63km/h set in 2002, with Mike Griffiths behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT2.
