Hennessey Venom F5 Sets New American Production Lap Record

A few weeks ago, Hennessey’s design boss, Nathan Malinick, told us the Hennessey Venom F5 would challenge for more than one top speed record this year, and now the first of those records has dropped. The Venom F5 has now become the fastest road-legal production car around the US state of Texas, lapping the 3.41-mile track in 2:10.90 on March 11, 2024.

In doing so, the Venom F5 beat the Czinger 21C’s time by 0.43 seconds and the McLaren P1 by nearly seven seconds.

At the helm of the event was David Donohue, the legendary racer hired in December 2023 to help the Venom F5 achieve the record. While setting the record, the Venom F5 reached a top speed of 193.1 mph down COTA’s 0.63-mile long straight, pulled up to 1.59 G of lateral acceleration through corners, and up to 1.61 G under braking, all while using . street-legal Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires.

Complete Road-Legal Classification

The Venom F5 is available in many versions, but the car used for the event was the Venom F5 Revolution, a large car that features a drivetrain that includes weight reduction (2,998 pounds total), an excellent aero package that includes a full width. rear wing, revised suspension, and enhanced cooling, with a roof scoop for air intake on the Fury’s 6.6-liter turbocharged V8 engine.

The car was run to full legal standards, including fueling with standard Shell pump ethanol and using the standard Pennzoil fluid the car was manufactured with.

The record lap time was confirmed by Racelogic with a VBOX data logging system and telemetry, and an unbroken video of the record setting can be viewed above.

Hypercars Decathlete Aims For More Records

COTA was the perfect place to launch the Venom F5’s record-setting program, located just 100 miles from Hennessey’s headquarters in Sealy, Texas. When the Venom F5 was launched, John Hennessey called it the ‘decathlete of hypercars’, which was always intended to be more than a one-trick pony.

So, this cycle record is just the first, and John Hennessey says more are coming, no matter how difficult it is to achieve.

Other lap records are likely to be targeted, with Laguna Seca and Pikes Peak both highly likely – the latter given Donohue’s previous experience as record holder in the Race to the Clouds. With the engineering experience of Brian Jones, who previously served as Chief Engineer of the Mercedes-AMG One, Hennessey has the mental capacity to tackle a variety of circuits and racing challenges.

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Straight-line speed records are also a priority, and the Venom F5 will attempt a top speed of 300+ mph this year once the manufacturer finds a suitable road or runway for such a test. In previous tests, the Venom F5 flew at 270 mph at the old NASA Landing Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida, but the extra 30 mph and the subsequent time and distance needed to decelerate after that mean that additional safety precautions are necessary. .