OV’s Motorsport Magic

It is wonderful to hear the news that the McMurtry Spéirling, the first fully electric track car designed, engineered and built in Britain, and the brainchild of OV Thomas Yates (W 99-06), is once again breaking records.

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2022, the McMurtry Spéirling set a new all-time hill-climb record with a time of 39.08 (beating the previous official record by 2.42s), winning the event as well. This was the car’s competition debut, making the win even more impressive, following the prototype’s unveiling the previous year.

Thomas, who is managing director of McMurtry Automotive, said, “Goodwood has always been a spectacular global event, celebrating different eras of motorsport. They have made it possible for a fan car to compete again, having had a 40 year hiatus since Niki Lauda won in Sweden. The Spéirling’s nostalgic and compact proportions were mirrored in many of the paddock’s classic racing cars. And combined with this outright record breaking performance, I hope this goes someway to show the world why small cars offer an exciting future.”

At Goodwood, Thomas was joined by OV Derek Bell MBE (S 56-58), who joined McMurtry Automotive as a development driver, giving the team the benefit of his considerable experience. The pair originally connected through the OV family, leading to this great team.

We look forward to seeing what Thomas, Derek and the Spéirling do next!