The Electric GT Championship racing series took the wraps off its spec racing competition car at the Autosport International 2017 show in Birmingham, England last week. The series, announced last fall, was originally designed to feature the Tesla Model S P85D, but after Tesla announced an upgrade to a 100 kWh battery for the new Tesla P100D, the series elected to make that the basis for its race car.
That upgrade made the Tesla the fastest production car in the world — for a while.
Then Faraday Future came to the CES 2017 show in Las Vegas and claimed its FF 91 with 1050 horsepower could scoot to 60 in 2.39 seconds. But skeptics pointed out the Faraday Future car was a stripped out non-production car, which led Musk to tweet that the Tesla P100D would undoubtedly be faster if it too was stripped of most of its interior appointments.
The Electric GT Competition car is precisely what Elon had in mind when he made that statement. The racing series says the specially modified racing version of the Model S weighs 1,100 lbs less than stock and storms to 60 mph in just 2.1 seconds. That is some serious quickness.
The Electric GT has been altered to include a full racing suspension and brakes and will race on Pirelli tires. Drivers include Tesla supporter and environmental activist Leilani Münter will be one of two female drivers among the 20 pilots who have signed up to compete in the series. Others include former Formula One driver Karun Chandhok and former British Touring Car star Tom Onslow-Cole.
Each race meeting will feature a 20 minute practice session, a 30 minute qualifying period, a 37 mile daytime race and a 37 mile race at dusk. Each round will showcase technology and innovation for sustainability in and around the racing circuit.
The series will race at such classic European tracks including Paul Ricard, Barcelona, Assen, Donnington, Estoril and the Nürburgring GT circuit. Three non-championship races will be held in the Americas.
Source: Teslarati
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