9ff GT9 Crushes all before it

It was never going to happen.

As we trekked to Bruntingthorpe to watch the peacock displays of a hundred snorting sports cars at the Vmax event, the record they all wanted had been moved firmly out of their reach.

Just weeks before, the team from car magazine Evo had brought the latest ubercar from German Porsche specialists 9ff to the track: a 990bhp special, designed and built by 9ff as their own unique model (rather than a heavily fettled 911).

It smashed the Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground speed record.

This car was the 9ff GT9.

The GT9 incorporates a lower roof line and 4 litre flat 6

So back to Vmax, where at Bruntingthorpe, a private runway, we had already witnessed a car do an astonishing verified 211mph.

That was a customers 9ff, brought along by the factory, a 997 Turbo Cabriolet with a 'running in' spec 750bhp (rather than the full 900+) and it eclipsed the previous record, of 207mph, held by a 997 shape Ruf RT12.

But as we gathered last weekend rumours had already surfaced about the Evo team's achievement, a verified 221mph on the same 1.8 mile runway. A speed that was comfortably 10mph faster than the next competitor.

As it happened the Ruf RT12 equalled the 9ff Turbo cab's 211 on the day, but the ultimate record had moved out of sight for good with the 9ff GT9's 221mph run.

There are rumours too that this astounding car will be gunning for the Bugatti Veyron's 254mph world record soon at the Nardo test track.

Having met some of the 9ff boys, I don't doubt that they are committed enough and crazy enough to do it.