Gordon Murray knows a thing or two about making cars speed around race circuits. The designer of the F1 World Championship-winning Brabham BT49 and BT52 is about to reveal his latest track tool – an even more hardcore version of his T.50 hypercar.
The T.50s will make its dynamic debut at the 81st Goodwood Members’ Meeting this coming weekend, 13-14 April, with four-time IndyCar champ and Gordon Murray Automotive development driver Dario Franchitti at the wheel.
With its rear-mounted fan to suck it down to the asphalt the T.50 owes much to Murray’s banned BT46B but it goes even further than ever with its aerodynamic advances.
“The T.50s has completely revised aerodynamics,” explains Murray. “The fan and diffusers have been optimised for high downforce only and this produces a large percentage of the overall downforce. A delta rear wing and a large front splitter incorporating a front aerofoil and front dive planes complete the aero components. All this combines to generate an outstanding 1,200 kg of downforce.
As if that wasn’t enough the T.50s is even lighter than the road car, weighing in at a touch over 900 kg and the incredible 3.9-litre Cosworth V-12 delivers 761 bhp at a heady 11,500 rpm. The engine weighs 12 kg less than the streetable version and is mated to a purpose-built Xtrac Instantaneous Gearshift System six-speed paddle shift, with a close ratio option for tighter tracks.
Inside, instead of three seats, there’s just two. The driver still sits in the middle but there’s only room for a single passenger on the left. One configurable screen shows the driver all the data required to hone those lap times.
Only 25 examples are to be built and Murray has plans to make sure they’re all driven as intended. “I’d like to organise a series of racing events as part of our Trackspeed package to ensure the T.50s is driven regularly by owners,” he says. “There will be nothing like the experience of driving this car. And hearing it… well, that will be something else!”
Tune into the Goodwood livestream to hear and see it in action for yourself.
