The all-electric Porsche Taycan has claimed two records at the world’s oldest motorsport venue.
In the hands of journalist Dan Prosser, the Taycan Turbo S Sport Turismo set the fastest times in both the Series Production Electric Vehicle and Estate Car classes at Shelsey Walsh Hill Climb in Worcestershire.
The 762 PS Taycan recorded a time of 31.43 seconds over the challenging 0.57-mile course, breaking the previous estate car record of 32.41 seconds, achieved with an Audi RS 6 Performance in 2016.
The Taycan then set an all-new record at the venue for production electric vehicles. In fact, it came within a second of the overall electric car record of 30.46 seconds, set by an electric single-seat Formula E race car in 2018.
In order to qualify for the road-car record, the Taycan remained as it left the factory in Zuffenhausen, Germany, right down to its road-biased Pirelli P Zero tyres.
Only a ‘beam breaker’, to accurately record the time of the run, and number stickers marked it out.
Underlining the road-going specification of the car, Dan drove the Taycan to Shelsley Walsh from his home on the day of the event.
Hill climbs are one of the earliest forms of motorsport, and Shelsley Walsh is the oldest motorsport venue in the world to still run events on its original course, having first been used in 1905.
The 914-metre course snakes its way up a rural hillside, and over that distance climbs by 100m.
It gives the course an average gradient of more than one in 10 – and at points it’s steeper still, up to 1:6.24.
At just 3.7-metres wide – narrower than a typical two-way road – and with little run-off area, the course demands precision driving. These factors combine to make hill climb racing particularly thrilling and addictive for competitors and spectators alike.
