Bugatti Chiron breaks the 300mph barrier

It’s official – Bugatti has become the first manufacturer to produce a road car that’s capable of speeds in excess of 300mph.

With British racing legend Andy Wallace at the wheel, a tuned Chiron Sport hit a top speed of 304.77mph (490.47 km/h) at a test track in Germany, beating the previous record by almost 27mph.

“Bugatti has once again shown what it’s capable of,” said Stephan Winkelmann, President of Bugatti.

“With this new record of the Chiron we enter again uncharted territory. Never before has a series manufacturer reached this high speed.

“Our goal was to be the first manufacturer ever to reach the magic 300-mile-per-hour mark. We have now achieved this – making ourselves, the entire team and myself, incredibly proud.”

Bugatti previously held the speed record with the Chiron’s predecessor, the Veyron. Since 2017, the title has been held by the Koenigsegg Agera RS with a speed of 285mph..

Andy Wallace added: “Even at the first attempt I felt this would work. The Chiron ran perfectly and the track and weather conditions were ideal. The whole team did a fantastic job.”

It’s not the first time that Wallace has set a speed record. In 1998, he reached a speed of 391 km/h (243 mph) in at McLaren F1 on the same test track at Ehra-Lessien in Lower Saxony.