Ford has claimed another Goodwood Festival of Speed Shootout win, the second in succession for the triple motor, 1,419hp Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck. Romain Dumas was on driving duty once more, as he had been for previous SuperTruck triumphs (at Pikes Peak) and spectacular shootout efforts (as in the SuperVan from a few years back). The victorious time was 43.23 seconds; some way off the overall record set by the McMurtry, which went under 40 seconds, though it was comfortably ahead of the rest of the pack. The next closest competitor was Scott Speed in Subaru’s Project Midnight, at 45.03.
As is often the way when watching these chunky Ford commercial vehicle concepts with preposterous electric power, the SuperTruck made for some spectacle at Goodwood. Even on the livestream the sight of something so physically large showing so little concern for braking points and apexes was something staggering to witness. While fast EVs are no longer as shocking as they once were, when one is purpose built for the task at hand and offers up a four-figure power output for the task it can still prove very silly indeed. For some kind of context, a 2011 Holden Commodore V8 Supercar could only achieve 48.35 with the current BTCC champion Jake Hill at the wheel, and a 911 GT3 Cup could only two-wheel itself to 46.74 with Hames Wallis at the wheel.
Certainly it wasn’t like Speed in the Subaru wasn’t trying, either. He cut the dry, arid grass of the Duke of Richmond’s driveway like it was a special stage; it was almost rallycross, his combination of tarmac and dirt. Even going almost half a second faster than yesterday wasn’t enough to surpass the fast Frenchman and Ford’s crazy pick up. With the dust and the hay being kicked up thanks to the weather, the SuperVan’s run was more like one of those wild European hill climb vids than the Festival of Speed. They’ll be going for the hat trick come 2026…
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