Hennessey Venom F5 Sets Road Car Record At Circuit of The Americas

TGR Staff - 03/25/2024

Hennessey Special Vehicles, the hypercar manufacturer based in Texas, has achieved a new road car lap record at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA), completing the 3.41-mile-long racetrack in just 2:10.90. This beats the previous COTA road car lap record by 0.43 seconds, making the Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution the fastest ever road-going hypercar around the Texan circuit. The flying lap was faster than the Czinger C21's previous record of 2:11.33 and the previous McLaren P1 record of 2:17.12 by nearly seven seconds. During the record-breaking run on March 11th, the 'America's Hypercar' reached exceptional speeds of 193.10 mph on the 1,016-meter-long back straight.

“Racing, and life, is often more about the journey than the destination. Seeing the Venom F5 take the production car lap record at our home circuit has been an important part of our journey with the F5. We don’t do these things because they are easy, we do them because they are hard. The process of pushing our American hypercar to the limits makes our team of engineers, designers, and technicians better while also delivering an enhanced product and experience to our clients. We look forward to continuing the journey and pushing the Venom F5 to set new speed records,” said John Hennessey, company founder and CEO.

From the outset, Hennessey aimed to create 'the Decathlete of Hypercars'. The 1,817 bhp twin-turbocharged 6.6-liter V8 hypercar's goal was not only to exceed 300 mph but also to be a highly capable track car. The Venom F5's record-breaking run was driven by Hennessey's in-house test driver, David Donohue. The car demonstrated its capabilities by pulling up to +1.59 G in the corners and -1.61 G under braking. The extreme performance was achieved on street-legal MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires and utilized Brembo brakes, carbon ceramic discs, and the latest Bosch ABS technology to brake from almost 200 mph safely and under control.

“Having been part of developing the Venom F5 Revolution, I knew it was capable of a quick time, but when it came to pushing the car hard, I was blown away by its phenomenal power and exceptional handling. There is no other car in the world that delivers such a visceral and engaging driving experience,” said David Donohue, Hennessey Hypercar Test Driver

American racing champion David Donohue joined Hennessey in 2023 as its Hypercar Test Driver. The 2023 Pikes Peak record-setter has more than thirty years of racing experience, including first-place wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the North American Touring Car Championship, and the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

For the record-setting lap, independent, third-party timing was conducted by RACELOGIC using their VBOX satellite telemetry and data logging systems. Further verifying the run, the RACELOGIC team captured unbroken video footage of the record lap – the complete video is viewable on the Hennessey YouTube channel. The Venom F5 Revolution that completed the fastest road car lap ran on street legal tires, used regular Shell pump ethanol, and was filled with standard Pennzoil fluids.

Donohue's racing skills and the hypercar's 2,998 lb (1,360 kg) lightweight construction allowed the car to aggressively tackle the undulating track and technical corners. Where the circuit straightened, the immense power from Hennessey's 'Fury' engine enabled the record-breaking time. The Venom F5 can accelerate from 0-200 kph (0-124 mph) in just 4.7 seconds.