Czech speed records: Vavřinec hits 323 km/h in a Xiaomi electric car
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Czech racing driver Tomáš Vavřinec has set six national speed records for production road cars. At the airfield in Hradec Králové, he took a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra electric car up to 323.35 km/h. The attempt was staged together with the weekly Svět motorů ahead of the magazine's approaching 80th anniversary.
Six record results
Besides top speed, records fell over flying-start distances: the car managed 314.959 km/h over 1,000 m, 296.258 km/h over 500 m and 317.032 km/h over a flying half mile. The standing-start figures were impressive too: the car covered an eighth of a mile in 5.795 s and a quarter mile in 8.891 s. All the results will be entered in the Czech Book of Records of the Pelhřimov-based Dobrý den agency.
Weather worries
The preparation was a nervous affair. Svět motorů editor-in-chief Petr Slováček admitted he had feared the unpredictable October weather: “In recent days I haven't slept because of it, wondering what else would go wrong at the last minute. Won't it rain? Will the sensors work? You can't go over 300 km/h on a wet surface. And above all, you have to brake.” The priority was not only the technology but, above all, the safety of the driver, the participants and the airfield itself, so the organizers had also worked out backup options for a safe run-off in advance.
Vavřinec and his team also discussed the length of the track: to reach more than 350 km/h, he would have needed another kilometre. In the end, he thanked the main partner, publishing house Czech News Center, the Automobile Club of the Czech Republic and the other partners of the Czech National Sports Records project.
Who is Vavřinec
Vavřinec has represented the Czech national team in motorsport for 23 years, won the FIA European Championship Trophy three times and twice finished as European runner-up. He is also the Czech champion in hill climbs and sprints and a member of the executive committee of the Automobile Club of the Czech Republic. The driver's nickname is “The fastest cat behind the wheel”: for 30 years he has carried a figurine of Vavřinec the cat in his cars.
A report on the event will air on the TV Svět motorů programme on October 29 at 8:30 pm on Nova Action.
Around Prague, based on reporting by prazskypatriot.cz
