Pagani Huayra sets Top Gear lap record and places marker for McLaren P1

The Pagani Huyra set a stunning record time on the Top Gear track last week and in the process laid down a marker for the new McLaren P1.

The return of Top Gear at the weekend for Series 19 saw Richard Hammond get to grips with the Pagani Huayra – successor to his beloved Zonda – and after a thoroughly positive test drive Hammond handed over to the Stig to take the Huayra round the Top Gear track.

In the hands of the Stig, the 6.0 litre V12 AMG engine with 730 horses powered the Huayra to a time of just 1:13.8, beating the previous record for a production car, held by the Ariel Atom V8, by a sizeable 1.3 seconds. A truly stunning time for a proper supercar that’s actually road legal.

But perhaps what is most interesting is what that will mean for the McLaren P1.

The baby brother to the new P1 – the McLaren 12C – managed to lap Top Gear’s Dunsfold track in a very impressive 1:16.2, 2.5 seconds quicker than the Ferrari 458 and quicker even than the Bugatti Veyron SS. That stunning time was helped by McLaren’s use of the Top Gear track when they were developing the 12C, and perhaps points to just how stunning the new McLaren P1 could be.

McLaren have made it clear that the P1 will be all about its handling and dynamics, rather than outright speed, and with as much as 300bhp more on tap than the 12C – and active aerodynamics similar to the Huayra – the expectation is that the P1 will stroll to the top of the Top Gear Power Lap Board when (or if) TG get their hands on one.

Will the McLaren P1 be capable of stuffing the Huayra? If it’s not, then McLaren could have failed with the P1. But if it does, by how much? Could it beat the Zonda R at 1:08.5 or the Ferrari FXX at 1:10.7 (neither of which is road legal)?

Hopefully, before 2013 is over, we could find out.