Travis Pastrana unleashes the McMurtry Spéirling prototype on track in new film

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Friday, 11 Sep 2026 12:00 0 7 autotech
Action sports legend, Travis Pastrana, joins the McMurtry team for a day at Dunsfold circuit in England as he experiences the Spéirling prototype for the first time in a new film shot for his YouTube channel – Channel199.

Despite having ridden and driven almost everything on two and four wheels, jumped out of a plane without a parachute, achieved the first double backflip on a motorbike, won 11 X-Games gold medals, and raced in the Daytona 500, driving the Spéirling prototype proves to be unlike anything Travis has ever experienced before.

In fact, the Spéirling that Travis drives is the same car that holds the outright lap record at Dunsfold – commonly known as the Top Gear Test Track – set in 2025 with a time of 55.9 seconds, beating the previous record held by the 2004 Renault F1 car by over three seconds. Thomas Yates, McMurtry co-founder and Managing Director, is also a quad bike racing champion who grew up watching Travis. The two first met in 2021 when McMurtry and Travis were neighbours in the paddock at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and have kept in touch ever since. Travis then competed against McMurtry Test Driver Max Chilton in 2022 at the Festival of Speed, when the Spéirling set the still unbroken record.

This test drive at Dunsfold was completed the day before Goodwood Festival of Speed 2026, when Travis was in England to compete in the shootout competition once again. Thomas’ championship-winning quad and Caterham, a shifter kart and a uni-wheel were just some of the many toys that they thrashed around the track, too.

To round off the day, McMurtry staff made up fellow drivers and riders in a single-seater-only drag race against the Travis in the Spéirling, giving him a chance to experience the famously rapid acceleration over a quarter-mile run.

Travis Pastrana says: ‘Holy s***. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. You can do things you can’t do with any other vehicle… I’m going faster than I’ve gone in any vehicle I’ve ever driven in my entire life.’

Thomas Yates, McMurtry co-founder and Managing Director, comments: ‘Travis has driven or ridden just about everything, so seeing his first reaction to fan-based downforce was epic. Travis was pushing the Spéirling straight away – we didn’t expect anything less! He was given the full 1000hp and 2000kg of downforce to pull some mega g-forces.

‘Seeing my childhood (and current) hero enjoying our creation, and sharing tracktime with him on my racing quad, has been one of the most amazing and surreal days at work in my life.’

The Spéirling PURE has now entered production with 95% new components. No more than 100 examples will be produced. First customer deliveries begin later in 2026. For more information, please visit: mcmurtry.com/speirling-pure
Photo credit: McMurtry Automotive
Posted on Autotech-plus.com

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