Veyron stripped of speed title

The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is no longer officially the fastest car in the world.

The supercar – which has held the record for the world’s fastest production car since July 2010 - has been stripped of its title by the Guinness World Record team for ‘breaching the rules.’

The Guinness team has revealed the Bugatti that was tested, and subsequently set the record at 431km/h, was modified and hence not eligible.

The car in question had its speed restrictor deactivated – a key difference to the 30 Veyron Super Sports sold to the public.

Road going Super Sports are limited to ‘just’ 415km/h – something Bugatti claims is done for ‘safety reasons’.

''It has come to the attention of Guinness World Records that there was an oversight in its adjudication of the 'Fastest production car' which was set in 2010 by the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport,'' Jaime Strang, GWR's PR director, told UK paper the Sunday Times.

''As the car's speed limiter was deactivated, this modification was against the official guidelines. Consequently, the vehicle's record set at 431.072 kmh is no longer valid.

"Following this, Guinness World Records is reviewing this category with expert external consultants to ensure our records fairly reflect achievements in this field.''

The issue of Bugatti speed limiting its production cars was raised by top speed rival John Hennessey last week, after his car, the Venom GT, recorded 427.6km/h in Texas – a feat he is claiming makes the Venom GT the world’s fastest production car.

We’ll have to wait and see if the boffins at Guinness World Records agree.

Click here for our story on the Hennessey Venom GT record