Top Gear Power Laps

In the Power laps segment, The Stig completes a lap around the Top Gear test track to gauge the performance of various cars.


The qualifications for the normal Power lap Board is that the car being tested must be road-worthy, and be able to go over a speed bump which is referred to sometimes in the UK as a 'sleeping policeman'. There is a separate unofficial board of times for non-production cars.

The most powerful production car ever featured on Top Gear, the 1,001 PS (987 hp/736 kW) Bugatti Veyron, has not yet been driven around the track by The Stig. According to Clarkson, this is because Bugatti has not given Top Gear permission to run the car through a power lap. This was confirmed on the Veyron's second appearance in February 2007, when Clarkson made an appeal to Veyron owners to let Top Gear borrow their car and allow The Stig to drive it around the track, offering up to £30 to do so. However in the twelfth series the Bugatti made an underwhelming time of 1.18.3. This currently puts the Bugatti at 6th place in the board.

The car that recorded the fastest lap time on the Top Gear track was the Renault F1 car, at fifty nine seconds (0:59.00), although it was disqualified because the rules only include production cars able to get over speed bumps.

As of the Sixteenth Series, the fastest road legal car that met the 'sleeping policeman' requirement was the Ariel Atom 500 in a time of 1:15.1. This is 1.7 seconds faster than the former lap leader, the Bugatti Veyraon Super Sport. This was later beaten by the Ferrari FXX in a time of 1.10.7 but this was later disqualified for using slick tyres.

Without the 'sleeping policeman' requirement the fastest time around the track for a road legal car would be the Caparo T1. The Caparo posted a time of 1:10.6 despite its reliability problems.

• POWER
  LAP TIMES
• 1:15.1 - Ariel Atom 500 (partly damp)
• 1:16.8 - Bugatti Veyron Super Sport
• 1:17.1 - Gumpert Apollo
• 1:17.3 - Ascari A10
• 1:17.6 - Koenigsegg CCX (with Top Gear Wing)
• 1:17.7 - Noble M600 (cold)
• 1:17.8 - Pagani Zonda Roadster F Clubsport
• 1:17.9 - Caterham Seven R500 (cold tyres and two cylinders were not working)
• 1:18.3 - Pagani Zonda F (Roadster version)
• 1:18.4 - Bugatti Veyron
• 1:18.9 - Maserati MC12
• 1:19.0 - Lamborghini Murciélago LP670-4 SuperVeloce
• 1:19.0 - Enzo Ferrari
• 1:19.1 - Ferrari 458 Italia
• 1:19.5 - Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4
• 1:19.5 - Porsche 997 GT2
• 1:19.5 - Ariel Atom 2 300
• 1:19.7 - Nissan GT-R
• 1:19.7 - Ferrari 430 Scuderia
• 1:19.8 - Lamborghini Murciélago LP640
• 1:19.8 - Porsche Carrera GT
• 1:20.4 - Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 (damp)
• 1:20.4 - Koenigsegg CCX (without Top Gear Wing)[1]
• 1:20.7 - Ascari KZ1 (damp)
• 1:20.9 - Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
• 1:21.2 - Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
• 1:21.6 - Audi R8 V10 (damp)
• 1:21.9 - Ford GT
• 1:22.3 - Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale
• 1:22.3 - Porsche 911 GT3 RS (996 mk.II)
• 1:22.4 - Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06
• 1:22.5 - Noble M15
• 1:22.8 - Lexus LFA (wet)[2]
• 1:22.9 - Ferrari F430 F1
• 1:23.0 - Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series
• 1:23.1 - KTM X-Bow (Not Shown on TV)[3]
• 1:23.1 - Porsche 911 GT3
• 1:23.2 - Ferrari F430 Spider F1
• 1:23.7 - Lamborghini Murciélago (retested)
• 1:23.8 - Pagani Zonda C12 S 7.3 (partly damp)
• 1:23.9 - Aston Martin DBS
• 1:23.9 - Koenigsegg CC8S
• 1:24.0 - Ariel Atom 1 220
• 1:24.2 - Veritas RS III
• 1:24.3 - Prodrive P2 (concept)
• 1:24.4 - Audi R8 (damp and someone peed in the tank again)
• 1:24.6 - TVR Sagaris
• 1:24.8 - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR FQ-400
• 1:24.8 - TVR Tuscan Mk.II
• 1:25.0 - Noble M12 GTO-3R