Can the Venom Spyder go even faster than 265mph?

The Hennessey Venom GT Spyder is the fastest convertible in the world. Driver Brian Smith hit 265.5mph on a California runway last month, bettering the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse’s top speed by a sizable 11mph. But here’s the thing: it might have gone even faster, were it not for a technical hitch that robbed it of 300bhp.

After its first run, and looking at the telemetry, Hennessey’s engineers noticed the Venom was low on fuel pressure. The problem was traced to one of the Venom’s three fuel pumps, which was causing pressure to drop as the boost built. So, unable to replace it there and then, the engineers turned the boost pressure down a bit – effectively robbing the car of one Golf R in horsepower. Yikes.

Take a look at the video above to see the story of how Hennessey broke the record.