A racer from the USA accelerated to 550 km/h and set a speed record.

A new top speed record has been set in the United States at drag racing competitions in the Top Fuel class of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) championship. 38-year-old racer Brittany Force accelerated to 549.74 km/h (341.59 mph), which was the best result in the history of the series, according to The Drive.

Brittany Force of the John Force Racing team set a record during the qualifying races, driving a dragster with a capacity of 11 thousand horsepower. The previous best result also belonged to her — in 2022, the American accelerated to 545.47 km/h. Also during the competition, Force became the first participant to exceed 340 mph (547.18 km/h) in this racing class.

"In the 1960s, reaching a speed of 200 miles per hour was considered a huge achievement. Don Garlits made headlines when he hit 201.34 mph in 1964. Kenny Bernstein first crossed the 300 mph threshold in 1992," the publication notes.

Currently, the fastest production car in the world is the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, which reached a top speed of 490.48 km/h in 2019.

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On March 31, it was reported that the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar turned out to be the fastest on the Top Gear test track, which is located at the airfield in the British town of Dunsfold. The 1,155-horsepower car broke the lap record among production models approved for use on public roads.