This is from the Koenigsegg registry Facebook page and sums it up the best in my view.
A lot has happened in the last two weeks since SSC claimed they eclipsed Koenigsegg's mark on October 10. Last night saw the release of a video by SSC founder Jerod Shelby saying that nope, they don't have the video they've been claiming would prove their numbers after all. So therefore they'd be doing it again, to prove they did it the first time.
This statement, strangely lauded by many as a testament to Shelby's integrity and honesty, completely misses the point of everything that came before it. In the video Shelby still maintains the Tuatara ran record speeds, despite all evidence to the contrary. He offered no explanation for why the Tuatara's speedometer reads nearly 20% higher than reality, or why the video onto which the “wrong” graphics were overlaid clearly shows a laptop computer running numbers in concert with the graphics. He falsely claimed that Dewetron had certified the numbers, that there were Guinness people present, and that the Tuatara's Cima gearbox was running custom gearsets heretofore unseen in any appliation.
There are a lot of people in the media, with stakes in the game, who have danced around saying exactly what most of us have secretly suspected since I first mentioned it in this space on October 20: The Tuatara did not run a two-way average of 316mph, not 300-anything, in fact, and most likely not close to Koenigsegg's record either. To assert at this time that it did, is an insult to everyone who put time and thought into analyzing what they could see with their own eyes.
This is what cheaters do. They say sorry not for what they've done, but because they got caught. They portray themselves as the hurt ones and make you doubt what you know. In the grand scheme of things, top speed records don't matter a whit; but in this corner of the market they matter a lot. It's the same as selling a watch with a 2000 meter waterproof depth. The product should be able to perform as represented. Could the Tuatara hit 300 on the re-do run Shelby has promised? Possibly, we'll have to wait and see. That should not nullify the fact that that Shelby spent a week trying to convince us his lies were true.
As this is a Koenigsegg fan page, I've gotten a lot of kickback from folks saying I'm just a butthurt fanboy. I understand the optics on that. Remember though in 2017 I wrote that I fully expected someone to beat Koenigsegg's record someday. I still do. I started the discussion about the SSC run not because I was sore about it, but because it clearly didn't match the story they told. Jey and Kaare applied their skills to the task, and six days later Shmee gave the story the exposure it deserved. If none of us had said anything, it's likely SSC would still be sitting on a fraudulent record today. I feel badly for the people who've been hurt by SSC's distorted presentation of the truth, but I have a bigger problem with people accepting accolades for a deceptive act.
I'm fairly certain that from this point forward, records of these kinds will come under a lot of scrutiny, with a lot of responsibility on those claiming them to act with transparency and to provide lots of authentication. That is as it should be. Higher standards keep the honest folk happy, knowing everyone is on the same playing field. Many have said Koenigsegg will have their work cut out for them, whenever the Jesko Absolut might take a crack at it. I feel like Koenigsegg is up for the challenge. Whoever's holding the record at that time, at least we'll know the numbers were legit.
Thanks everyone for your support as always,
Matt Sexton
A lot has happened in the last two weeks since SSC claimed they eclipsed Koenigsegg's mark on October 10. Last night saw the release of a video by SSC founder Jerod Shelby saying that nope, they don't have the video they've been claiming would prove their numbers after all. So therefore they'd be doing it again, to prove they did it the first time.
This statement, strangely lauded by many as a testament to Shelby's integrity and honesty, completely misses the point of everything that came before it. In the video Shelby still maintains the Tuatara ran record speeds, despite all evidence to the contrary. He offered no explanation for why the Tuatara's speedometer reads nearly 20% higher than reality, or why the video onto which the “wrong” graphics were overlaid clearly shows a laptop computer running numbers in concert with the graphics. He falsely claimed that Dewetron had certified the numbers, that there were Guinness people present, and that the Tuatara's Cima gearbox was running custom gearsets heretofore unseen in any appliation.
There are a lot of people in the media, with stakes in the game, who have danced around saying exactly what most of us have secretly suspected since I first mentioned it in this space on October 20: The Tuatara did not run a two-way average of 316mph, not 300-anything, in fact, and most likely not close to Koenigsegg's record either. To assert at this time that it did, is an insult to everyone who put time and thought into analyzing what they could see with their own eyes.
This is what cheaters do. They say sorry not for what they've done, but because they got caught. They portray themselves as the hurt ones and make you doubt what you know. In the grand scheme of things, top speed records don't matter a whit; but in this corner of the market they matter a lot. It's the same as selling a watch with a 2000 meter waterproof depth. The product should be able to perform as represented. Could the Tuatara hit 300 on the re-do run Shelby has promised? Possibly, we'll have to wait and see. That should not nullify the fact that that Shelby spent a week trying to convince us his lies were true.
As this is a Koenigsegg fan page, I've gotten a lot of kickback from folks saying I'm just a butthurt fanboy. I understand the optics on that. Remember though in 2017 I wrote that I fully expected someone to beat Koenigsegg's record someday. I still do. I started the discussion about the SSC run not because I was sore about it, but because it clearly didn't match the story they told. Jey and Kaare applied their skills to the task, and six days later Shmee gave the story the exposure it deserved. If none of us had said anything, it's likely SSC would still be sitting on a fraudulent record today. I feel badly for the people who've been hurt by SSC's distorted presentation of the truth, but I have a bigger problem with people accepting accolades for a deceptive act.
I'm fairly certain that from this point forward, records of these kinds will come under a lot of scrutiny, with a lot of responsibility on those claiming them to act with transparency and to provide lots of authentication. That is as it should be. Higher standards keep the honest folk happy, knowing everyone is on the same playing field. Many have said Koenigsegg will have their work cut out for them, whenever the Jesko Absolut might take a crack at it. I feel like Koenigsegg is up for the challenge. Whoever's holding the record at that time, at least we'll know the numbers were legit.
Thanks everyone for your support as always,
Matt Sexton
