PAGANI HUAYRA R

Hypercar artisan extraordinaire makes a fully committed entry into track-only machinery, this Huayra R sharing practically nothing with the Huayra

- MIKE DUFF

TESTED VALLELUNGA, ITALY ON SALE SOLD OUT PRICE £2,301,965

It's no exaggeration to say that the Pagani Huayra R might be the most gloriously unnecessary car in the world. The Italian company's previous creations are hardly likely to be used as daily drivers, but at least they can be used on public roads. The Huayra R is both a track-only special and a piece of automotive art, a hypercar that feels frankly too beautiful to be risked in the environment it's designed for.

Its otherworldliness is quickly proved when I arrive at the Vallelunga circuit near Rome in a rented Fiat Panda. The first thing I hear is what seems to be an old V12 Formula 1 race car on track, a howling, yowling exhaust note echoing around the empty grandstands. Are we sharing the track with a Ferrari 412 T2? Leaning over the pitwall reveals that the noise is actually coming from the Pagani factory's Huayra R demonstrator, at a volume that will surely exceed the limits at almost every track in the world. Apparently there is a quieter exhaust option, but Pagani has been allowed to come to Vallelunga with what are basically straight pipes.

Despite its name, the Huayra R has almost nothing in common with any of the previous road-legal Huayra variants. The only shared components are the door mirrors. It sits on an ultra-light carbon fibre frame built to satisfy FIA safety standards (although there are no plans to race it) plus a structural naturally aspirated V12 engine made in Germany by HWA, that being the former part of AMG that Mercedes-Benz didn't acquire.