Can anything beat a Formula 1 car in a straight-line race? An F1 RB8, MotoGP KTM RC16, WRC and Rallycross cars, and a 2,040-hp Ford SuperVan battle in an insane five-way drag race.
Which Insane Vehicle Can Beat a Formula 1 Car?
What happens when some of the fastest and most spectacular racing machines on the planet are placed side by side on the same drag strip?
That was the question behind an extraordinary five-way drag race, bringing together a Formula 1 car, a MotoGP prototype, a World Rally Championship car, a World Rallycross machine and one of the most extreme electric vans ever built.
The lineup was assembled in collaboration with Carwow, creating a spectacular comparison between machines designed for completely different forms of motorsport.
At the centre of the challenge was a Red Bull Racing RB8, the car that powered Sebastian Vettel to the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship.
But standing alongside it were some formidable rivals.
The Five Extraordinary Machines
This wasn't simply a battle between five vehicles. It was a clash between five completely different philosophies of speed.
🏎️ Red Bull Racing RB8 — Formula 1
The Formula 1 challenger was the 2012 Red Bull Racing RB8, driven for the race by Visa Cash App RB F1 driver Liam Lawson.
The RB8 was designed specifically to maximise performance on a circuit, combining enormous aerodynamic downforce with a lightweight chassis and a high-performance combustion engine.
Its greatest advantage in a drag race is its extraordinary power-to-weight ratio and ability to put immense performance onto the track.
🏍️ KTM RC16 — MotoGP
The two-wheeled challenger was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's RC16 MotoGP bike, ridden by Spanish MotoGP legend Dani Pedrosa.
A modern MotoGP prototype represents the absolute cutting edge of motorcycle racing.
Pedrosa's experience was another crucial ingredient. With a career spanning numerous Grand Prix victories and years competing against the world's best riders, he knows exactly how to extract maximum performance from a prototype motorcycle.
🚗 World Rallycross Car — 600 HP
The Rallycross machine brought another kind of aggression.
Producing approximately 600 horsepower from a 2.0-litre engine, it was driven by Timmy Hansen, the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Champion.
Unlike an F1 car, this machine is designed to accelerate brutally while coping with surfaces and conditions that can change dramatically.
Its four-wheel-drive configuration gives it a major advantage when launching from a standing start.
🚙 World Rally Championship Car — 550 HP
The WRC challenger was a 550-horsepower M-Sport Ford World Rally Team machine, driven by Adrien Fourmaux.
Fourmaux's rally experience makes him an ideal driver for a test like this.
WRC cars are built around traction, rapid acceleration and control on unpredictable surfaces. They may not possess the outright power of the SuperVan or the extreme aerodynamic efficiency of an F1 car, but they are exceptionally effective at converting power into forward motion.
⚡ Ford SuperVan 4.2 — 2,040 HP
And then there was the wild card.
The Ford SuperVan 4.2 brought an astonishing 1,500 kW — equivalent to approximately 2,040 horsepower.
Driving it was French endurance-racing star Romain Dumas.
The SuperVan is very different from the road-going Ford Transit that inspired its appearance. Beneath the radical bodywork is an all-electric performance machine created with outright speed in mind.
With more than 2,000 horsepower available, it possessed a power output that dwarfed the other vehicles in the lineup.
The Ultimate Launch
A drag race is not simply about peak horsepower.
The crucial first seconds are a battle between power, weight, traction, gearing and driver reaction.
This makes the five-way contest fascinating.
The MotoGP bike has an incredible power-to-weight ratio, but transferring all that power through a single rear tyre is fundamentally different from launching a four-wheel-drive car.
The WRC and Rallycross cars can exploit their four-wheel-drive systems to maximise traction.
The F1 car has extraordinary acceleration potential, but its aerodynamic package is optimised for high-speed circuit performance rather than necessarily producing the perfect standing-start launch.
And the SuperVan?
It has the enormous advantage of electric power delivery.
A Clash of Motorsport Worlds
What makes the challenge so entertaining is that every machine represents a different definition of speed.
Formula 1 prioritises aerodynamic efficiency, cornering speed and braking performance.
MotoGP combines light weight, acceleration, braking and rider skill.
WRC and Rallycross machines prioritise traction and rapid acceleration across challenging surfaces.
The Ford SuperVan takes a different approach altogether, using enormous electric power to produce astonishing straight-line performance.
So asking which is "fastest" depends heavily on the environment.
On a Formula 1 circuit, the RB8 would have an enormous advantage through high-speed corners.
On a rally stage, the WRC car would be operating in its natural habitat.
On a Rallycross circuit, Hansen's machine would be designed for exactly that challenge.
But on a short, straight drag race, the equation changes dramatically.
The Human Factor
Behind every machine was an elite driver or rider.
Liam Lawson represented Formula 1.
Dani Pedrosa brought MotoGP expertise.
Timmy Hansen represented Rallycross.
Adrien Fourmaux brought World Rally Championship experience.
And Romain Dumas took control of the extraordinary Ford SuperVan.
The vehicles may have wildly different specifications, but the drivers were all capable of extracting extraordinary performance from their machines.
That makes the launch itself almost as fascinating as the vehicles.
Key Vehicle Specifications
| Vehicle | Power | Driver | Motorsport |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Bull Racing RB8 | F1-specification | Liam Lawson | Formula 1 |
| KTM RC16 | MotoGP-specification | Dani Pedrosa | MotoGP |
| Rallycross car | 600 hp | Timmy Hansen | World Rallycross |
| M-Sport Ford WRC car | 550 hp | Adrien Fourmaux | WRC |
| Ford SuperVan 4.2 | 1,500 kW / ~2,040 hp | Romain Dumas | Electric performance |
Why the Result Is So Interesting
The most fascinating aspect of this drag race is that maximum horsepower doesn't automatically guarantee victory.
A vehicle must successfully convert its power into acceleration.
Weight matters.
Traction matters.
Gearing matters.
Tyres matter.
And the driver's ability to execute the launch matters.
That's why placing these five machines together creates such an entertaining experiment.
The Ford SuperVan's enormous power output makes it an obvious candidate, while the MotoGP bike's incredible lightness gives it another potentially decisive advantage.
Meanwhile, the F1 car brings the technological sophistication of the world's premier single-seater championship.
The Verdict
The five-way race between Formula 1, MotoGP, Rallycross, WRC and the Ford SuperVan 4.2 is far more than a simple drag race.
It is a fascinating demonstration of how different forms of motorsport approach the same objective: going as fast as possible.
The Red Bull RB8 represents Formula 1's obsession with aerodynamic performance.
The KTM RC16 represents the extraordinary engineering of MotoGP.
The WRC and Rallycross cars demonstrate the importance of traction.
And the Ford SuperVan 4.2 shows what happens when electric power is taken to an extreme.
With 2,040 horsepower, Romain Dumas' SuperVan is the spectacular wildcard in a lineup already packed with racing legends.
But the real winner is the spectacle itself.
Five elite drivers. Five completely different racing machines. One straight line.
F1 vs MotoGP vs Rallycross vs WRC vs a 2,040-hp electric SuperVan — this is one drag race that proves there is no single definition of speed.
