The Czinger 21C Hypercar Sets Five Speed Records in Five Days
The 1,000-mile journey & record-breaking laps at five iconic racetracks were captured in a 25-minute documentary…
In a tribute to California’s car culture, a new documentary, “California Gold Rush,” captures a Czinger 21C hypercar driving 1,000 miles of public roads to set five officially validated production car lap records in five consecutive days. The film was released on Czinger’s YouTube channel on Aug. 18.
The journey stretched from the hills of Northern California to the Southern desert, linking the state’s most iconic racetracks: Thunderhill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and The Thermal Club. Led by Czinger Vehicles chief engineer Ewan Baldry and a team of eight engineers who developed and built the Czinger 21C, the mission was simple in principle, but daunting in execution, officials stated in a press release.
Czinger Set Out To Test Road Endurance & Break Lap Records
Between the racetracks, the 21C crossed through redwood-lined valleys, along coastal stretches and deep into the desert. The team navigated everything from sweeping canyon roads to the cracked flats of the Mojave.
“With the California Gold Rush campaign, we set out to redefine hypercar performance, taking into equal consideration lap records and road endurance. We believe that a hypercar must perform over multiple dimensions, and technical innovations are only worthwhile when proven in the real world,” said Lukas Czinger, CEO & founder of Czinger Vehicles. “The driving force behind any technological leap is a mission-driven, resilient and exceptionally capable team. The ‘California Gold Rush’ documentary celebrates the individuals behind the 21C. I could not be prouder of what our team accomplished.”
The record-setting journey saw the Czinger 21C hypercar achieve the following times, all verified by Racelogic using a VBOX GNSS-based system and witnessed on site:
- Thunderhill Raceway Park: 1:48.30, -3.39 seconds off previous record.
- Sonoma Raceway: 1:35.05, – 0.70 seconds off previous record.
- WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 1:24.39, -0.36 off Czinger’s own previous record.
- Willow Springs Raceway: 1:19.73, – 1.35 seconds off previous record.
- The Thermal Club: 2:03.17, -10.33 seconds off previous record.
In total, the car shaved 16.26 seconds from benchmark records, a performance that speaks not only to the hypercar’s capabilities but also to the spirit of the team that built it, noted the release.
Documentary Captures Challenges Faced by the Czinger Team
In the film—directed by Luca Brinciotti, an Italian-born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker known for his immersive automotive storytelling—the 25-minute documentary captures more than performance data. It also reveals the human side of the California Gold Rush campaign—fatigue, setbacks, breakthroughs and the unrelenting spirit of the team, company officials added.
“From the beginning, it was clear this team had an extraordinary level of grit and focus,” said Brinciotti. “My goal was to capture and share the energy that fueled them. What they’ve built isn’t just a car, it’s a collective effort born from belief and determination.”
At the center of the journey was Baldry, who not only oversaw every detail of the car’s development but also drove the thousands of road miles between tracks. “The amazing thing about this team is the self-belief and tenacity,” he said. “It was a difficult challenge, and tensions ran high at times, but that’s part of doing something hard and worthwhile. The film captures that.”
Throughout the journey, Baldry and team faced real technical adversity. A cracked casing at Thunderhill required a full system teardown and overnight rebuild. At Laguna Seca, the car hit a tire wall during a push lap, resulting in another on-the-spot repair.
Driver Joel Miller, a longtime Czinger development driver, handled all five circuits. “When the Czinger team called me and said five lap records in five days, I knew it would be intense,” said Miller. “Taking the car straight from the street to five track circuits with varying temperatures and configurations is an amazing feat, one that I’ve never heard of another manufacturer being crazy enough to attempt.”
“This was never just about the car,” said Ryan Bonnelly, lead technician at Czinger. “It was about the people behind it. Everyone here put in everything they had. We worked through the nights, fixed problems on the fly and stayed united. No ego. Just focus.”
