Cosworth V8 first to crack 20,000 RPM barrier

Cosworth claims to have made history by becoming the first manufacturer to have broken the 20,000rpm limit on track. According to a report in this week's Autosport, Cosworth ran its new CA-2006 V8 engine to a new rev record during testing with Williams at the recent Barcelona test – and it has now set its sights on reaching 21,000rpm before the end of next season.

Alex Hitzinger, Cosworth's head of F1 development, said: "We had to be prepared to move the benchmark again in 2006 and 20,000rpm was our target. "We don't plan to run the engine to 20,000rpm as a matter of course, but it will be available to us."