Watch This Yamaha R1 vs Ariel Atom vs Rallycross Car Drag Race

The result is not what you might expect.

Autocar ran an Ariel Atom 3.5R (240 horsepower, 520 kilos) against a Yamaha R1 (128 HP, 177 kilos) against Liam Doran’s Citroën DS3 he competes with in the World Rallycross Championship (590 HP, 1100 kilos).

Liam explains that he gets that kind of power from the car by using a cast-iron diesel engine block to take all the car’s boost. he’d be up at 1000 horsepower if it wasn’t for the 45mm air restrictor mandated by the series.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I guess we have a lesson in the importance of traction over seemingly all else. Take that, horsepower.