Bugatti Veyron Super Sport sits on top with the Gumpert Apollo, Ascari A10->ke1257, and Noble M600->ke3186 following suit. Not your everyday Ferraris->ke252, people.

But as the course of history has shown us, once in a while, a modern day David arrives with a rock and a sling in hand to topple the mighty Goliaths in one fell swoop.

Weighing only 550 kg and powered by a 3.0-liter V8 engine that produces 500 horsepower, this David is by no means a pushover. It’s the Ariel Atom V8 500 and it sure made quite an impression on Top Gear->ke1860.

Hit the jump for the record-breaking details!

Reviewed by Captain Slow himself, James May, the Atom V8 made the pedestrian presenter look like Michael Schumacher as it sped around the track like a black, red, and gold rocket burning up everything that stood in its way, including a Lexus LF-A->ke2181, a Lamborghini Gallardo->ke375, and a BMW S1000 RR->ke3153, considered to be the world’s most powerful road bike.

Thanks to a power-to-weight figure of around 900 horsepower per ton, the Atom V8 blistered all three vehicles put against it, and did so beyond conviction.

Knowing that they may have found a car that could potentially destroy the lap record set by the Veyron Super Sport, Clarkson and the boys went out and sought the help of a new (old) friend to take the Atom V8 out for a flying lap around the track: The Stig.

The faceless test driver drove the Atom at such blistering a pace that it clocked a lap time of 1:15.1, a full 1.17 seconds faster than the Super Sport’s 1:16.8 lap time, breaking – more like demonstrably shredding – the Top Gear track’s lap record.

Ladies and gentlemen, this little David with a 500 horsepower engine packs more than just a rock and a sling. Much, much more.