Caterham Superlight R600 (2012) first official pictures

There's never been a forced induction-endowed production Caterham Seven until now, but supercharging is announcing its arrival in the lightweight special in a big way: the new Superlight R600 is the fastest Seven racing car the company has ever built.

Competing in the Superlight R600 Championship from 2013, the racer is the most extreme machine yet from Caterham to take to the circuit, but CAR hears there'll be a road legal version along soon for hardcore track day fans.

In the nose, there's a 2.0-litre Ford Duratec four-cylinder engine which, with the help of that supercharger, puts out 275bhp. It's a powerplant closely related to the SP300R sports prototype that CAR drove earlier this year.

The power output is 12bhp more than the road-going R500 Superlight of 2008, and although saddled with a roll cage, the R600 doesn't have to lug around pesky road legal paraphernalia like headlights and windscreen wiper (or a windscreen, for that matter.) Add in the option of slick tyres and it should be a pretty formidable track weapon when it goes on sale for £44,995.

You most certainly can. Caterham is expecting at least a 16-car grid for the debut championship season in 2013, with 30 cars anticipated to compete the following year.

Owners of current R300 cars can upgrade their cars to full R600 spec with the flagship car's six-speed sequential gearbox, added power, and limited-slip differential, with prices for that treatment to be announced in the coming weeks.

By Ollie Kew