Specifically, the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team, who will be entering this white hot Beetle later in the Red Bull GRC championship. As the name suggests, the team is run by Michael Andretti.

So, what are we looking at? Underneath sits a 1.6-litre very turbocharged and very intercooled four cylinder engine producing that headline grabbing 544hp. There's also a six-speed sequential gearbox thrown in for good measure, as well as a fixed ratio all-wheel-drive system featuring multi-plate limited slip diffs front and back.

There are ZF dampers, 14in diameter front and 11.8in rear vented brakes and four-pot aluminium calipers, 17in wheels and of course, a monster rear wing. Because racecar. It's also considerably fatter than the regular Beetle, too, and weighs in at a lithe 2,668lbs (about 300lbs less than a standard Beetle).

Which is all fine and dandy, but the other stat you really should consider is the 0-60mph time: 2.1 seconds. Whoa.

"I can't wait to race the No.34 Rockstar Energy Drink Beetle," said driver and TG USA host Tanner Foust. We'd like a go too, please. We suspect it might be a little quicker than the 500hp, 2-litre turbocharged one-off Beetle we drove last year in Los Angeles...

A version of this story appeared on TopGear.com.

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