What I have learned over the years is top speed is so variable in desert racing that it does not mean much. How do you deturmin what fast or faster is? You can have more HP, but get beat in a sand wash because your torque #'s are low or your power band is in the wrong location. I've seen guys that are wicked fast on pole line roads and pass guys like they are standing still, but because of poor suspension tuning they cant get the power to the ground in the rough or whoops and get passed back. How does your tires hook up on hard pack or soft wash? And most of the time the biggest issue is driver control and when on & off the power. Because I have been around class 1's & TT's I have got to see all the data acquisition tools they have and how they can see throttle and braking. Many times when a driver says he was full throttle or pinned, you can go back and find out they might have been for a few seconds, but most of the time you are not even 3/4 wide open on the throttle, maybe even 1/2 throttle. I too thought I was fast until I had a throttle peddle stick at maybe 3/4 open. It scared the shit out of me and after that I realized as was not as fast as I thought.
If you really analyze it, desert racing is short sprints between turns or bumps. In reality being on & off the throttle, setting the vehicle up for the bump, or when you enter a turn and how you back up a turn, or where you accelerate when exiting a turn can make you faster then more HP actually will. This is why guys like McMillin's Menzies and several others have gone to rally driving schools. They teach you all tricks to keeping momentum and how smooth is fast.