The Bentley Continental GT is a fantastic slab of luxury, but its immense size makes it an unlikely candidate to set a record on one of the world's toughest race courses. Yet that's exactly what Bentley aims to accomplish. The British automaker will race a Continental GT at the 2019 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, with its sights firmly set on snagging the record for production cars at the storied Colorado race.
While it does sport a 626-horsepower, 6.0-liter W12 engine, the Continental GT was designed for long-distance cruising, not attacking racetracks. Bentley does race highly modified Continentals on road courses, but the Pikes Peak car will have to remain mostly stock (aside from safety equipment) in order to qualify for the production-car record on the 12.4-mile course. Drivers face blind corners, sheer drop-offs, and changing weather conditions on the way to the 14,115-foot summit of Pikes Peak. A decrease in oxygen near the summit also robs internal-combustion engines of power.
Pikes Peak divides cars into multiple classes, encompassing both production cars and purpose-built racers. The current production-car record of 10:26.9 was set by a Porsche 911 Turbo S in 2014. However, the overall record stands at 7:57.1. It was set by the Volkswagen I.D. R, an electric car built specifically for Pikes Peak, in 2018.
Bentley will have a major advantage in the form of driver Rhys Millen. Nicknamed "King of the Mountain," the New Zealander has won Pikes Peak five times. In 2018, he broke the record for production SUVs in a Bentley Bentayga. Millen's time of 10:49.9 beat the previous record by nearly 2 minutes.
The Pikes Peak Continental GT will wear the same electric green color as 2018's record-breaking Bentayga, as well as the number 100, because 2019 is Bentley's 100th birthday. The automaker's top brass hopes to celebrate that birthday with a new record. Racing is an important part of the Bentley mythos, thanks to a string of Le Mans victories in the 1920s and one more in 2003. Most customers will likely never take their cars to a racetrack, but that history inspired Bentley to make the Continental GT sportier than it has any right to be. Will that be enough to break a Pikes Peak record? We'll find out June 30, when Millen and the Continental GT head for the summit.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét