Bentley Continental GT sets Pikes Peak record to mark 100th anniversary
Bentley smashed the course record to mark its 100th anniversary year.
Bentley smashed the course record to mark its 100th anniversary year.
Bentley smashed the course record to mark its 100th anniversary year.
Bentley smashed the course record to mark its 100th anniversary year.
Bentley smashed the course record to mark its 100th anniversary year.
The Bentley Continental GT is probably not the first car that pops into someone’s head when someone says “Pikes Peak records,” mostly because it’s big and it weighs a lot, but it’s precisely the car that just set a new production car record on the daunting 12.42-mile mountain course.
Behind the wheel of the specially prepared Continental GT was three-time champion and former “King of the Mountain” Rhys Millen, blasting the large coupe through 156 bends and climbing almost 5,000 feet up, just under a mile in elevation, starting at a lightheaded 9,300 feet and rocketing up to the nosebleed section located at 14,100 feet.
Millen set the new record of 10 minutes and 18.488 seconds on June 30th, smashing the previous course record by 8.4 seconds while averaging 70 mph.
“This is an amazing finish to a wet, snowy 2019 run at Pikes Peak!” Millen said after the run. “We came here with one goal in mind, and that was to be the fastest production car up the mountain and set a new record. It was an incredible week. Today was a challenge with what Mother Nature threw at us, but the Continental GT held strong all the way to the top, and we are now Number One.”
Bentley’s motivation in attempting the record, of course, was marking its 100th anniversary in 2019, even though the automaker is not known for attempting records of this type very often. And we have to admit that the Continental GT, despite its twelve cylinders and 626 hp, is not exactly a lightweight rally hatch of the kind that used to battle Pikes Peak in the 1980s, when rabid Group B rally cars slid around the unpaved course spraying onlookers with gravel.
But Bentley does have experience at Pikes Peak: a year ago a Bentley Bentayga captured the course record for a production SUV with Millen behind the wheel, rocketing up the mountain in 10:49.9 minutes. Unfortunately, the Bentayga didn’t do so with three passengers on board sipping Earl Grey tea, because hot tea will spill in the corners unless it comes out of a sports bottle. Something to think about for the future, perhaps.
Bentley smashed the course record to mark its 100th anniversary year.
“This new record once again proves that the spirit of endeavor and desire to push the boundaries of automotive performance remain at the beating heart of Bentley,” added Bentley Director of Motorsport Brian Gush. “It clearly demonstrates the Continental GT’s astonishing breadth of ability.”
Despite now being a paved course, the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is not without risk. The same day that Bentley set a new course record for a production car, Ducati motorcyclist Carlin Dunne died from injuries sustained in a crash on the straightaway leading to the finish line in the last few yards of the course when his bike hit a bump in the road and caused him to lose control, falling down the side of the mountain. Dunne was the defending champion in the Heavyweight Division, and had posted the top qualifying run just earlier.
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