Competing in the Production Vehicle class, Bentley has established a new world record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb event. New Zealand racing driver Rhys Millen piloted his Continental GT along the entire mountainous track in just 10 minutes 18 seconds.
The tournament regulations prohibit making serious modifications to production cars, limiting tuners to minimal improvements and tweaks and making sure only the best models get the prizes.
In its factory-stock form, the Bentley Continental GT comes equipped with a 6.0-liter turbocharged W12 engine rated at 635 horsepower (474 kilowatts) and 900 Newton-meters (664 pound-feet) of torque. It relies on an eight-speed DCT transmission to send this power to the wheels and sprints 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.6 seconds before maxing out at 333 km/h (207 mph).
The British luxury carmaker won another Pikes Peak prize last year. Competing in the Production SUV category, the same Rhys Millen drove a 608-hp (453-kW) Bentley Bentayga to the finish line in 10 minutes 49.9 seconds.
Photos: Bentley