Four-time world rally champion sets new car world speed record on ice at 330.695 km/h
By ANIWednesday, February 16, 2011
OULU - Juha Kankkunen, four-time world rally champion, drove a Bentley Continental Supersports convertible on the frozen waters of the Baltic Sea at 330.695 kilometers per hour (205.48 miles per hour) to set a new world speed record on ice.
The world’s fastest soft-top enabled Kankkunen to break his own 2007 world ice speed record of 321.6 kilometers per hour (199.83 mph per hour) set in the Continental GT at the same location, Fox News reports.
The record-setting Supersports was powered by a 6.0-liter, 12-cylinder engine similar to the 621-horsepower version found in the 280,000 pounds showroom version of the car.
Kankkunen needed to maintain the record speed through a timing zone, and then stop within the confines of a 16.5 kilometre track.
His new world record was based on the average of two runs in opposite directions with measured speeds ratified by a representative of The Guinness Book of Records.
Meanwhile, Bentley announced that it would celebrate the achievement by introducing a special edition of the Continental at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show on March 1.
The company said that the “extreme” Bentley will be limited to 100 copies and be the most powerful model it has ever made. (ANI)
