Running on spiked Pirelli Sotto Zero winter tires, four-time
world rally champion Juha Kankkunen has set a new world record
for ice-driving by reaching 205.48 miles per hour in a Bentley
Continental Supersport.
The feat took place Feb. 15 over a 16-kilometer course on the
frozen Baltic Sea off Finland. The ice was 70 centimeters thick
under tricky conditions that included a snowstorm and cross
winds.
Kankkunen broke his own previous record, averaging 330
kilometers per hour in both directions as required by the
Guinness Book of Records.
“The tires were really good, because to make them work in the
conditions we had was not at all easy,” says Kankkunen, who won
his last world championship rally on Pirelli tires with Subaru
at the 1999 Rally Australia.
“First of all, it was so cold. Secondly, the ice is so slippery
and bumpy that you have wheel spin all the way to 300 kph. It’s
just a question of playing with the throttle and gears to find
the speed,” Kankkunen explains.
The car was standard apart from a welded-in roll cage, rear
bumper-mounted parachute and a set of size 275/40R20 Sotto Zero
winter tires.
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The 51-year-old Kankkunen believes that record-breaking
attempts such as his run in Finland can help to develop road
car tires for everyday drivers in future.
“This is a very different experience to driving on the road,
but you have to push to the maximum sometimes to see how things
work,” he says.
“You can see from these tires that the techniques of
construction are very good and learn some important lessons
about how to build tires in the future to cope with even the
most extreme conditions,” Kankkunen adds.
In celebration of Kankkunen’s achievement, 100 limited edition
Supersports will be made and shown for the first time at next
month’s Geneva Motorshow. They will be the most powerful
Bentley road cars ever made.
“Many congratulations to Juha and Bentley from all of us at
Pirelli,” says motorsports director Paul Hembery.
“It’s great to see him still setting records with Pirelli, and
this latest achievement – taken as Pirelli builds up to its
Formula One race return in Bahrain – just underlines the
creativity and extent of our know-how in a huge variety of
areas.”
For more information, visit www.us.pirelli.com.
