Veyron Speed-Record Debrief

[TJHooker]

0-60 talks to Bugatti test driver, speed-record pilot Pierre-Henri Raphanel

Last week, Bugatti test driver, er, pilote official, Pierre Henri Raphanel set the production-car speed record in Bugatti’s new Veyron Supersports 16.4. The 1,200 horsepower, 1,106 pound-feet monster propelled Raphanel to timed runs of 265.9 and 269.8 mph on Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien test track near Wolfsburg, which according to the Guinness people, averages to a V-max of 267.81 mph. That’s more than enough to bring the title of world’s fastest production car back to the VW fold. We phoned the former F1 and Japanese touring-car driver to get his take on what it’s like to approach the 270 mph mark in a production car, why the forest is his friend and whether or not he’s up to try for 300.

0-60 Magzine