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" The phone rings \u2013 it is Bentley&amp;#039;s PR man, Richard Durbin &amp;quot;I see you&amp;#039;re going to Goodwood for the Festival. How would you like to go up the hill with Juha Kankkunen in the ice record breaking Continental?&amp;quot; I&amp;#039;ve known Richard for years, but I have to say that is one of the most redundant questions I&amp;#039;ve been asked ranking alongside when an Aston PR person inquired if I wanted to drive a prototype Vantage, with 550 bhp and 555 lb.-ft. of torque and capable of ripping to 60 mph in about four seconds, to the Frankfurt auto show some years back. What did Richard think I was going to say? &amp;quot;Er, no thanks I rather be having my strawberries and cream.&amp;quot; Of course I was going to say yes, who wouldn&amp;#039;t turn down the opportunity to experience Goodwood&amp;#039;s hill climb at the side of a four times World Rally Champion and winner of 23 rounds of the WRC?  It&amp;#039;s not the first time I&amp;#039;ve been ferried up the hill: Blomqvist drove me up in the Audi quattro S1 and, of course, last year I went up in a Lotus \u2013 well a Lotus built hydrogen powered London Black Cab. Famously Kankkunen drove this black Bentley to 205.48 mph on a 10-mile ice track off the Finnish coast on the Baltic. The ice, Juha, explained was nearly 30 inches thick, enough to support the car&amp;#039;s weight at the speeds he&amp;#039;d be travelling at. I didn&amp;#039;t appreciate it until he told me that there are different types of ice that can make or break record attempts: too cold, like -4\u00B0F and the surface becomes &amp;quot;super slippery&amp;quot; so the tires, studded or winter tires that have more contact with the surface, lose grip. At 32\u00B0F the surface is, according, to Juha &amp;quot;sticky&amp;quot; and the denser air aids the blown W12 engine \u2013 which also runs on ethanol to get even more torque. The Continental Supersports is remarkably standard with all the leather and carbon fiber trim retained, even the carpets. Mechanically it&amp;#039;s pretty standard, too, except for longer gearing that would take it to 217 mph, a stout roll cage and roof panel, wheel discs to prevent the build up of snow and ice particles on the rims, a small ducktail spoiler to help aerodynamic balance and, oh yes, a parachute. &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s in case I get too sideways, it will help to pull the car back into a straight line as well as slowing the car down at the end of each run.&amp;quot;  We rumble up to the start as a Lamborghini Gallardo driven by a local journo squeals its tires off the line. Ten seconds later Juha buries the throttle and 479 lb.-ft. tries to tear the big Pirelli&amp;#039;s off their rims accompanied by a small chirrup as they bite into the tarmac. Juha&amp;#039;s hugging the left side of the track and we&amp;#039;re already hitting over 70 mph as he brakes and flicks it into the first right-hander, hard on the throttle into the long right hander that leads into Park Straight the left pair of wheels scrabbling for grip on the grass. There&amp;#039;s no let up in the acceleration as the big W-12 rumbles away and we&amp;#039;re hitting three figures as we pass under the footbridge. Hard on the brakes for the notorious Molecombe Corner that catches the unwary, and then it&amp;#039;s the long blast up hill towards the intimidating Flint Wall that appears from the left to shrink the already slim track even more, there&amp;#039;s slight lift as Kankkunen threads the car through the gap between wall and trees. But the Bentley feels remarkably composed at all times as once again he accelerates it hard up Pheasantry Hill towards Carn\u00E9s Seat. It&amp;#039;s now that we get the first glimpse of the Lambo that Juha is bearing down on, within yards we&amp;#039;re so close we can almost smell the passenger&amp;#039;s perfume and I detect a slight feathering of the throttle from Juha as we cruise up to the finish line at 90 mph. &amp;quot;60 seconds,&amp;quot; I yell across at Kankkunen. &amp;quot;Ah we could have gone faster,&amp;quot; he laughs pointing at the slowing Lambo ahead. But it was still a great run that demonstrates just how nimble this 5400lbs car can be. And another ice record attempt by Juha? &amp;quot;For sure, why not? I know I and the car can go quicker.&amp;quot;           Related posts:  2011 Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible New World Speed Record...on Ice! Bentley Continental Flying Spur Series 51  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/news/a2692/gone-in-60-seconds-bentley-ice-record-breaking-continental-supersports-at-goodwood-23508/>