Bugatti Bolide Owners Have to Learn the Track in Something More Tame: a 911 GT3 RS
Recently, Bugatti hosted the first official track event for the Bolide hypercar at Circuit Paul Ricard in France — an event which marked the first opportunity for owners to drive their multi-million-dollar, track-only machines. (Except, of course, the owner who previously rented out Circuit of the Americas for himself,)
However, Bugatti didn't let the owners jump into their 1,500-plus horsepower, W-16 track weapons right away. They thought it would be best to start the drivers out with something a bit more tame. That tamer car? A Porsche 911 GT3 RS.
Granted, it makes sense that a Porsche would be used, as Porsche does have a stake in Bugatti via the Bugatti-Rimac joint venture. And the 518-hp GT3 RS is clearly made for attacking road courses, as it comes fitted with a F1-esque drag reduction system, a central radiator sitting in the front luggage compartment, and a suspension that has individual compression and rebound adjustments for each axle. It's the sort of car that requires a steep learning curve to master... yet it was the car used as a set of training wheels for the Bolide.
For the event, each driver was paired with an expert instructor during their morning driving the GT3 RS, before finally being allowed to climb behind the wheel of their Bolide. (Bugatti "Pilote Officiels" Bruno Spengler and Andy Wallace, who've racked up a ridiculous amount of professional racing wins between them, were on hand to assist as well.) With only four Bolides sharing the 3.63-mile course, suffice it to say, the event sounds like yet another refutation of Christopher Wallace's famous maxim; that day, at least, more money didn't certainly equal more problems.
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