Bentley are going to battle Pikes Peak... in a Bentayga

To do that the air-sprung, all-wheel drive, two-and-a-half tone luxury behemoth will need to blast up the side of Pikes Peak, with its 156 corners, in something less than 12 minutes 35.61 seconds – for an average speed of 60mph. At least the course, which rises to over 14,000ft, is all sealed surface now instead of the loose gravel it used to be. 

In the Bentayga’s favour is its mighty W12 powertrain with 600bhp and its own mountain of torque, peaking at 664lb ft. The car is being prepared for the June record attempt by Bentley Motorsport and will be driven by… inevitably, a Millen.

The Kiwi Millen family and Pikes Peak are synonymous, dad Rod – he of the awesome FOS spectacles at Goodwood in machines such as the Pikes Peak Toyota Tacoma – is a five-time winner of the American hilllclimb, while son Rhys has two victories to his name at Pikes Peak. It’s Rhys who gets the Bentley gig.

“The opportunity to race with Bentley at Pikes Peak is one that I couldn’t pass up,” Rhys told us. “I drove the race-prepared car and was blown away by the performance.”

The Bentayga is largely to standard W12 spec and will run on production Pirelli road tyres. Changes include a roll cage, fire suppression system, racing seats and harnesses, a custom exhaust system from Akrapovic and the optional carbon-fibre body kit. 

Pikes Peak is popular with VW Group companies. As well as Bentley’s attempt this year, Volkswagen will be taking on the daunting challenge in a battery-powered prototype racer, the ID R Pikes Peak, which will be aiming to set a record in the electric prototype class by driving up the mountain in well under nine minutes.