Ripcord Adventure Journal 2.1

Guest Editorial: Pedal to the metal at one-third the speed of sound
Jim Clash
My goal was simple: To take the world's fastest production car, the
Bugatti Veyron, to its top speed north of 250 mph. After much
planning with the Bugatti staff, I finally was to get my chance.
I’ve driven a formula Indy racecar, RUF Porsches, Lamborghinis,
Ferraris and Mercedes above 200 mph, without incident, in my
career as an adventure journalist. But 200 is one thing; 250 mph is an
entirely different, and mind-blowing, proposition. At that speed,
you travel the length of one and a quarter soccer fields per second.
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Even if you secure the use of a Veyron, which retails for around $2.5
million, it is difficult to try this because of the multiple miles
required to reach top speed. Most private tracks aren’t big enough.
The 7.8-mile circular Nard proving ground in southern Italy is too
bumpy, too windy and has banking that scrubs precious miles per
hour. The German Autobahn, without speed limits on large chunks,
doesn’t have a length of unobstructed straight road long enough to
safely attain 250 mph unless – gulp – you try at night, when there’s
no traffic.
American superspeedways such as Indianapolis and Talladega,
where race cars routinely surpass 200 mph, are less than three miles
in length, with straightaways nowhere near long enough for the
Veyron to reach 250 mph. Even if they were, their operators
probably wouldn’t be interested in taking a chance on potential
lawsuits from a fatal crash. Formula Indy cars and stock cars are
built to safeguard drivers in a high-speed collision; a production
sports car like the Veyron, no matter how well built, is not.
I met the Bugatti staff at Ehra-Lessien, the secretive Volkswagen test
complex near Wolfsburg, Germany. It is not only big – 13 miles
around – but highly banked in the corners. Most important, Ehra is
the only track that Bugatti uses for top-speed tests. A support crew
of a dozen was on hand, including in-house racer Pierre-Henri
Raphanel.
The weather forecast for Ehra the morning of my test was
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