The Arabs know what to do to attract people, even now when the petrol is closer and closer to an end. To raise the awarenness and the popularity, a race between a car and a train was created right in the middle of the desert.
Eighty-five years after three-time Le Mans winner Captain Woolf Barnato famously raced the ‘Blue Train’ from Cannes to Calais, modern day Bentley Boy, Steven Kane, has reinvigorated the legendary spirit in a tense four-hour 14 minute sprint against Saudi Arabia’s only desert passenger train.
The dune train takes a 480 km route from Riyadh – deep in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula – to Dammam on the Arabian Gulf. The new Continental GT V8 S Convertible raced this unique locomotive on August 15th across the scorched, baren landscape and won, with six minutes to spare.
Bentley Team M-Sport driver, Steven Kane, said: “Four hours is the same time as a stint at Le Mans. But this was far more stressful. The heat, the conditions, not knowing where the train was, while driving within the limits of the country’s regulations. It was a race like no other. I hope Barnato would be proud.”