LONDON: Bentley and legendary stunt performer Travis Pastrana have launched "Supersports: Full Send", the most exhilarating and dynamic film ever released by Bentley, and shot entirely at Bentley’s campus and Dream Factory in Crewe, England.
The new and now sold-out Bentley Supersports’ combination of 666PS, rear-wheel drive and a highly developed chassis and aerodynamics package unleashes a new level of performance ability for Bentley.
To showcase the car’s agility, Pastrana worked with Bentley in September last year to create a gymkhana-type film within the grounds of Bentley’s factory, originally constructed in 1938 on Pyms Lane in Crewe – Bentley’s own ‘Pymkhana’.
The film is watchable on the Bentley YouTube channel.
The action starts in Bentley’s Engineering Technical Centre, with the Full Send car surrounded by some performance icons of Bentley’s past.
These include both generations of Continental GT3 race car, the 2003 Le Mans winning Speed 8 (chassis 004/5), and even the W16-powered Hunaudières concept car from 1999.
Both the Pikes Peak Bentayga and Pikes Peak Continental GT appear in a scene shot through Bentley’s solar panel car park, with the two specials giving chase to Pastrana through the complex and past Bentley’s future luxury urban SUV (sport utility vehicle), launching later this year and so wearing camouflage.
More cars from Bentley’s Heritage Collection make special appearances, in the shape of five pre-war Bentleys led by the 1929 Team Blower #2 – the most iconic and valuable Bentley in history – and followed by two more Blowers, a Speed Six and a 1926 3 Litre Speed Model.
Supersports: Full Send follows Pastrana’s final official gymkhana film, ‘Aussie Shred’, which was released last month and also been viewed almost nine million times.
Pastrana comments, "I knew the Supersports would have a lot of power but I was happily surprised by how nimble and fun it was to drive. I’ve never driven a production-based car to film a video of this magnitude before, without a clutch or modified steering angle, I had my concerns - but the Supersports exceeded all of my expectations. It was exactly what I had hoped for - the perfect combination of luxury and performance.”
In order to allow Pastrana to navigate the Bentley site while driving the Supersports beyond the limits of grip, modifications were made to a standard Supersports to make it even more agile.
The key change was the addition of a hydraulic handbrake, mounted alongside the steering wheel, to enable instantaneous locking of the rear axle.
Bentley’s chassis and transmission teams integrated the handbrake with the car’s control systems to allow instant reinstatement of power as the handbrake was released, meaning Pastrana could manipulate the car sideways before a tight corner and then maintain a long drift through it.
The handbrake includes the word ‘Mildred’ on the handle – a reference to the internal project name for Supersports.
Inspiration came from Bentley’s past, and the story of Mildred Mary Petre, a ‘Bentley Girl’ who pushed the boundaries of what was possible with a fearless spirit, and so in her honour the development team christened their project ‘Mildred’.
Other changes included software modifications to allow ‘power braking’, where the brake and throttle can be applied simultaneously, to allow adjustment of cornering stance mid-drift and to allow the car to perform static and rolling burnouts.
