It’s been 85 years since Captain Woolf Barnato, one of the original Bentley Boys, made a bet and drove from Cannes to London faster than the “Blue Train” Calais-Mediterranée Express, leaving from the same spot, reached the English Channel.
This year, modern day Bentley Boy Steven Kane completed his own race against a train, but with some noticeable differences. The Bentley used for the race is much improved over its 1930s counterpart, the train is significantly more powerful and the location of the race is much more extreme.
Over the span of 4 hours, 14 minutes, Kane drove through the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, travelling from Riyadh to Damman in a Continental GT V8 S Convertible. As a press release issued today shares, despite traffic and a few obstacles on the road, namely, camels, Kane arrived at his destination just six minutes ahead of the train.
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Temperatures reached 125 degrees with only 4 percent humidity, but the Continental GT was up for the challenge. Check out the video of his race above, and to learn more about Barnato’s original race, check out our April 15 article on the “Blue Train” Mulsanne Speed.
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(Source: Bentley, YouTube)
