The Ford SuperVan 4.2 has made history at Australia’s Mount Panorama, setting a new lap record with racing driver Romain Dumas behind the wheel.
Ford showcased the SuperVan 4.2 at the Bathurst 500 Supercars event, where Dumas took it for a hot lap after the race’s qualifying session. Clocking in at 1:56.3247, Dumas’s lap time set a new record for closed-wheel vehicles at the circuit, surpassing the pole time of the Supercars event by over 10 seconds. The achievement also narrowly edged out a record set a week earlier by a modified Mercedes-AMG GT3.
See also: Ford’s SuperVan 4.2 Electrifies Pikes Peak, Sets New Record in Open Division
“The effort and expertise it took to reset the benchmark lap time for a closed-wheel vehicle around Mount Panorama cannot be understated,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, after the record-breaking run. “Romain Dumas worked alongside our team to innovate, learn, adapt, and the result is a time that exceeded our own expectations.”
The McLaren MP4-23 Formula One car, driven by Jenson Button in 2011 for a demonstration run, holds the record as the quickest car to lap Mount Panorama, setting a time of 1:48.88.
The Mountain, conquered! ✅
SuperVan 4.2 sets a new lap record at Mount Panorama with an electrifying lap from @RomainDumas! @Fox_Motorsport @supercars pic.twitter.com/JWxz0ap8cs— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) February 25, 2024
Weighing over 1,800 kg (about 3,970 lbs), the SuperVan 4.2 is powered by three electric motors with a combined 1,400 hp. Its radical exterior design generates 4,400 lbs (1,995 kg) of downforce at 150 mph (242 km/h). Dumas previously drove the SuperVan 4.2 at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, nearly securing outright victory with a time of 8:47.682.
“This is the first time I have driven SuperVan 4.2 faster than 300 km/h, and we left nothing on the table as we pushed for the fastest lap possible,” Dumas said after his record-setting run. “No one has ever driven a vehicle like SuperVan 4.2 around Mount Panorama, and certainly not this quickly!”
