Ford SuperVan 4.2 becomes fastest closed-wheel vehicle to lap Mount Panorama

Ford SuperVan 4.2 becomes fastest closed-wheel vehicle to lap Mount Panorama

History has been made at Mount Panorama during the Thrifty Bathurst 500 event with the Ford Performance SuperVan 4.2 setting a trio of lap records, securing the benchmark time for the quickest closed-wheel vehicle, electric vehicle, and commercial vehicle to lap the 6.2-kilometre racetrack.

With Romain Dumas at the helm, SuperVan 4.2 lapped Mount Panorama in an electrifying time of 1:56.3247, with a top speed in excess of 300km/h achieved on both Mountain Straight and Conrod Straight.

The lap time was set just after the Australian Supercars Top 10 Shootout, which finished with a pole time of 2:06.5465.

The new benchmark time from SuperVan 4.2 is a line in the sand, heralding a new era for electric vehicles, with the purpose-built demonstrator pushing the limits of EV performance during its time in Bathurst, beating an unrestricted GT3 car in the process.

This is now the second time Romain Dumas has re-written the history books with SuperVan 4.2, following his record-smashing run at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb last year.

SuperVan 4.2 is not your traditional race car.

Standing tall at roughly double the height of a GT3 race car, weighing almost 1800kg, and with not a drop of fuel in sight, nothing like it has ever tackled the legendary tarmac of Mount Panorama.