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 Damman on the Arabian Gulf. The new Continental GT V8 S Convertible raced this unique locomotive on August 15thacross 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.”