Bugatti brought the Bolide, its new track-focused hypercar, to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this week to showcase its incredible performance in the 1.16-mile hill climb. Expected to launch early next year, the event marked the car’s public debut in the United Kingdom one month after testing at Le Mans.
Participating in the Batch 6a Supercar Run, the Bugatti Bolide was piloted by its official factory driver, Andy Wallace, who’s won the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and 24 Hours of Le Mans, known as the Triple Crown of endurance racing. After completing his first run of the Goodwood Hillclimb, Wallace said, “To drive this supremely focused and motorsport-inspired Bugatti at the Festival of Speed, on the revered road that is intimately close to spectators, is a very special and unique experience.”
Bugatti revealed its final production version of the Bolide in April. The hypercar is undergoing final testing before its launch next year. In addition to turning laps at Le Mans, the Bolide was spotted testing at an airbase where it could fully unleash the 1,577 horsepower fury of its 8.0-liter 16-cylinder engine.
The Bolide uses a special carbon fiber body and weighs only 3,196 pounds, or 1,450 kilograms, making it about 1,200 pounds or 550 kilos lighter than the Bugatti Chiron it’s based on. The lighter weight, combined with the monster power of the W16 engine, gives the Bolide a weight-to-power ratio of 1.98 lb/hp or under 1kg/hp.
Only 40 cars are planned, costing 4 million euros each, or the equivalent of 4.3 million US dollars at current exchange rates. All of the cars are spoken for, but as a consolation, the crowds at Goodwood will be able to enjoy the Bolide all week as it tears up the track with the incredible roar of its engine.
In addition to participating in this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, Bugatti has entered other cars in past events, including several Type 35 racing cars of the 1930s, the EB110 from the 1990s, and the more recent Veyron and Chiron hypercars.
