BMW took roughly 6,000 kilos of XM Label Crimson to the Pikes Peak Worldwide Hill Climb (PPIHC) this yr, aiming to interrupt the report for an SUV run up the mountain. Rhys Millen set that report in 2018 behind the wheel of a 2018 Bentley Bentayga, taking 10:49.9 to cowl the 12.42 miles and 156 turns by means of nearly 5,000 toes of altitude acquire. Matt Mullins, who’s additionally the pinnacle teacher at BMW’s Efficiency Driving College in South Carolina, could be driving the #728 XM Label Crimson on behalf of BMW Motorsports. Closing the circle, Mullins requested his buddy and fellow stunt driver Millen to return on board as program director. Millen obliged.
We must always observe that in 2022, Pirelli check driver Simone Faggioli roared up the climb in a Lamborghini Urus in simply 10:32.064, however that run passed off in August, two months after the occasion. The PPIHC organizing physique naturally solely acknowledges data run through the occasion, so Millen’s identify occupies a line within the books for now. The truth is, let’s observe that Millen’s identify occupies a number of strains, because the racer/drifter/stunt driver and all-around good man owns the quickest occasions within the manufacturing automobile, modified electrical automobile, and two-wheel-drive showroom inventory classes as nicely. Millen had set a manufacturing automobile report of 10:18.488 in 2018 driving a 2019 Bentley Continental GT earlier than resetting the report this yr in a BMW M8 as a aspect order to the XM essential dish, stopping the clock in 10:12.024.
BMW was surprisingly reserved about each efforts, first not sure if it will take the XM, and saying nothing in regards to the XM concerned till a number of days earlier than the race. Stroll softly and carry an enormous ol’ hybrid SUV and all that.
Or maybe BMW was protecting the mountain’s capriciousness in thoughts; Pikes Peak loves a shock, many ending in crumpled metallic, some ending in fatalities. Seems Mullins’ run fell sufferer to the crumpled metallic type of shock. He went off the surface of a quick sweeper within the first part of the course and hit a tree. Fortunately, he was unharmed.
BMW’s reduce a two-part video in regards to the effort that went into the run, for the primary time revealing simply how a lot work the corporate put in. It is a actually cool video, displaying what goes right into a producer effort to show a luxurious behemoth into each a race automobile and a plausible longing for a hill climb report. And sure, the editors included the crash footage and the aftermath. Sensational.
Submit-race, BMW of North America issued the assertion, “Sadly, our hopes for a report run with the BMW XM right now ended with a race incident. Driver Matt Mullins is disillusioned however unharmed. The main focus now could be on repairing the car and planning for one more report try later this summer season.” Half 2 and the top of the race to the report ought to hit YouTube shortly.
