The Stelvio lapped Brands Hatch, Donington, and Silverstone in record time.
Nowadays if you buy an SUV the chances are that you won’t be going off-road. Because of that, manufacturers are taking their high-riding tanks around race tracks during their development phase.
It’s odd, but whatever, it means manufacturers can brag about lap records – they sound great, but ultimately they’re pointless.
Anyway, here’s three lap records that Alfa Romeo wants us to talk about. It’s set the SUV benchmark on three different U.K. racing circuits – Silverstone, Donington Park, and Brands Hatch.
It took the go-faster version of its first-ever production SUV, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio, to the circuits to set the records, with professional driver David Brise on driving duty.
Brise lapped the Indy Circuit at Brands hatch in 55.9 seconds, Donington Park in 1 minute and 21.1 seconds, and Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit in 2 minutes and 31.6 seconds.
“Doing anything that is a first on track is exciting, but the Stelvio Quadrifoglio made it an even more enjoyable experience for me,” said Brise. “The performance from this family SUV is astonishing, its handling characteristics were really confidence inspiring and totally at home on track. It gave me all the things I needed to extract the best possible lap times and establish the three records.”
It’s not the first time the Stelvio Quadrifoglio has set lap records though. In 2017, it broke the production SUV record at the Nürburgring, lapping the 12.9 mile Nordschleife in 7 minutes and 51.7 seconds, beating the previous SUV record by eight seconds.
But how can an SUV set such good lap times? Well, Alfa Romeo is of course steeped in racing heritage, and puts some of that experience into its road cars. So the Stelvio makes use of lightweight, state-of-the-art materials, such as carbon fiber and aluminum, plus its power comes from a Ferrari-derived 2.9-liter 24-valve twin turbo intercooled V6 engine which puts out a supercar-like 510 hp.
“Alfa Romeo has always been a pioneer in motorsport. We were present for the very first Grand Prix ever held back in 1950, which we won, and we were present for the 1000th Grand Prix in China recently,” said Andrew Tracey, Alfa Romeo marketing director. “Setting the very first SUV production car lap records at three of the top circuits in Britain is where our passion for motorsport and road vehicles crosses over but, once again, Alfa Romeo is at the forefront and the first manufacturer to set new benchmarks.”
Source: Alfa Romeo
Gallery: Alfa Romeo British SUV lap records
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ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QUADRIFOGLIO SETS FIRST EVER SUV PRODUCTION LAP RECORDS AT UK’S TOP THREE RACE CIRCUITS
- Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio sets SUV record lap times at Silverstone, Donington Park and Brands Hatch
- Unmodified production Stelvio Quadrifoglio used, powered by a 2.9-litre V6 Twin-Turbo 510hp engine and Q4 all-wheel drive
- Watch the video to see Stelvio taking on the three tracks here
- Unedited onboard video of each record lap is available here
- Stelvio Quadrifoglio is available from £69,510 OTR
Alfa Romeo has thrown down the gauntlet by recording the first ever SUV production car lap records around three of the UK’s most iconic race tracks.
The Italian marque’s first production SUV, Stelvio Quadrifoglio, clocked inaugural lap times around Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, Donington Park and British Grand Prix venue, Silverstone National Circuit. Watch the video here.
Professional racing driver David Brise secured a blistering 55.9s for the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, 1m21.1s at Donington Park and 2m31.6s at Silverstone. The unmodified, range-topping SUV was able to achieve these lightning quick times due to lightweight, state-of-the-art materials, such as its carbon fibre driveshaft, 50/50 weight distribution and an all-aluminium, direct-injection 2.9-litre 24-valve twin turbo intercooled V6 engine, which was able to deliver 510hp and 600Nm of torque to the asphalt of the three famous British circuits.
Alfa Romeo and Stelvio are no strangers to record-breaking lap times. In 2017, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio set a new benchmark for production SUVs at Germany’s legendary Nürburgring circuit, lapping the epic 12.9mile Nordschleife in 7m51.7s, a full eight seconds faster than the previous production SUV record.
Brise said: “Doing anything that is a first on track is exciting, but the Stelvio Quadrifoglio made it an even more enjoyable experience for me. The performance from this family SUV is astonishing, its handling characteristics were really confidence inspiring and totally at home on track. It gave me all the things I needed to extract the best possible lap times and establish the three records.”
Andrew Tracey, Alfa Romeo marketing director, added: “Alfa Romeo has always been a pioneer in motorsport. We were present for the very first Grand Prix ever held back in 1950, which we won, and we were present for the 1000th Grand Prix in China recently.
“Setting the very first SUV production car lap records at three of the top circuits in Britain is where our passion for motorsport and road vehicles crosses over but, once again, Alfa Romeo is at the forefront and the first manufacturer to set new benchmarks.”
The full Alfa Romeo Stelvio range, including the range-topping Stelvio Quadrifoglio is now available across the Alfa Romeo UK dealer network. For more information please visit www.alfaromeo.co.uk and to find your nearest retailer visit https://www.alfaromeo.co.uk/retailers.
To see the full unedited lap records and to find out more about the Stelvio range, click here.
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