Who is lessien

Bugatti was the first manufacturer ever to break the mile-per hour barrier with a pre-production vehicle of a new Chiron 1 derivative. Achieving a speed of We also did this on a test track that has a major drawback when it comes to speed tests.

There are four crucial factors when it comes to making a record attempt: the vehicle, the track, the location and the weather. With so much power, maximum safety must be ensured.

The Ehra-Lessien high-speed track in Lower Saxony is the only place in the world where such high safety standards are applied to record attempts. The kilometre three-lane high-speed track is lined with crash barriers, and rescue services are available at the north and south ends. Special mats are used to clean the carriageway before each test. But Bugatti had to accept one major drawback: the test track in Ehra-Lessien is 50 metres above sea level.

Unlike higher-altitude locations used for high-speed runs in the past such as in Nevada, the air pressure at sea level is at As the distance from sea level increases, the air becomes thinner and the number of molecules in the air per unit volume decreases. The reason for this is the air pressure gradient in the atmosphere, because the upper air layer masses act on the lower air layer masses. The molecules of the lower air are compressed more than in the higher-altitude air, so the pressure is higher.

The air pressure drops by about 1 hPa every 8 metres: at 1, metres it is only about 88 percent of what it is at sea level, approx. An exact mathematical description of the pressure curve is not possible, however, due to weather dynamics and other factors. As air pressure and air density decrease, so does aerodynamic drag. Objects such as cars, airships or aircraft require less power. At an altitude of 5, metres, the density drops by about half, thereby halving the drag. To put it simply, the car has to apply more force at sea level to drive through the air than if it were travelling at an altitude of around 1, metres.

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So you steer the other way and, unless you get it perfect, the effect is magnified. Raphanel acknowledges that setting his record was considerably less fraught but admits to having had worries about tyre life.

They said after six cycles, the tyres will probably explode, which of course means two minutes. While overall speed records are recorded and verified by the FIA, the production car title has always been subject to looser criteria and, like boxing, runs under what are effectively a variety of codes and self-appointed sanctioning bodies. The big ideological division is now one that dates to the very beginning of record-setting: whether a car needs to run a course in two directions for an average time.

The SSC Tuatara also struggles with the definition, as no customer cars have been delivered yet. Year Speed