The Ford Performance SuperVan 4.2 set not one, not two, but three records at Mount Panorama in Australia. Thus, it became the world's quickest closed-wheel vehicle, electric vehicle, and commercial vehicle to take on the 10-mile racetrack.
French racing driver Romain Dumas was at the helm of the SuperVan 4.2, lapping the Mount Panorama in what Ford calls "an electrifying time" of 1:56:3247, hitting a top speed of more than 186 mph (300 kph).
The purpose-built demonstrator managed to beat the Mustang GT3 on the 6.2-kilometer (10-mile) track in Bathurst. Ford decided to take the SuperVan 4.2 to Mount Panorama right after Pikes Peak because "there is nowhere quite like it in the world," Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports, explains.
The success at Mount Panorama counts as the second record broken by Romain Dumas, following his impressive run at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 2023. On June 25, Dumas completed the 12.42-mile (20-kilometer) hill climb in 8 minutes and 49.682 seconds.
But at Bathurst, it was for the first time he took the SuperVan 4.2 to over 186 mph, pushing for the fastest lap possible.
Photo: Ford
The SuperVan 4.2 is not exactly the kind of vehicle you would go racing in. For instance, it towers over the Mustang GT3 at roughly double the height of the race car and weighs 3,698 pounds (1,800 kilograms).
What pulls that weight is a setup that integrates three six-phase electric motors, one mounted up front, while two engage the rear wheels for a total of 1,408 horsepower (1,428 metric horsepower). The van rides on magnesium forged wheels with Pirelli P Zero race tires and carbon ceramic brake discs.
To get the van ready in time for Mount Panorama, the team worked day in and day out for two whole weeks, trying to make it the electric van as fast as possible. The team involved the entire global Ford Performance network to get the job done. With every lap for the past two weeks, the new settings brought the lap times down under the curious and amazed eyes of the Aussie enthusiasts.
Andrew Birkic, President and CEO of Ford Australia, is sure that the lessons learned from the SuperVan running at Mount Panorama will have effects on Ford's electric road cars.
Ford's CEO Jim Farley tweeted about the record-breaking success of the Ford electric van: "Mountain conquered," he wrote on social media.
The SuperVan 4.2 will now be shipped to Ford Proving Ground in Victoria, Australia, before it will be on display and ready to demonstrate its capabilities at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival and the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, the third round of this year's F1 season, set to take place on March 24.
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