Just a decade ago if you asked anyone to nominate three dream vehicles for an epic showdown on a Formula One circuit, probably none would have selected an SUV, let alone all three of them. But today we have choices to spare, albeit there is one constant – many (but not all) are of the German variety.
The Hockenheimring, with its modern Formula One Grand Prix configuration of 2.842 miles / 4.574 km and FIA Grade 1 license, is always a desirable choice when looking for an opportunity to showcase both driver and machine. With an accent on the latter, as is customary for the sport auto YouTube channel’s track battle videos.
While the German outlet usually makes use of Christian Gebhardt’s driving services, this time around the hidden expert behind the wheel of the trio of high-performance SUVs was editor Uwe Sener. We can’t say we felt the difference, though, utterly captivated by the point-of-view hot laps.
Speaking of that, a great setup was chosen – short and concise, with the entire lap (and a few pointers, such as the circuit configuration and current time) presented from the cockpit point of view, and utterly devoid of any words! We loved it, simply because we could enjoy the roaring engines of the three high-riding beasts without any interruptions.
The Porsche Cayenne Turbo Coupé, Lamborghini Urus, and BMW X6 M Competition are all part of the latest breed of super-SUVs, and without even seeing them from outside you immediately grasp the power at one’s disposal. And all three thunder down the racetrack with just about the same amplitude and sound level, casually hitting over 240 kph (149 mph) when engaging that well-known very long turn.
Because the gallery includes a snapshot of all three final times, we’re not going to beat around the bush, and we can tell you the Italian thoroughbred narrowly won the race with a rolling lap time of 1:57.6 minutes. Soon after, the second place was snatched by the slightly more sedate-sounding BMW X6 Competition, and not the mechanically related Porsche Cayenne Turbo Coupé came in third.
Sure, you could have mathematically called the shots from the get-go – the Urus has 650 hp, the X6 M in Competition flavor comes second with 625 hp, and the Cayenne trails them from afar with just 550 hp. But if you did that, who would have enjoyed seeing them thunder down the tarmac like three horsemen of the SUVpocalypse?!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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