The British SUV driven by Ho-Ping Tung has established a new (unofficial) record on the famous Chinese climb of Tianmen Road

The Range Rover Sport SVR has set the new record of the Tianmen Road , a famous climb in China for the presence of 99 corners along the 11.3 km of the path that leads from 200 meters up to 1300 meters of the Gate of Paradise, as it is called the Tianmen cave at the top of the mountain. This is obviously an unofficial record, but very significant because the British SUV stopped the clock at 9 minutes and 51″, 41″ in less than 10 minutes and 31 “set in 2016 by the Ferrari 458 Italia. To set the record at the average of 68.8 km / h was Ho-Pin Tung, a driver of the Panasonic Jaguar Racing Driver with a lot of experience in Formula E and endurance races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans where he won his class in 2017.

According to the Express UK, Ho-Pin Tung said: “I am used to the high speeds of racing but this was even more demanding. Maintaining concentration was the biggest challenge as the road twists and turns constantly, with huge drop-offs to the side. The consequences of getting it wrong would have been really serious so I focused on establishing a rhythm and the Range Rover Sport SVR made this easy – it may be an SUV but it has the performance and agility of a supercar and can take you to places a supercar can only dream of.”

The Range Rover Sport SVR is powered by a 5-liter V8 capable of delivering 575 HP of power and 700 Nm of maximum torque. This is a high-performance SUV like a supercar, with the maximum speed of 280 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h which occurs in 4.5 “. These numbers were achieved thanks to the use of lightweight materials, such as the carbon fiber hood, and to changes to the electronics designed by the engineers of the Special Vehicle Operations (SVO)- the excellent research department of Jaguar Land Rover in Warwickshire (England)- in order to increase performance, maneuverability and road holding.