Developing the world’s first hypercar is not an easy task, especially when the hypercar in question was charged with bringing the glorious name of Bugatti back in our lives.
Loris Bicocchi helped Bugatti in developing the Veyron, driving prototypes at speeds close to 250mph (402km/h) in Nardo. The legendary test driver helped in the development of many iconic supercars, including the Lamborghini Countach, the Bugatti EB110, the monstrous Dauer 962, as well as the Pagani Zonda and the original Koenigsegg CCX. His most recent contribution is the Bugatti Chiron. It’s safe to say then that If you like supercars, Bicocchi should be your god.
So you would imagine that this man has quite a few stories to tell; one of these stories is about a crash he had with an early Veyron prototype in Nardo while doing over 242mph (390km/h). It certainly sounds terrifying -and it is- but when you hear Bicocchi describing the event to Davide Cironi, it’s just gets to you.
Add to that that the Nardo high-speed track offers a neutral speed of just 149mph (240km/h), meaning that Bicocchi had to keep the steering wheel turned while doing over 242mph, subjecting the test car and its tires to tremendous stresses
We don’t want to spoil the details of the accident, so sit back and enjoy a really fascinating story coming from a true legend of the supercar world. Just turn on the English captions, if your Italian is a bit rusty.