Eighty-five years after three-time Le Mans winner Captain Woolf Barnato raced the ‘Blue Train’ from Cannes to Calais proving Bentley’s performance prowess, Steven Kane who campaigns a Bentley GT3 in the Blancpain GT series, completed a modern-day version of the event in a four-hour 14 minute sprint against Saudi Arabia’s only desert passenger train.
The dune train runs nearly 300 miles from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Damman on the Arabian Gulf. Driving a new Continental GT V8 S Convertible, Kane raced the locomotive on August 15th, a time when Saudi Arabia was the hottest place on earth. Driving through desert roads covered with sand and dodging camels under a scorching sun, Kane and the Bentley won with six minutes to spare.
After the gruelling drive, Steven Kane, said: “Four hours is the same time as a stint at Le Mans. But this was far more stressful. The heat, the conditions, not knowing where the train was, while driving within the limits of the country’s regulations. It was a race like no other. I hope Barnato would be proud.”
