BUGATTI BOLIDE IS SO HARDCORE, OWNERS NEED A 911 GT3 RS AS 'TRAINING WHEELS'

When you're selling one of the fastest and most powerful cars in the world, one that can only be driven on the racetrack at special events, it's not a great idea to just toss owners the key and tell them to have at it. It's dangerous, and the estates of the buyers of the multi-million-dollar Bugatti Bolide will almost certainly come after you should anything bad happen.

But you can't put buyers spending multiple millions on their new toy in a Toyota GR86 to learn the ropes. Even if we love it, it's beneath them and not enough to get you ready for the Bolide. What does Bugatti use? The VW Group keeps it in the family with a Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

Hypercar Buyers Need To Practice First

Just imagine a 911 GT3 RS being your learner beater car. The 518-horsepower, naturally aspirated car that can lap the Nürburgring in well under seven minutes is one of the highest-level performance cars around. Making it a better learner car, it's also stable and predictable while being fast as heck on the track.

Even better, Porsche is one of the two owners of the joint venture that owns Bugatti. It's like trying out a Buick before you buy a Cadillac. If said Cadillac made 1,578 horsepower like the Bolide does, at least.

Before owners got to spread the wings of their Bolides on the famous Circuit Paul Ricard in France, the drivers got on-track training in those GT3 RS models. After a morning of getting used to the track and working with a dedicated instructor, it was only in the afternoon that the four owners made the move to their new hyper-track-beasts.

For the entire track day, the Bolide owners had a pair of hotshoes on hand to offer help. Canadian racing driver and now Pilote Officiel at Bugatti Bruno Spengler was one. Le Mans winner and three-time 24 Hours of Daytona winner (and also Chief Test Driver) Andy Wallace was the other.

First Official Outing But One Driver Jumped The Line

While this was the first official on-track outing for the super sports car, it wasn't the first time that a Bolide was taken to the track by its owner. A couple of months ago, racer and owner Bret Curtis, in the worst attempt to remain anonymous we've ever seen, took his car to Austin's COTA track himself.

We don't know the backgrounds of the other owners, but we do know that Curtis was no stranger to going fast. He has been a racer since 2009, competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other premiere events. He probably didn't need to spend time in the 911s beforehand.

Bugatti will continue to have more track days for its Bolide owners. We expect it will keep giving us glimpses of them, too. Because for a company that sells just a handful of cars per year, its marketing and PR staff work harder than each one of the brand's 16-cylinder beasts they call engines.

2025-03-11T05:09:11Z