Bentley going back to Pikes Peak with a Continental GT

Bentley

is headed to the clouds again, with

Rhys Millen

once more at the wheel. The English luxury brand took on the

Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

last year with a

Bentayga

,

Millen setting a production SUV

record of 10:49.902. This year the duo want to claim the production car record over the 12.42-mile, 156-corner course with the new W12-powered

Bentley Continental GT

.

The Pikes Peak organization doesn’t list “Production Car” on its list of records. The closest we could find is a record run of

10:26.896 set by David Donner

in a 2014

Porsche 911 Turbo S in the Time Attack 2

class. It appears a production car only needs the necessary safety gear like a roll cage and fire extinguisher to qualify for Time Attack 2. An

Acura NSX won the category

in 2016, just two seconds off Donner’s time.

Bentley is already working on its run and likely has simulations showing it can outdo Donner’s time, but this will be a battle of lean vs.

largesse

. The

Continental GT

has all-wheel drive like the

911 Turbo S

, and one more gear in its eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox compared to the

Porsche

. The

Turbo

S put out 560 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque, compared to Millen’s ride getting

626

horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. But the Bentley weighs roughly 1,400 pounds more than the Porsche, a healthy handicap to drag up to the 14,115-foot summit.

Millen’s the man to make the attempt, though, having raced up the mountain 25 times and taken five overall and seven class victories.

The race goes down

– or up, rather – on June 30.