Want to watch a Bentley Bentayga BLAT to 14,000 ft?

The Bentley Bentayga is a big, luxurious SUV, but Bentley reckon it can still perform like no other and is planning to run a Bentayga up Pikes Peak in June to prove the point.

The Bentley Bentayga SUV may still seem ‘wrong’, but it’s doing wonders for Bentley sales and is, by any measure, an impressive car.

But almost every Bentayga on the planet will never do anything more impressive than traversing the odd sand dune, an open stretch of Autobahn or, perhaps, a muddy shoot.

But that’s not stopping Bentley deciding they still need to prove the Bentayga’s chops, so they’re taking it off to Pikes Peak in June when you’ll be able to watch the Bentayga take on the immense challenge Pikes Peak presents.

That means a 12.42 mile Hill Climb with 156 corners rising 14,000 feet, at which point both car and driver struggle to breathe efficiently as oxygen levels drop to just 58 per cent of normal.

Bentley hope to break the Pikes Peak record for an SUV – currently held by the Range Rover Sport – and prove the Bentayga isn’t just a high-riding boulevardier in the process.

It’s a huge challenge, even for a 600bhp W12 Bentley SUV with four-wheel drive, but it’s not the first time a moder, four-wheel drive Bentley has tackled something rather unusual.

Just a few years ago Top Gear and James May took the Continental GT Speed on the 2012 WRC Wales Rally, driven by Kris Meeke and, despite being a pretty stock car, it actually survived intact. Well, until Bentley crushed it.

You can see how the Bentayga gets on at Pikes Peak on 24 June 2018.