While Sebastian Vettel was being crowned F1’s youngest double world champion in Japan, the Red Bull show car was tackling the world’s highest motorable road on the Khardung-La pass in India.
With Neel Jani, a Swiss driver of Indian origin, at the wheel, the show car, which is based on the 2005 RB1, completed the climb, passing the famous Thiksey Monastery and stopping by the Shanti Stupa along the way.
The route featured 8,830 feet of elevation, and with the air considerably thinner at that height and the terrain somewhat rougher than the manicured circuits F1 cars are used to, the drive represented an impressive engineering and logistical achievement. ESPN F1
“It’s been one year in planning, has taken over 3000 man hours and cost above $200,000 (about `1 crore) to execute,” informs Anthony Ward, the man at Red bull who sanctions all such hair-brained schemes which has given the brand it’s maverick marketing image.
No matter how much you plan, the mountains have a way of making a monkey out of man — they pare down the bubble of modernity and put you back where your ancestors once were. Red Bull Racing may be the best outfit to propel fast cars round and around circuits across the world but against the mighty Himalaya they too had to bow and look to scrape along when the weather deigned.
RBR drove the car around scenic bits of Leh to facilitate a film being shot on the project. The maximum speed that Swiss driver Neel Jani, best known in India for winning the A1 GP season 2007-08, reached was 210 kph. “It was just too bumpy. Apart from one run, the rest were all uphill and the corners were tight and twisty. It was important to have fun while staying safe,” said Jani.
They all surmounted the technical challenges just fine, but it was the bite of the heights that cowed them. The team spent close to three hours on top of the pass. That night Jani woke up and lay shivering for three hours in the wee hours.
“I was just so dehydrated. I had to drink a lot before I could go back to sleep. At that time I was not sure if I could drive on.” Only two of the support team went back close to the pass the next day.
At Khardung La, it was 11 below zero. Swirling snow and biting wind along with a rutted road made conditions all the more demanding. Jani got heated at the sight of tourists littering and proceeded to show just what refuse bins are for. Chaotic traffic made unloading and running the car a lesson in balancing mechanical challenges and people management. In the end, it was about 20 metres of run that notched up a world mark. Altitude induced headaches and worsening weather hurried the team down. Hindustan Times
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