At the 2019 Speed Days of the Baikal Ice Motor Sports Festival in Russia, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk has set the speed record for SUVs driven on ice.
At this year’s Speed Days of the Baikal Ice Motor Sports Festival in Russia a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk has set a new world speed record for SUVs driven on ice, averaging 257km/h across one kilometre of ice – the maximum speed reached during the run was 280km/h. The record was confirmed by the Russian Automobile Federation (RAF).
Unlike other ice driving events, the Baikal ice, said Jeep, presented some difficulties as when the sun’s shining on it it’s covered in a thin film of water reducing grip. Before the race, unnecessary items were removed from the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and it was checked that the fuel level was sufficient, Jeep said.
Jeep said, “All the runs were conducted in line with the regulations of the Russian Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). The maximum average speed was counted over a distance of 1 km with a rolling start; the drivers had to cover 1 km in the middle of the track at the maximum possible speed and 1 km from a standing start. The rules also dictated that the timing gates needed to be passed in both directions, with the judges calculating the average result. To allow for the required acceleration and braking, the total length of the course was 12 km”.
The Speed Days on the Baikal Ice festival were first held in 2011. And, according to Jeep, across eight years of the event being run, more than 20 speed records have been set on the Baikal ice in different categories of vehicles. All runs are traditionally conducted on natural bare ice and preparation of the route is limited to the removal of obstacles (packed snow, hummocks) affecting safety for drivers and judges. Achievements are recorded by licensed judges from the Russian Automobile Federation using timekeeping equipment approved by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).
