Riding high to Le Mans
DRIVING to the world’s most famous endurance race in a Ferrari is like turning up at a music festival with Taylor Swift on your arm. Jaws drop, mobile phones whip out and children, especially, point and squeal.
Racing fans expect to see spectacular cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and know that not all of them are on the track.
I received a rock star’s reception even in the Purosangue, a high-riding car that Ferrari refuses to call a sport utility vehicle, even though it has the ground clearance to tackle rough roads, and allwheel drive for plenty of traction on loose or slippery surfaces.
The Purosangue also has five doors and four seats, making it the closest thing to a family car that Ferrari has ever deigned to build. Yet, the car lives up to its name (which is Italian for “thoroughbred”), thanks to a throaty V12 engine that purrs, sings or roars, depending on how hard you rev it.
Those 12 cylinders punch hard, too, slamming the Purosangue up the road with breathtaking inwould tensity. Its active suspension, four-wheel steering and various traction control systems make the big car reliably stable through corners, too, even when it’s raining, or perhaps especially when it’s raining.
But while the Purosangue certainly drives like a Ferrari, it is unusually comfy for one. Though firm, the suspension soaks up bumps gamely, and the engine keeps its voice down on the highway. It also has massage chairs.
All that made my daily 200-kilometre journey to the racing circuit and back a pleasure, when it have been a slog in a lesser car. I initially envied some of the journalists to whom Ferrari had loaned one of their sports cars, but it became clear that though the Purosangue isn’t a low-slung coupe with a mean stance, it’s as beloved by fans as any car with a prancing horse logo.
In fact, its coach-style rear doors were a guaranteed showstopper, wowing the crowds with their ability to swing open and shut electrically, as if handled by an invisible butler. In a convoy of Ferraris, the Purosangue stands out, and also stands tall.