Maserati Levante sets snowboarding world record

The Levante towed a professional snowboarder at 151.57km/h in Switzerland.

Britain's fastest snowboarder, Jamie Barrow, has broken his own Guinness World Record, clocking a new fastest speed on a snowboard while being towed by a Maserati Levante on the frozen lakes of St Moritz, Switzerland.

Barrow previously broke the same record in February 2016, when he was clocked at a speed of 99.87km/h while being towed behind a car across the same frozen lake. Despite breaking the record in 2016, Barrow was always confident that an even greater speed was possible, due to the track in 2016 being slightly shorter than originally planned and the soft snow not allowing the grip needed.

This time he returned to the lake with Maserati’s debut SUV, the Levante, which was fitted with Pirelli Scorpion Winter tyres. These special studded tyres have 474 studs per tyre and are 4mm long to allow the best grip possible on a frozen lake. This time around, Barrow hit a maximum speed of 151.57km/h.

About his newly set Guinness World Record, Jamie said, “I’m absolutely delighted to have broken my own record. I always knew there was much more speed possible with the right conditions and crucially the right car to tow me. The Maserati Levante made light work of the icy and snowy conditions, giving us the grip to really hit top speed. The adrenalin rush is always amazing when you hit those speeds - I’m just happy I was able to hold my nerve, keep the snowboard in line and ultimately smash the World Record.”

The Maserati Levante was launched in India last month. The high-riding Maserati is fitted with a 3.0-litre, V6 turbo-diesel engine good for generating 271bhp and 600Nm. This motor can make this SUV sprint from 0-100km/h in 6.9 seconds with a top whack of 230km/h. An 8-speed automatic gearbox comes standard that can channel power to all four wheels through Maserati’s Q4 all-wheel-drive system.

Also read: Maserati Levante Review: First Drive