Bugatti employee Andy Wallace – dream job as a test driver

Andy Wallace is always in a good mood when he arrives at work in the morning. This former Le Mans winner tests Bugatti cars such as the Chiron1 and regularly drives prototypes. British racer Wallace also recently set the world top speed record in the Chiron, becoming the first person to exceed 300 miles per hour in a production car.

When Andy Wallace gets into a new Chiron, he first adjusts the seat and steering wheel to fit him, then he presses the start button on the steering wheel. The Chiron needs about five minutes to warm up properly. The tyres only offer optimum traction when they reach 25 degrees. “It’s the only way we can get full grip and transfer the 1,600 newton metres of torque to the road.”

And Wallace should know – he’s been testing Bugatti cars and taking customers to the limits of driving physics since 2011. He has covered over 100,000 kilometres in these luxury super sports cars from Molsheim, driving some 30 different Veyron, Chiron and Divo2 cars and a variety of mule vehicles and record-breaking cars. He knows all about these hyper sports cars, their nuances, their refinements, their peculiarities. “I make sure the first drive in the car is absolutely safe, that customers feel comfortable right from the outset,” he says.