Bugatti’s head of powertrain development, Gregor Gries, has been given the role of head of technical development by the OEM. One of the first Bugatti employees in the company’s modern era, Greis became head of powertrain development in 2004.
“With Gregor Gries, we have an experienced engineer as head of technical development,” explained Stephan Winkelmann, president at Bugatti. “There is no other employee in the company who has been so deeply involved in development as he has, or for so long. So I am delighted that he will now be responsible for and driving forward other projects at Bugatti.”
Gries has been involved in the development of powertrains, engines and associated components since 1990, and in 1997 became the technical project manager for the W18 engine. By 2001, Gries and his colleagues had modified the engine design and developed a W16 engine.
“I will never forget the first run of the engine on the test bench,” noted Gries. “At that time there was no engine test bench suitable for this power output, so in the end we developed one ourselves.
“To see the W16 running flawlessly and reach its full power was a terrific and extraordinary feeling, just like the first time driving over 400km/h. It was proof that our ideas and calculations worked in practice.”
Since then, Gries has been responsible for developing the 8-liter W16 engine, including the components and control unit, the gearbox and powertrain, and the cooling and exhaust system.
In his new role, Gries hopes to innovate further: “We will continue to initiate more projects in the future and to push the bounds of what is considered feasible. I look forward to this challenge.”