Bentley’s famous racing pedigree was on display this weekend at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed with their stand attracting thousands of fans of the marque to view the stunning Continental GT3-R, a limited edition (300 worldwide and only 30 for the UK) high performance version of the Continental inspired by the new GT3 race car. 600 HP coming from a twin turbo-charged V8 engine, 700 Nm of torque, a 100 Kg weight loss and the introduction of torque vectoring and shorter gearing all add up to the fastest and most dynamic production Bentley ever made and guaranteed to deliver a breath-taking driving experience.
The GT3-R’s inspiration comes from the Continental GT3 which also made an appearance at Goodwood with David Brabham, modern day Bentley Boy and longs standing Bentley team driver (he drove a Bentley Speed 8 second place in the historic Bentley 1-2 at the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans) guiding it up the famous estate’s front drive hill climb.
Sitting alongside the GT3-R were other modern day icons for the current range including the new Continental GT V8 S (which was driven up the hill by five time Le Mans winner Derek Bell) the Flying Spur V8 and the glorious Mulsanne.
It wasn’t just the modern day legends from the Bentley stable that were on display this year – going right back to their racing roots, the Bentley team also reunited three legendary cars from the glory days of Le Mans and Brooklands in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s. For the first time in over a decade the 1929 and 1930 Le Mans winning Speed Six Bentley, affectionately known as ‘Old Number 1’(with
Whilst Bentley were entertaining the Crowds in West Sussex, the M-Sport GT3 team of Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane campaigning the Continental GT3 in the Blancpain Endurance series were thrilling crowds at the Paul Ricard circuit near Marseille with a hard fought victory of the narrowest margins (Steve Kane crossed the line just 1.1 seconds ahead of the ART McLaren of Parente, Demoustier and Lapierre) giving them their second consecutive win and the lead in the overall driver’s championship ahead of the series’ main event at Spa 24 Hours in July. Woolf Barnato partnering Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin (1929) and Glen Kidston (1930) was joined two more classic Bentleys which also competed in the Le Mans race of 1930 and are known as ‘Old Number 2’ and ‘Old Number 3’.
Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush, comments:
“This was a tough race to win, and I’m delighted that we’ve succeeded. We know that our race pace tends to be better than our qualifying pace, so we went in to this evening’s race with the aim of improving from our grid slots. When we saw how well the Continental GT3 was looking after its tyres, we knew we had to push for the podium, and the team responded. The pit stops were slick, the calls from the race engineers were outstanding and our strategy was ideal. Andy then did a great job to take the lead during his stint, but Steven had to get everything out of the car to hold off the McLaren. The last 40 minutes were tense for everyone and we weren’t sure if we could keep ahead, but it was a great battle and I’m delighted that Andy, Steven and Guy leave here leading the championship.”
M-Sport Bentley now looks forward to the Total 24 Hours of Spa, which starts on the afternoon of Saturday 26th July. Follow @BentleyComms for live updates over the duration of the headline race of the Blancpain Endurance Series.