Bentley Continental GT3

Bentley Continental GT3 with New Livery for Bathurst 12 Hours

Bentley Continental GT3 2016 Livery Bentley Team M-Sport is returning to the Mount Panorama in Australia. The racing event will happen between 5^th and 7^th of February ant the brand will to take on the Bathurst 12 Hours with two Continental GT3s. The good news is that we have received a photo with team’s new 2016 livery, which was also unveiled at the Autosport International Show a few days ago.

Speaking of team’s brand new livery, we should say that it has been significantly updated for the 2016 season. It now incorporates more of the vibrant green that was introduced to Bentley’s colour palette last year and in addition it also features design elements from the Union Flag.

In my opinion, the two Continental GT3s will undoubtedly look fantastic in their new suits. And we are all happy that Bentley has decided to unveil the 2016 livery as soon as possible and feature in the 12-hour endurance race.

This year Bentley drivers will be Guy Smith (GB) and Steven Kane (GB), joined by Matt Bell (GB), Andy Soucek (ES) and Maxime Soulet (BE). But there is another person in the team, who had previously not driven for Bentley and this is Aussie V8 star David Russell (AU).

If you are not familiar with David Russell, we can only say that he has taken class victories in all of Bathurst’s endurance race formats including the 24-hour race last year. By the way it was where he also set the fastest lap of the Mountain track ever completed by an Australian.

In other words, Bentley is returning to Mount Panorama looking to get the podium result! The experience the drivers have is substantial, the line-up is very strong and David Russell will definitely help immensely. Can’t wait to see what happens.

Bathurst 12 Hours takes place on Sunday 7 February.

Source: Bentley

January 18, 2016

Bentley Team M-Sport and What happened at 24-Hours of SPA Event

The two Bentley Continental GT3 vehicles, that competed at the TOTAL 24 Hours of Spa this weekend were forced to retire from the race. But there are good news for all Bentley lovers out there! The whole team demonstrated incredible race-winning pace and even #84 of Bentley Team HTP successfully completed the race and placing P5 in class.

Everyone, who watched the show will tell you about the bad track conditions throughout the opening hours of the race. The bad weather forced #8 car with the team of Maxime Soulet, Maxi Buhk and Andy Soucek and vehicle #7 with team members Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Andy Meyrick to pit under the long safety car periods. But this is not all. At the end of the pit late they were held, which took the racers several priceless minutes. However, both vehicles and teams scored some impressive results and they even marked some of the fastest laps in this year’s edition of the race. Eventually Bentley team climbed up the order back in the top 20. Not that bad, right?

So, shortly after 23:00 local time vehicle #7 made an overtaking move past a shower competitor just to be forced off the dry line and on to the wet part of the track. This resulted on losing control and hitting the barrier. Unfortunately for the team, the vehicle couldn’t go back on the track and had to retire. On the other hand, vehicle #8 continued the race with impressive confidence and speed, altering between P2 and P5. At dawn, the vehicle with Maxi Buhk in the vehicle, challenging for P4 suddenly was forced to retire due an electrical failure.

However, both teams do not lose hope and motivation and prepare for the final round of the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series, where Bentley Team M-Sport will compete in a three-hour race over the weekend of 19th-20th September.

We wish them luck and many successful races!

Source: Bentley

July 27, 2015

Bentley Continental GT3 To Make Race Debut In Abu Dhabi

Bentley Continental GT3 Race Car is going to make its competitive debut at the 2013 Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi on 13th of December 2013. The racing will mark the return of the luxury brand to motorsport, ten years after its success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2003.

Continental GT3 is expected to deliver unique performance in most extreme form. The dynamic debut of the vehicle was at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. Since then, Bentley‘s new race car has begun an intensive programme of performance, setup and durability testing at tracks across Europe.

By now, the car has run according to the expectations of the car company and has also proven to be both reliable and fast in all conditions. To go further into detail, this Bentley is powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, which generates up to 600 hp (441 kW) in unrestricted race configuration.

In addition, the GT3 race car keeps the luxury Grand Tourer roots of its origins, and this is visible through the steering wheel, carbon racing seat and leather door-pulls which are all trimmed and stitched by hand.

At last is to be mentioned that the car currently undergoes preparation for a full entry in the 2014 FIA Blancpain Series.

Bentley Continental GT3 Specifications:

Engine	4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, repositioned to the rear of the engine bay, Cosworth engine management system
Power	Approx. 600 bhp derestricted
Oil System	Dry sump
Transmission	Rear wheel drive, Xtrac six-speed sequential transaxle gearbox, racing clutch, steering wheel mounted paddle operated pneumatic gear shift
Drivetrain	Carbon fibre propshaft, limited slip differential
Suspension	Double wishbone suspension front and rear, four-way adjustable racing dampers
Steering	Hydraulic power-assisted steering
Brakes	Ventilated iron disc brakes front and rear, Brembo six-piston front calipers, four-piston rear calipers, driver-adjustable brake bias
Safety	FIA-specification steel roll cage, Sparco six-point FIA safety harness, onboard fire extinguisher, onboard pneumatic jack system.
Fuel System	FIA-specification racing fuel cell
Electronics	Race-specification ABS and traction control. Lightweight race battery.
Wheels	OZ Racing 18” x 13” rims
Tyres	310 / 710 R18
Aerodynamics	Carbon fibre front splitter, rear wing and body panels. Lightweight, aerodynamically-optimised bumpers, bonnet, sills and fenders
Length	4950 mm
Width	2030 mm
Height	1350 mm
Weight	<1300 kg
Weight Distribution	52 : 48

Source: Bentley

September 26, 2013

Bentley Continental GT3 Race Car Makes World Debut At Goodwood

Last month Bentley showed part of the preparation process of the new Bentley Continental GT3 race car. Now it is being announced that the Continental GT3 is ready for a world debut at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The event will take place from 12th till14th July in Sussex, England.

The new race car will then demonstrate in front of the public its performance potential. In fact, this GT3 is the most extreme form of the iconic Grand Tourer ever built. It is only rumoured that the vehicle will be equipped with an enhanced version of the 6.0-liter W12 engine with expectations of power delivery over 700HP (522 kW).

In addition, the vehicle will be joined at Goodwood by two other Continental models: the Continental GT Speed coupe, driven by World Rally Champion Juha Kankkunen.

The latter car has a top speed of 205 mph (330 km/h), and this makes it the fastest production Bentley ever. It is equipped with a 6.0-litre, twin-turbo W12 engine, which achieves stunning acceleration time: for the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h it just needs 4.2 seconds.

Behind the steering wheel of the other car – the GT Speed Convertible will be the Five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell. The model has a top speed of 202 mph (325 km/h), it is equipped with dynamic chassis setup, has enhanced power and torque and a host of subtle yet distinctive styling cues.

The new Bentley Continental GT3 will be unveiled on 12th of July. More information about the car will be release afterwards.

Source: Bentley

July 3, 2013

Bentley Continental GT3 Project In Development

Bentley Continental GT3 Concept Racer was officially unveiled at the Paris Auto Salon last year. Since then engineers have been working on the Continental GT3 in preparation for Bentley’s highly anticipated return to the track.

For this project the brand has been working with the help of the experts at M-Sport Ltd1. Over the last six months the race-ready version of the Continental has been taking material shape.

More importantly, the model is powered by a race-configured and efficient 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine. The unit is mated with a six-speed sequential racing gearbox. In addition, the vehicle’s chassis system includes double wishbone suspension, four-way adjustable dampers and competition brakes.

In addition the Continental GT road car is more than 1000 kg lighter thanks to the removal of equipment and parts such as double glazing, over fifty ECUs and extensive electrical systems. What is more, some other replacements here include the substitution of the exquisitely trimmed Continental GT doors with their race versions. The latter weigh just 12% of the originals.

The doors, boot lid and bonnet are now hand-crafted in carbon fibre. On the other hand the emblematic silhouette of the road car is retained. The bodyshell itself benefits from a comprehensive FIA-specification roll cage.

At the same time, the carbon fibre racing seat has been trimmed and the racing steering wheel includes exclusive stitching. Bentley Continental GT3 will soon be ready to begin a test programme ahead of its race debut, when more details about the vehicle will be announced.

Source: Bentley

June 12, 2013

Bentley has announced the new Continental GT3, which will make its second appearance at the Autosport Stage in Birmingham, UK. Following the announcement of Bentley’s return to motorsport in the GT3 category, response to the Continental GT3 has been overwhelmingly positive with significant interest from numerous potential customers.

“Joining forces with Bentley to help create the new Continental GT3 is a rare privilege. Bentley’s design and analysis work to-date has shown that the Continental GT road car can become an extremely competitive race car, and we are looking forward to capitalising on our extensive competition car development experience and success to help Bentley realise its goals.”, commented M-Sport’s Managing Director Malcolm Wilson.

M-Sport will design and develop specialist components, together with design work and project organisation being undertaken in-house at Crewe. The company’s Dovenby Hall base in Cumbria complements the Crewe-based team and factory facilities, together creating an array of expertise and equipment that will help to ensure the development of a competitive GT3 racecar worthy of Bentley’s return to the racetrack.

Source: Bentley

December 18, 2012

Bentley Continental GT3 – Price £200,000

Bently has announced a street legal variant of the Continental GT3 model. This means that the car will be company’s fastest production model. Key details have yet to be finalised, but Bentley is understood to be looking at a production run of around 300 cars to be built over a 12-month period circa 2014-2015. The GT3 race car was revealed at the Paris motor show and marks the return of Bentley to front-line motorsport.

The 2013 Continental GT3 will be powered by a twin-turbo 6.0-liter W12 engine with 700HP (522 kW).

The power will be put on the road through an all-wheel drive system.

Only 300 units will be produced and the price will start from £200,000.

“We now have a chance to look at all these possibilities,” said another senior source.

The race car’s extreme rear wing and the rest of the aerodynamic package would be toned down for road use. A roll cage won’t be present feature, because it’s considered too extreme for Bentley owners.

Source: Autocar.co.uk

October 5, 2012

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