Bentley confirms Continental GT3 race debut

It made its dynamic debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July and now Bentley has confirmed its Continental GT3 will make its race debut at the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi on December 13, marking the British brand’s return to motorsport after an absence of 10 years.

That’s a good enough excuse for us to run more images of the most extreme Continental GT ever, as development testing of the big two-door race car and its 600hp (450kW) 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine continues after successfully notching up its first 3000km.

The two-part endurance race at the United Arab Emirates’ Yas Marina circuit will be Bentley’s first race in a decade, since its dominant win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2003, and follows an extensive program of performance, set-up and durability testing at racetracks across Europe.

Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush, said the Continental coupe-based racer has run exactly according to expectations, proving to be both reliable and fast in all conditions.

“The car has performed extremely well so far, and has matched or exceeded our simulations in every respect,” he said.

“With 3000km of testing completed already, the team is very pleased with progress and we’re gaining confidence in our package. We’re all looking forward to the Gulf 12 Hours in December and can’t wait to run the car against the competition for the first time in its first test race.”

Fitted with a hand-trimmed and stitched steering wheel, carbon racing seat and door pulls at the Bentley factory in Crewe, the most ferocious Continental ever is now being tested and developed by a specialist team based at a dedicated motorsport facility at Crewe and run by Bentley’s GT3 technical partner, M-Sport.

As we’ve previously outlined, the Continental GT3 is being developed in preparation for a full entry in the 2014 FIA Blancpain Series as Team M-Sport Bentley.

Apart from the dry-sump V8, which has been repositioned to the rear of the engine bay and is fitted with a Cosworth engine management system, the rear-drive Bentley GT3 features an Xtrac six-speed sequential transaxle gearbox operated by steering wheel-mounted pneumatic paddle shifters.

Other technical highlights include a carbon-fibre propshaft, double-wishbone suspension with four-way adjustable racing dampers at all four corners, hydraulic power-assisted steering, an FIA-specification steel roll cage and racing fuel cell, Sparco six-point FIA safety harness, onboard fire extinguisher, onboard pneumatic jack system and ventilated iron brake discs with six-piston front and four-piston rear callipers with driver-adjustable brake bias.

Hitting the scales at less than 1300kg and with 52/48 front/rear weight distribution, the 4950mm-long Continental GT3 incorporates race-spec anti-lock brakes and traction control, a lightweight race battery, 18x13-inch OZ Racing wheels with 310/710 R18 tyres, carbon-fibre body panels, front splitter and rear wing, plus aero-optimised bumpers, side sills and bonnet.

Bentley used this month’s Frankfurt motor show to reveal new V8 S variants of its Continental GT coupe and convertible.

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