Bentley Continental GT3 goes bio-fuel

As Bentley moves towards electrification and, by 2030, removes all combustion engines from its models, the British brand has prepared a bio-fuelled Bentley Continental GT3 for the Pikes Peak hill climb in June.

Dubbed the “most dynamic Bentley ever built”, the new Conti racer was developed alongside GT3 customer team Fastr and will be piloted at this year’s event by New Zealander Rhys Millen, who took out the 2019 production car title at the hill in a Bentley Continental GT.

This time we’ll see the 2021 Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak – billed as the “most extreme road-car-based Bentley in its 101-year history” – in full flight using a modified 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 capable of running on bio-fuel, as part of a major new sustainability initiative launched by the car-maker.

The new fuel is said to offer greenhouse gas reductions of up to 85 per cent over standard fossil fuel, with various blends currently being tested and evaluated for use.

The Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak is currently undergoing major testing and development in the UK before it’s shipped over to the US for altitude testing ahead of the event on June 27.

The bent eight has received plenty of modifications and Bentley promises “significant horsepower despite the rarefied conditions it will run in”, while short side-exit exhausts should ensure it sounds as dramatic as it looks.

Other notable features include a large rear wing – said to be the biggest rear wing ever fitted to a Bentley, in fact – along with a two-plane front splitter and cooling air scoops in place of rear windows.

Bentley says the bio-fuelled GT3 is “the first step in a longer program that will investigate both bio-fuels and e-fuels for their potential to power the Bentleys of past and present in a sustainable way”.

It comes as part of Bentley’s Beyond100 strategy, which will see the phase-out the brand’s potent W12 and V8 petrol powertrains in favour of plug-in hybrid powertrains across its entire line-up as it moves towards full-electric power by 2030.

“Our powertrain engineers are already researching both bio-fuels and e-fuels for use by our customers alongside our electrification program – with intermediate steps of adopting renewable fuels at the factory in Crewe and for our company fleet,” said Bentley’s engineering chief Matthias Rabe.

“In the meantime, the Continental GT3 Pikes Peak will show that renewable fuels can allow motorsport to continue in a responsible way.”