One-off Bentley Continental GT W12 Ice Racer revealed

Bentley has followed up its Pikes Peak record-breaker with another competition-spec Continental GT that this time has been designed to compete at the 2020 GP Ice Race in Zell am See in Austria.

Sporting a fresh blue and black livery reminiscent of the Pike Peak racer, the big British ice racer is claimed once again to be as close to the production car as possible.

Adapting it to the sub-zero motorsport race, engineers have raised the Bentley's ride height, increased its front and rear tracks by 15mm, added a set of wider arches and bolted on a set of studded Pirelli Scorpion tyres.

The final external changes include a new roof rack, a set of laser spotlights and, bizarrely, a set of skis.

Inside, both driver and passenger armchairs have been junked for race buckets, while the rear bench had been swapped-out for a roll cage and fire suppression system.

Under the bonnet, the Ice Race Continental GT is claimed to be standard, aside from a new Akrapovic stainless steel sports exhaust.

That means power from the twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre W12 should remain pegged at 473kW and 900Nm of torque – enough for a sprint to 100km/h in just 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 333km/h, but perhaps not on snow.

Piloting the all-wheel drive Bentley on snow will be Junior World Rally Championship driver, Catie Munnings, who will compete on a 600m track carved into the snow.

This year the race takes place on February 1 – 82 years since the first ice race was held back in 1937.

In the tradition of the race, cars of various ages and categories do battle against each other on the tight and twisting treacherous course.