Bentley Racing Team at Grand Prix of Long Beach

With little time for preparation, the Bentley racing team remained dedicated to performing well within the tight confines of the 1.6 mile Long Beach street circuit.  The team was set on taking advantage of this single-race event that awards double points towards the Manufacturer’s Championship. 

Saturday morning’s qualifying session placed the #16 GT, piloted by Chris Dyson, in 12^th position and #20, Butch Leitzinger, in 14^th position for Sunday’s race start. 

Sunday afternoon’s race began with an excellent jump on the standing start, however a stalled vehicle on the starting line immediately put the race under yellow flag caution.  Upon green flag restart, both drivers pushed into 8^th and 10^th position.  Rear contact in Turn 5 pushed the #20 Bentley into a tailspin and collision with the circuit barriers.  The accident put the course under yellow caution and took both the Bentley GT3 and Butch Leitzinger out of race contention.  

What followed was an impressive stint by Chris Dyson who worked his way from 8^th position into 5^th before another caution lapse, and then into 2^nd place due to a well-coordinated overtaking strategy, awarding him the World Challenge’s ‘Move the Race’ award and Bentley’s first podium finish of 2015. 

The team immediately hit the road for the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL this weekend.  It is the series’ only back-to-back race of the season.  

 

The cars fielded by the team are based on those on the Late European sales floor. If you are interested in purchasing a Bentley, contact Sonny Morgan at 512.401.4607 through Late European or sonny@lateeuro.com.

BENTLEY TEAM M-SPORT READY FOR EUROPEAN RACING SEASON

Bentley’s motorsport season is set to continue this weekend with the first European race of the 2015 season for Bentley Team M-Sport. The pair of Continental GT3 race cars, a new favorite amongst GT racing fans, will open their Blancpain Endurance Series at Monza in a three-hour race on Sunday April 12^th.

“We’re all looking forward to getting our second Blancpain Endurance adventure underway,” said Brian Gush, Bentley’s Director of Motorsports. “We start at Monza with all of the knowledge we’ve acquired in the last twelve months, and so will be able to hit the ground running. The competition will be fierce as we go up against some new GT3 entrants, and our focus will be scoring consistent points at every race so we can challenge for the title.”

The #7 Continental GT3 retains its all-British driver line-up of Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane, who finished second in both the Teams’ and Drivers’ championship last year. The sister #8 Continental GT3 welcomes an all-new European driving trio, with Andy Soucek and Maximilian Buhk being joined by Maxime Soulet.

“Andy, Steven and I have spent weeks together over the break, training hard to be ready for the new season,” said Smith. “We’re really looking forward to getting started, given that we can now use the experience of last year.” 

          

Having started their season in February with a fourth place finish at the gruelling 12 Hours of Bathurst in Australia, and a second place finish in the Blancpain Endurance Series last year, Bentley is looking to challenge for the title in its second season of GT3 racing. Bentley’s progress throughout the race can be followed via the @BentleyComms Twitter feed, and live on Motors TV and www.blancpain-gt-series.com.

If you are interested in purchasing a Bentley, contact Sonny Morgan at 512.401.4607 through Late European or sonny@lateeuro.com.