BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT3'S TO COMPETE IN 2016 PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE

At least two Bentley Continental GT3s will enter the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge as Bentley Team Absolute announces a program including entries from young American rising star Andrew Palmer and one of Asia’s top sports car drivers, Adderly Fong.

The Pirelli World Challenge is a 20-round GT championship comprising 50-minute-long, single-driver races on eleven of America’s most historic and iconic race tracks, including Laguna Seca and Road America.  The Continental GT3 has taken race wins in the championship this year and Bentley Team Absolute is looking to continue the race car’s success in the States.

The campaign will run alongside the team’s GT Asia Series program, in which it aims to retain its teams’ championship-winning title while claiming the drivers’ championship title.

“We’ve won major international championships in Europe and Asia this year and it is certainly the plan to take a title in America,” comments Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush. “Bentley Team Absolute has proven they have what it takes, so we are excited to take our relationship into another continent to take on another challenge.”

“We are pleased to have Adderly back for a second season and look forward to welcoming Andrew into the Bentley fold,” continues Gush. “We have been very impressed with Andrew, not only did he become the youngest ever overall race winner in Pirelli World Challenge in 2014 but he has shown great maturity and talent in 2015 and we look forward to working with him to develop his career further.”

Bentley Team Absolute’s Team Director, Ingo Matter, comments:

“We’re delighted to confirm this additional program. It’s a major new market for our team and we couldn’t be happier to be doing it with Bentley. Our experience in Asia with the Bentley Continental GT3s will give us a major boost. We’re sure that the combination of Adderly’s experience with the car and Andrew’s experience in the Pirelli World Challenge will also add further layers of confidence to the program.”

Despite being new to Bentley, 21-year old Palmer has completed a season in Pirelli World Challenge and impressed in his debut Blancpain Endurance Series season racing against the Bentley Motorsport factory team.

25-year old Fong is no stranger to the Continental GT3, as he and his Bentley Team Absolute team-mates took the racecar’s first teams’ championship-win in GT Asia Series earlier this year.

While the two-car program is confirmed, the team is in talks with several drivers regarding a third entry.

The Pirelli World Challenge kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas on 3 March 2016.

BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT3 TO MAKE SEPANG 12 HOURS DEBUT

The Bentley Continental GT3 makes its Sepang 12 Hours debut this weekend (December 12) as its two Bentley Team M-Sport works cars enter their final race of 2015 with sights set on the overall podium.

In the #7 Continental, Vincent Abril will join the Bentley Boys for the first time, as he steps into the works team from the customer teams program. The 20-year old from Monaco, co-winner of the 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series drivers’ title, joins 2016 team-mates Guy Smith and Steven Kane.

The driver line-up in the #8 Continental GT3 remains unchanged from the Blancpain Endurance Series, with Andy Soucek, Maximilian Buhk and Maxime Soulet continuing to race together.

“Sepang 12 Hours gives us the opportunity to race in a region that is very important for Bentley,” explained Brian Gush, Director of Motorsport at Bentley. “In addition, it allows us to continue racing in the winter season and is good preparation for Bathurst 12 Hours in February.

“We’ve had a successful 2015 season, finishing the Blancpain Endurance Series in second place, so our driver line-up remains much unchanged. However, we look forward to welcoming Vince [Abril] into the works team ahead of the 2016 season and will be aiming for the podium with both of our entries in the Sepang 12 Hours.”

Fans will also see the Bentley Continental GT V8 S road car - from which the GT3 racer is derived - on duty this weekend at the Sepang International Circuit as Bentley provides the safety car for the event.

“It will be fantastic to see the road car and race cars side-by-side at the circuit and we’re looking forward to supporting the event this year” added Gush.

The Sepang 12 Hours is the latest event to be adopted by the SRO, the organization responsible for the resurgence of GT3 racing around the world, and from next year will be the final race of the inaugural Intercontinental GT Cup. The 2015 Sepang 12 Hours starts at 12:00 local time on Saturday 12 December.