Bentley announces racing plans for 2015

Following a victory in the Blancpain Endurance Series (BES) last month, Bentley has announces its aim to compete in the 2015 Nurburgring 24 Hours. The win last month onboard it’s new Continental GT3 was just the kind of motivation they needed after they announced their return to racing action on 2012. 

Bentley’s Member of the Board for Engineering, Rolf Frech, comments: “We’ve been looking to compete at the Nürburgring ever since we announced our return to racing in 2012, but we knew that we had to develop and prove the capabilities of our Continental GT3 first. The 24-hour race at the Nürburgring is one of the toughest, at the pinnacle of sports car racing, but with our season of learning in 2014 and with the Continental GT3 already being a race-winner, we feel confident in targeting the event for 2015.”

The British manufacturer associated with M-sport and made its full-season debut this year onboard the Continental GT3 racer. And just ahead of the Nurburging 24 Hours this week, Bentley officially announced that it will field a factory team in the race next year. The official statement also declared that it will continue to participate in BES, and in most likelihood will sport two cars next season. In fact, they might also consider extending the Continental GT3 program by including a few customer teams as well. 

Six-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Bentley also revealed that they are also planning to participate in other endurance races in 2015 but refused to get into the details. The Continental GT3 will be out on track for its first 24-hour test in the upcoming 24 Hours of Spa on July 27th. 

This move doesn’t quite come as a surprise as more and more manufacturers are looking to participate in endurance racing. Aside from Bentley, Ferrari seems to have its eyes locked up on endurance racing as well. Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo has repeatedly expressed his disapproval of the change in the Formula 1 regulations that have restricted teams to what he calls a rather dreary turbocharged V6 engine. 

Meanwhile, Ferrari Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso, who flagged off this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans race, has also hinted towards a shift to sports-prototype racing with Ferrari. The Italian marque isn’t unknown to the world of Le Mans as it has a glorious history at the event with a string of victories in the 1960s.