The new Bentley Continental GT3 has yet to make its racing debut, that happens this weekend at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi in the Gulf 12 Hours, but there is already news that the first customer car has been sold and will race in the 2014 British GT Championship.
2013 Trackspeed man Steve Tandy will join James Appleby for the full Championship, the car set to race under the Generation Bentley banner. The team will be operated by David Appleby Engineering who are set to receive the new car, Chassis 03, in January.
James Appleby from Banbury, initially began his racing career in the SEAT Cupra Championship in 2008. James has since competed regularly in the Aston Martin GT4 at a European level as a Junior Aston Martin Racing team driver and was presented the star of the future award by Aston Martin Racing in 2010. He was set to contest the 2013 British GT Championship with M-Sport but the effort was refused an entry in a driver rankings wrangle.
Steve Tandy from Gloucestershire started his career racing classic sportscars in 2006 and is very familiar with the British GT Championship having competed for the last two seasons in the GT3 class achieving two overall wins and a multitude of podium finishes.
Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush, comments: “I am delighted that David and his team will be competing with the Continental GT3 in our home country in 2014. The team has a wealth of experience and I’m confident that their energy and professionalism will see some very encouraging results next year. We’ll be supporting them every step of the way and I wish them every success in the British GT Championship.”
David Appleby, Managing Director, David Appleby Engineering said: “Having had enormous success in GT4, we are very excited to be taking it to the next level. The Continental GT3 is a fantastic package of British design and engineering, and it’s eligibility for both British GT and Blancpain makes it a perfect racecar for us.”
The team is also looking for opportunities to campaign the car in other GT3 races in 2014.
Next down the M-Sport based production line are the two Bentleys destined for the factory backed team’s Blancpain Endurance Series campaign with a further pair of cars apparently already in build for Far East buyers too.
