Speaking at the weekend’s Blancpain Endurance Series Nurburgring 1000km race, Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer confirmed that the Bentley Continental GT3 will race in the final two VLN rounds of the 2014 season (on 11 and 25 October) as the works team gears up to contest the 2015 Nurburgring 24 Hours.
Bentley has also announced a partnership with Asian motorsport powerhouse Absolute Racing to take the Continental GT3 racing in China this season, at the Shanghai round of the GT Asia series on 10-12 October and the Macau GT event on 13-16 November. The only confirmed driver for the new programme at this point is Frenchman Jean-Karl Vernay.
Durheimer said: “After wins on two continents this year already, developing our GT3 programme further was the natural next step. We’ve been impressed with Absolute Racing’s operation in China and I’m very pleased to have them join our expanding motorsport family. I wish them the the very best of luck with our Continental GT3 and look forward to seeing a Bentley racing and hopefully winning in China, one of our most important markets.”
Absolute Racing is run by German Ingo Matter (formerly project manager for the Shanghai circuit) and Frenchman Fabien Fior. Both have been resident in China for many years and boast extensive involvement in various production-based and single-seater championships across Asia in that time. The outfit is headquartered in Zuhai, China, and also has a base at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
Commenting on the deal, Matter said: “We’re delighted to be taking the Continental GT3 racing in greater China. Bentley has already shown that their car is a race winner in continental Europe and in America, and we’ll be doing everything we can to score the same success in China. We’ve received our car and we’re already preparing for our first race in Shanghai.”
DSC will have a full interview with Durheimer later in the week.
SE
