Bentley's new Continental GT3 race car made its official running debut in fine style at the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the weekend, howling up the famous Goodwood Hillclimb twice on each of the three days (Friday to Sunday) with works driver and 2003 Le Mans winner Guy Smith at the wheel.
Between runs the car was on display in the F1 paddock, while the original Continental GT3 Concept Racer, first seen at the Paris motor show in September 2012, was on the Bentley stand in the main paddock.
The Continental GT3 has a race-prepared, dry-sump version of Bentley's four-litre twin-turbo, delivering an estimated 448kW, and driving the rear wheels via a carbon-fibre propshaft and a Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox and limited-slip differential, mounted in unit as a rear transaxle for near-perfect 52:48 weight distribution.
PNEUMATIC PADDLE-SHIFT
The gearbox is operated pneumatically from paddles on the steering wheel, rather than electronically as on road cars, to prevent the momentary hesitation on downshifts for which paddle-shift transmissions are notorious.
On the road that hesitation can be a bit scary; on the racetrack it can carry you past both the brake markers and the apex of a corner, with disastrous results.
The steering has hydraulic rather than electric power assistance, double-wishbone suspension with four-way adjustable competition dampers replaces the road car's air springs, and braking is entrusted to ventilated iron discs clamped by six-piston front and four-piston rear callipers.
A top-mounted carbon-fibre rear wing provides rear downforce and stability, while a carbon fibre splitter balances the aerodynamic forces at the front of the car.
HAND-CRAFTED TRIM
By stripping out the leather and wood interior trim, the electrical systems and the dozens of electric motors that power the seating adjustments and windows, Bentley's racing partner M-Sport (based in a dedicated workshop at the factory in Crewe) has taken no less than a ton out of the road version to bring the Continental GT3 racer in under the target weight of 1300kg.
But the GT3 is still a Bentley, with the steering wheel, door pulls and seat hand-trimmed and stitched by the craftsmen and women in the trimming department.
Once it has been homologated by the FIA, the GT3 prototype will begin development work on the track; later this year it will be entered in a few 'shakedown' GT3 races before starting full competition in the Blancpain Series in 2014.