Racing
Bentley Debuts 550-hp Biturbo V8 Continental GT3 Race Car
Nov 9th
We haven’t even seen the new 2018 Bentley Continental GT in the metal yet and already the team from Crewe has assembled a beautiful GT3-class race car from the lightweight, aluminum bones set forth by the road car. Although most people would expect the racing version of the Continental to be making more power than its road-legal variant, at 626 bhp, the standard Continental makes significantly more power than allowed in the GT3 class. Instead, the new race car is fitted with a smaller 4.0-liter dry-sumped, bi-turbo, 4.0-liter V8 with 550 bhp on tap to replace the usual 6.0-liter bi-turbo W12.
To make the most of the smaller engine, the engineers at Bentley managed to strip 2,081 lbs out of the standard Continental, bringing total weight down to just around 2,866 lbs for the race car. Just think about that for a second… That’s over a ton of mass stripped from the street car through the use of carbon fiber, aluminum, titanium, and other exotic materials to make it eligible and competitive within its class.
Although Bentley will be campaigning two ‘works’ cars, Bentley will begin selling complete Continental GT3 race cars to privateer teams in June, 2018. The new Continental GT3 race car is currently undergoing testing and simulations to make sure it’s competitive for the European Blancpain GT Endurance Cup Series that kicks off at Monza in Italy on April 21st and 22nd, 2018.
How to get the most out of your sports car: a Morrie’s Luxury Auto Track Experience
May 20th
When the weather gets nice and we all get the itch to take our sports cars out of the garage, it’s hard to go for a spirited drive and use your favorite cars as they’re intended without putting others in danger or drawing the attention of your friendly neighborhood traffic cop. And therein lies the beauty of the track day. We’re fortunate enough to have a world-class racetrack just two hours away at Brainerd International Raceway and that’s exactly where we headed recently with over 40 cars and their owners to let loose and enjoy pushing our cars safely at speed.
Given the great time everyone had, we’re already planning another session this fall. Stay tuned for more information if you’d like to join us next time!
Aston Martin Racing unveils ambitious 2015 WEC Race Programme
Mar 20th
Aston Martin has set out to take on the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 2015 season. This includes the expansion of the team to a fleet of now 5 cars hitting the field, three of which will run in the GTE-Pro class and two in the GTE-Am class. With an astonishing tally of 19 race wins and three total championship titles, Aston Martin Racing looks to go for the coveted GT Manufacturer’s title as well as gaining the GT title during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The field of Aston’s running will be derived from the road going Vantage and will feature different liveries including three of the classic blue and orange Gulf colors. The other two vehicles will feature the most recent partnerships with Hanergy and Valero with a different style of livery. The 2015 season kicks off with The Prologue, the official WEC test session at Circuit Paul Richard next weekend followed by the opening championship round, the Six Hours of Silverstone on the 12th of April.
Make sure to stay in tune with our twitter feed for up-to-date highlights and in race coverage from tomorrows 12 hours of Sebring at https://twitter.com/MLuxAuto
Driver line-ups: World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans
- 95: Marco Sorensen, Christoffer Nygaard, Nicki Thiim
- 96: Francesco Castellaccia, Roald Goethe, Stuart Hall
- 97: Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke, Rob Bell (Six Hours of Spa and Le Mans)
- 98: Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathais Lauda
- 99: Alex MacDowall, Fernando Rees, Richie Stanawa
Aston Martin is building a street legal version of the Vantage GT3 race car
Jan 7th
As you might’ve heard, Morrie’s Luxury Auto just announced that Aston Martin will be coming to Minnesota soon. While the showroom will be stocked with plenty of beautiful and fast grand touring cars ranging from the V8 Vantage up to the Vanquish, we just discovered via Jalopnik that Aston Martin is cooking up a more potent street car that shares more DNA with their racing efforts than any other car they offer today.
Rumor has it that Aston Martin has the Porsche GT3 RS squarely in their sights, and as such, will be differentiated from the swoopy, sensual V8 and V12 Vantages by offering a big rear wing and wider bodywork aimed at providing some extra downforce. Meanwhile, a pumped-up V12 from the V12 Vantage S will likely provide over 600 HP of grunt to power it around the track.
Image provided by Pistonheads.com
Think of it as one heck of a final send off for the Vantage lineup before it gets redesigned in the next few years.
Bentley Racing Team at the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge
Jul 8th
The North American debut of the Bentley GT3 racecar was quite the show. Coming out for the Cadillac Grand Prix at Road America, all eyes were on the Bentley as it took to the grid for the first time. With Butch Leitzinger behind the wheel and a full Bentley support staff, it was no question that Bentley came prepared. Unfortunately, during the qualifying session the rain became a problem. Race officials determined to switch it to a practice session. And while the transponder was not properly functioning in the Bentley which precluded them from recording an official lap time, seeing the Bentley charge up the long straight through the finish line even in the rain was a pretty spectacular sight. Unofficially it was calculated that Butch Leitzinger was able to drive the Bentley in the 2:08.9 range at Road America.
Bentley had two races during its North American debut at Road America. The race on Friday provided for some intense battles between Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, and Bentley. Because Bentley had no points, what with this being their first race, they were staged at the back of the pack. Knowing they needed to really fire on all cylinders with minimal mistakes, Butch Leitzinger performed well under the rain conditions. During the 2nd race on Saturday, Bentley was able to secure a 2nd starting position and throughout the race fought hard against the competition. While they did not bring in a podium finish, it was still a great weekend of Bentley racing.
Powered by a V8 engine with around 600bhp, this GT racecar is unlike anything Bentley has produced before. To begin with it is the only Bentley Continental GT that is RWD, of course for racing this suits the car just fine. Included in the GT3 racecar we find an xTrac 6-speed sequential transaxle gearbox, racing clutch, and steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. Looking to Bentley’s recent past the only thing that could come close with regards to power and handling would be their W12 Supersports, which sadly won’t be making a return to the production line. Clearly the production model, GT3-R, will fill the Supersports shoes nicely.
What sets the Bentley GT3 apart from other Bentley racecars is that Bentley has also produced a road-going GT3R, but only in a limited production run of 300 units. From what we are able to gather at Morrie’s Luxury Auto it appears that 100 GT3Rs were available for sale in the US, however they are all sold out.
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