Bentley is looking to add another trophy to its Pikes Peak cabinet, with this beast based on the brand’s Continental GT3 race car.
Already Bentley holds two records at the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Back in 2018, the UK luxury car manufacturer sent its Bentayga SUV up the Colorado mountain to become the fastest SUV ever to make the ascent, in 10:49.902. A year later, the Continental GT became the Time Attack 2 record holder for production cars at 10:18.488.
This time Bentley is gunning for a proper division record, in Time Attack 1, and it has created this GT3-based racer to suit the challenge.
At present, Bentley isn’t saying much about the CGT3PP, although the regulations of Time Attack 1 give us a clue what to expect. The class limits participation to closed body, four-wheel vehicles and, importantly, they must retain their original engine layout, aspiration, and driven wheels.
With Bentley choosing to use the GT3 as a basis, that means the car will use a development version of the same 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V8 as the racer — although the engine capacity may be different for this application. In endurance racing trim, this is good for 600hp unrestricted, but we’d expect Bentley to turn up the wick massively, as the Conti only needs to make it 12.5 miles up the course. Bio-fuels are also part of the car’s campaign to beat the existing record.
The exterior modifications to the car are more obvious. As the CGT3PP rises through the Colorado landscape, the air gets thinner and the car will need larger aerodynamic surfaces to generate downforce. That’s something the car has plenty of, with a huge rear wing, massively enlarged diffuser, and a new front splitter which is wider than the original car.
To take the Time Attack 1 record, Bentley will need to beat the time set only last year by David Donner in a Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport, of 9:36.559. In order to achieve this, the brand has once again enlisted the help of Pikes Peak legend Rhys Millen, who captured the previous two records.
Bentley is now sending the car on a test and development cycle in the UK before taking it across to the USA for its altitude testing — and promises to reveal more in May. The 2021 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will take place on 27th June.
See more articles on Bentley.
