Hold tight! The Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak is the ferocious, no-compromise, hard-core race car that runs on eco-friendly biofuel and its job is to smash one of the toughest records in motorsport in June of this year. In other words, it has to be astonishingly quick yet kind to the planet - quite the task!
Extreme challenge
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the backdrop for the record. Pikes Peak is a particularly tall peak in the Rocky Mountains, in North America. It is certainly no ‘hill’. Time Attack 1 is the specific record, among several others, that the motor manufacturer wants to break. The GT3 must:
- make its way to the start line at 9,300 ft
- race up the mountain in record time (156 corners)
- cross the finish line at 14,100 ft.
The Continental GT3 Pikes Peak has the existing 9m36s record to break, which was set last year by David Donner in a Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport. It, therefore, needs a remarkable driver. And it has one. Rhys Millen has successfully competed in rally, drift, and many other types of car racing. Most notably in this context, he has also claimed two records at Pikes Peak for Bentley already.
Vehicle specification
The GT3 Pikes Peak is powered by a 4.0 litre V8 turbo engine optimised to cope with tough conditions, which is a must given the air is much thiner at high altitude. The GT3 also has the biggest rear wing ever fitted to one of the manufacturer’s cars, ingenious aerodynamics, and it runs on ‘carefully selected’ biofuel that is more environmentally responsible than the traditional alternatives.
Bentley raring to go
Board Member for Engineering, Dr Matthias Rabe, is looking forward to the record attempt; ‘We are delighted to be returning to Pikes Peak for a third time’, he said. He further emphasised that it is important the car runs on biofuel. Why? Because this fuel is an ‘element’ of Bentley’s Beyond100 Programme.
Beyond 100 is the manufacturer’s plan to reinvent itself as an ‘end-to-end carbon-neutral organisation’. The main targets include:
- by 2026, all new cars to be plug-in hybrid or electric
- by 2030, all new cars to be electric only.
‘Our powertrain engineers are already researching biofuels and e-fuels for use by our customers alongside our electrification programme’, Dr Rabe explained. ‘In the meantime, the Continental GT3 Pikes Peak confirms that renewable fuels can allow motorsport to continue in a responsible way. Hopefully, it will also capture the third and final record in our triple crown’, Dr Rabe concluded.
