Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak

TGR Staff  - 06/04/2021

Bentley’s Continental GT3 Pikes Peak racer is ready to take on the world's most famous hill climb competition, Pikes Peak, after competing in three test sessions evaluating new renewable fuel technology. On June 27th, the Continental will be the first Bentley racing engine to compete running on renewable fuel.  The project aims to offer renewable fuels to Bentley customers in parallel to Bentley’s electrification program. This two-strand strategy is set to maximize the pace of Bentley’s progress towards carbon neutrality, as part of its Beyond100 journey.

The engine runs on 98RON Renewable Racing Fuel made of a blend of biofuels that result in a reduction of greenhouse gases of up to 85 percent. The 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 road car engine generates over 750 bhp and will be boosted to higher levels of performance for the Pikes Peak attempt. To keep the engine cool, the team developed a secondary cooling system installed in the rear of the car as well as additional aero elements to duct air through the second radiator. Heat is such a major factor that even the brakes are water-cooled to handle the additional load placed on the car as it attempts a record-setting run.

The gearbox is Bentley’s standard racing unit, already designed to handle the torque loads involved, but the rear driveshaft diameter has been increased to provide additional durability. The gearbox runs a specially-formulated lubricant created specifically for the car by Mobil1, which has also supplied high-performance oil for the engine. 

The chassis has been set up and tuned to suit the specific nature of the Pikes Pikes course. Both front and rear axles run significantly reduced camber to the standard Continental GT3 setup, focusing the car on low-speed cornering performance. The softest springs and anti-roll bars from Bentley’s range have been fitted, to allow more movement in the body and so maximize weight transfer for braking.

The Pikes Peak car gets a 30 percent increase in overall downforce at sea level while maintaining the standard car’s aerodynamic front/rear balance and features the biggest rear wing ever fitted to a Bentley by the factory.  

The car's race livery, which combines the black-and-gold theme of Roger Clark Motorsport (that runs the car in the UK) with Bentley’s instantly-recognizable Pikes Peak mountain graphic that featured on the Pikes Peak variants of the Bentayga and Continental GT.

To break the record, the car will have to complete the nearly 5,000 ft climb, which includes 156 corners, at an average speed of more than 78 mph to cross the finish line in less than nine minutes and 36 seconds. Three-time Pikes Peak champion and former “King of the Mountain’ Rhys Millen (NZ) returns to drive, having captured Bentley’s two existing Pikes Peak records – the Production SUV record attained in 2018 with a Bentayga W12, and the outright Production Car record scored in 2019 with a Continental GT.

The Continental GT3 Pikes Peak continues its final testing and development activities over the next two weeks, ahead of the 99th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on 27 June.