Following the pausing of its works involvement in GT3 racing over the summer, Bentley has confirmed it will not be returning as a works outfit, and its six works drivers running at the Intercontinental GT Challenge season’s final round in Kyalami, South Africa, will compete for privateer teams.
Though the company will continue to provide some support to privateers through 2021, development of the Continental GT3 will cease. Bentley noted that its withdrawal from GT3 is in line with a greater focus on electrification following its current Beyond100 strategy.
Bentley’s director of motorsport, Paul Williams, commented, “I want to start by saying thank you, on behalf of Bentley, to each of the 16 world-class drivers that have represented us over the last seven years. But special thanks go to Max Soulet, Jordan Pepper, Jules Gounon and Seb Morris who supported us when Covid-19 put our works team program on stop and who stepped up to work incredibly hard for our customer teams in a compacted season.”
Williams went on to highlight that the changing automotive environment was a driving factor behind the decision: “As Bentley moves rapidly towards becoming the world’s leading luxury sustainable mobility brand, the GT3 category no longer supports the strategy but there are some exciting changes in the industry right now and we are closely evaluating how motorsport can support the brand in the future.”
