Above: Maxi Buhk (center left) and Vincent Abril (center right) celebrating a remarable season at the Blancpain Sprint Series
October 14 – The Bentley Continental GT3 has won its first major race car championship, with customer team Bentley Team HTP taking the Blancpain Sprint Series drivers title following a pole position and two race victories at the final round at Zandvoort on October 11th.
Just two years after the Bentley Continental GT3 was launched, built by the Bentley motorsport team in conjunction with M-Sport, drivers Maxi Buhk and Vincent Abril fought off stiff competition from the 2014 championship-winning Audi, to take one of the most sought-after titles in GT3 racing.
“This is a fantastic achievement for Bentley Team HTP with the Bentley Continental GT3,” commented Bentley’s director of motorsport, Brian Gush. “The Blancpain Sprint Series is very competitive and there is no room for error. Maxi and Vincent with Bentley Team HTP have been the perfect team to take our race car to success.”
Maxi Buhk was equally delighted, stating, “It’s not normal to have a clean sweep like this – with pole, two race wins and fastest laps. Being a champion with Bentley feels incredible and I’m already looking for my next challenge with the team.”
Bentley Team HTP, which under the name HTP Motorsport enjoyed multiple GT3 successes over the past five years, joined forces with Bentley Motorsport at the start of 2015 and entered cars in the Blancpain GT Series, which comprises both the Sprint and Endurance championships.
“We worked extremely hard this year and this is the well-deserved pay-off for the entire crew,” said Norbert Brückner, Bentley Team HTP’s team principal. “This title makes our inaugural season with Bentley perfect. We can be really proud about this achievement and it will be a great incentive for the coming season.”
The Bentley Continental GT3 narrowly missed out on the Blancpain Endurance Series title in September, when Bentley Team M-Sport took second place by a narrow margin of three points in both the team and driver championships.
The Bentley Continental GT3 will next race in the GT Asia series at Chang International Circuit in Thailand on 23-25 October 23-25, with Bentley Team Absolute Racing.
