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TEAM M-SPORT BENTLEY READY TO RACE IN 2014

Final preparations complete for the Continental GT3’s debut
season

Drivers, cars and team all ready for opening race at Monza, Italy

Continental GT3’s promising performance attracts new sponsor
(Crewe, 4th April 2014) With a week to go until the start of the 2014
Blancpain Endurance Series, Team M-Sport Bentley is ready to take on the
competition with the new Continental GT3. After months of development
work, peaking with a satisfying 4th placed finished in the car’s test race at the
Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi last December, together with the announcement
of six Bentley Boys, the team is confident of strong performance from the
outset.
The Continental GT3’s first competitive race in the Blancpain Series will be at
Monza, near Milan in Italy. After free practice and qualifying on Saturday, the
three hour race takes place on Sunday 13th April at 14:45. The Bentley
competitor is based on the acclaimed Continental GT V8 coupe road car,
including its outstanding 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 engine.
Brian Gush, Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, comments: “The race at Monza
Mike Sayer
Product and Motorsport
Communications Manager
mike.sayer@bentley.co.uk
+44(0)7507 846782
Andrea Baker
Head of Media Communications
andrea.baker@bentley.co.uk
+44(0)7415 499252
is what we’ve been working towards for the last year, and we’re ready for it.
The car performed well at the series test days at Paul Ricard, we have a
motivated driver line-up, and the whole team is eager to get started. We’re
looking for a strong finish and get our season started as we intend to go on.”
M-Sport Bentley will field two cars throughout the season. Car 7 will be
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driven by the all-British driving team of former Bentley Le Mans champion
Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane. Car 8 will be piloted by a
European driver line-up of Belgian ex-F1 racer Jérôme D’Ambrosio,
Englishman Duncan Tappy and Frenchman Antoine Leclerc. All six drivers
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have shown the right combination of experience, teamwork and speed to
lead Bentley’s return to competitive racing since victory at Le Mans in 2003.
Steven Kane comments:
“We’ve all worked so hard to get here. While the engineers and mechanics
have been preparing the cars, Guy, Andy and I have been training hard
every day to ensure we’re in the best physical condition for what will be a
gruelling set of races. I absolutely can’t wait for Monza and the start of our
season.”
Joining M-Sport Bentley after time in Formula 1 with Virgin Racing and Lotus,
Jérôme D’Ambrosio comments:
“I’ve been looking to make the switch to endurance racing for a while, and
when the opportunity to race with such a famous marque as Bentley came
up I knew it was right. I’ve been hugely impressed with the team and the cars
– I was at the Bentley factory last week and the attention to detail on both the
road cars and the race cars is amazing. I’m really looking forward to working
with Duncan and Antoine to deliver a great season for the team.”
Impressive Turn of Speed Attracts New Sponsor
After such a strong showing in the car’s test race and again at the Blancpain
Mike Sayer
Product and Motorsport
Communications Manager
mike.sayer@bentley.co.uk
+44(0)7507 846782
Andrea Baker
Head of Media Communications
andrea.baker@bentley.co.uk
+44(0)7415 499252
Test Day at Paul Ricard, a new sponsor has joined the team. Six years ago,
Bentley announced the forming of an exclusive partnership with high end
British home audio manufacturer Naim, to introduce a market leading high
end audio system exclusively for the Bentley model range. Now, Naim has
extended its connection with the Bentley brand by sponsoring the race
programme, with the Naim logo to appear both on the cars and the drivers’
Bentley Motors Ltd
Pyms Lane
Crewe
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communications@bentley.co.uk
@BentleyComms
race suits. Naim joins existing Continental GT3 partners Mobil 1 and
Breitling, who have also signed up for the year.
Naim CEO Paul Stephenson comments:
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“Sponsoring Bentley’s GT3 racing is a natural progression of our partnership.
Their single-minded pursuit of pure performance is something which we can
really identify with. As fellow champions of British engineering and design we
are incredibly proud to be supporting Team M-Sport Bentley in what I’m sure
will be a hugely successful first season.”
Live updates from Monza will be provided over the course of the race
weekend via the Bentley Communications Twitter feed, @BentleyComms.
- ENDS Notes to editors
Mike Sayer
Product and Motorsport
Communications Manager
mike.sayer@bentley.co.uk
+44(0)7507 846782
Andrea Baker
Head of Media Communications
andrea.baker@bentley.co.uk
+44(0)7415 499252
Bentley Motors Ltd
Pyms Lane
Crewe
CW1 3PL
www.bentleymedia.com
communications@bentley.co.uk
@BentleyComms

The Continental GT3 programme is run by the Bentley Motorsport team in
conjunction with M-Sport. The team is led by Bentley’s Director of
Motorsport, Brian Gush. M-Sport was originally formed in 1979, and in 1994
M-Sport won national rally titles in Italy, Portugal, the Middle East and
Britain, the latter with founder Malcolm Wilson himself behind the wheel.
Since 1996, M-Sport has run Ford’s WRC campaigns, including winning two
FIA World Rally Championships in 2006 and 2007.

The Continental GT3 project is proud to be working with ExxonMobil, who
have joined the team as a key sponsor. Using ExxonMobil’s proven success
in motorsports and a track record of helping bring home championships,
Bentley’s V8 race engine will be filled with Mobil 1™ synthetic motor oil, to
ensure maximum engine protection and performance in the gruelling
environment of endurance racing.

In 2002, Bentley launched the Continental GT, then the most powerful
Bentley ever built. Breitling lent the revolutionary new luxury car an extra
personal touch, by participating in the design of the technical instruments
and, importantly, creating the onboard clock. Following a successful
collaboration during Bentley’s renowned Le Mans campaign from 2001 to
2003, Breitling has returned as a key sponsor of the Continental GT3
project.

The pairing of Naim Audio and Bentley is an ideal partnership. For both
Bentley and Naim, an enduring relationship with customers is core to the
philosophy. Just as we are as passionate about ensuring that every Bentley
gives its owner years of enjoyment, Naim works with its customers to ensure
that their audio systems produce beautiful music for just as long. Both are
proud of our British heritage and reputation for offering our customers the
very best products in our respective industries. Naim’s highly specialised
team of world-class engineers and designers have a passion and
commitment to music that enables them to deliver what is considered by
many audio enthusiasts – and their loyal customer base – to be the finest
range of audio equipment available in the world today.
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
Mike Sayer
Product and Motorsport
Communications Manager
mike.sayer@bentley.co.uk
+44(0)7507 846782
Andrea Baker
Head of Media Communications
andrea.baker@bentley.co.uk
+44(0)7415 499252
Bentley Motors Ltd
Pyms Lane
Crewe
CW1 3PL
www.bentleymedia.com
communications@bentley.co.uk
@BentleyComms
Bentley Motors employs around 4,000 people in Crewe which is home to all
its operations including design, R&D, engineering and production. The
combination of fine craftsmanship, using skills that have been handed down
through generations, alongside engineering expertise and cutting-edge
technology is unique to UK luxury vehicle manufacturers such as Bentley. It
is also an example of high-value British manufacturing at its best. Bentley
exports over £1bn worth of goods in 2012. The company is the third largest
R&D investor in the UK's automotive sector and the 18th largest nationally.