Team Bentley in 2003

Detroit, 6th January 2003... Team Bentley is delighted to confirm further details of its 2003 racing programme that will mark the culmination of the three year plan to return Bentley to the top step of the podium at the Le Mans 24-hours. As has previously been announced, the team will also contest the Sebring 12-hours in March.

Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo 'Dindo' Capello and Guy Smith will campaign the first car. All three names will be familiar to Bentley fans, the first as part of the driver line up that has won the last three Le Mans, the second as the man who has taken pole position at Le Mans on the last two occasions, and the third as Bentley's existing test driver who drove for Bentley at Le Mans in 2001. It is believed that the multiple race winning experience of Tom and Rinaldo will fit perfectly with Guy's knowledge of both Team Bentley and, in particular, the Speed 8 in its latest form. The second car driver line up will be announced in due course.

Technical details of the new, 2003-specification Bentley Speed 8 will be released in due course but suffice to say the car has evolved considerably over the 2002 EXP Speed 8 that was first home after the works Audis at Le Mans last year, in line with Bentley's declared aspiration to be second to none in 2003. Nevertheless it can be revealed that the car continues to have enclosed bodywork, again making it unique among its competitors and will be powered by the 4-litre direct injection, twin-turbo V8 engine.

One significant change Bentley can announce is that Michelin will supply its tyres for the 2003 season. Michelin rubber has shod all recent winners of Le Mans and while its technicians had not hitherto developed tyres of the size stipulated by the LM GTP regulations under which the Speed 8 must run - they must be an inch narrower than its open-top rivals - pre-season testing has so far provided some extremely encouraging results.

Another departure for Team Bentley is the introduction of a headline sponsor to the team. Few companies could be more suited to this task than Breitling whose brand values of performance, prestige and precision match closely those of Bentley. The Breitling logo will appear prominently across both the front and the sides of both Speed 8 prototypes. Furthermore Breitling's signature will appear on the dashboard clock of the all new Continental GT and they will produce an unique chronograph bearing the Bentley name for 2003.

Team Bentley continues to be run from Crewe with Bentley motorsport director Brian Gush overseeing the operation and heading up the steering committee. As in previous years, the 2003 Bentley Speed 8 is being built at Race Technology Norfolk (rtn) who are also responsible for the test and development programme. The team will continue to be managed by John Wickham. Although no longer directly involved in Team Bentley, Richard Lloyd with his vast experience in this field will assume the role of motorsport consultant to Bentley chairman and chief executive Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen.

So far as Team Bentley's ambitions for the 2003 season are concerned, clearly the plan is to win both at Sebring and Le Mans. Nevertheless it is to be remembered that this the third year of a three year strategy to win Le Mans, and while the Speed 8s will be slowing for no-one at Sebring, that race has a dual function to perform and must also race-harden the Speed 8 in preparation for Le Mans. Of course no-one can predict the outcome of any race, let alone one so maverick and fickle as Le Mans, but Team Bentley believes it will arrive on the starting grid with a better chance than ever before of taking overall honours. And with the changes made to the car and driver line ups, it believes it has both the hardware and the manpower to convert this potential into outright victory.