Five Bentley Continental GT3s took on three of the biggest GT championships in the world over the weekend and were competitive in all, taking a win in British GT, a second place in Pirelli World Challenge SprintX and running in third place in GT Open.
In the British GT Championship, the Team Parker Racing duo of Seb Morris (GB) and Rick Parfitt Jr. (GB) proved why they are among the favourites to lift the 2017 series title, as they stormed to victory in the two-hour race on Rockingham International Speedway.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Bentley’s USA partner team Bentley Team Absolute was contesting the opening round of the SprintX series and new partnership Yufeng Luo (US) and Alex Imperatori (CH) immediately proved to be a fast combination, taking second place in the Pro-Am class in race one.
Meanwhile, Jordan Witt (GB) and Michael Meadows (GB) were making their GT Open debut at Estoril in Portugal. Running in third place in race two, the team were on-track for a podium finish but an issue in the pitstop dropped the team outside of the top-ten and there ended their podium chances.
“It was a busy weekend for our customer teams and they all showcased the performance of our Continental GT3,” commented Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush. “I was in the USA with Bentley Team Absolute and I was very pleased to see Alex and Yufeng on the podium. It’s only Yufeng’s second Pirelli World Challenge event so we’re looking forward to seeing how he develops.
“Team Parker Racing delivered another strong result, so important early in their season. The whole team deserves this win and both Rick and Seb drove very well against a competitive field. British GT is going to be a closely-fought contest this year but with results like this I’m confident that the team can fight for the title and we’ll be supporting them all the way.”
After a busy weekend of customer racing, Bentley Motorsport now focuses its attention on the third round of the Blancpain GT Series, which heads to Brands Hatch next weekend for the first of two UK rounds.
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DRIVER QUOTES:
Seb Morris, Team Parker Racing: “We’re over the moon to have won the race. Rick was superb and we both drove our hearts out. Every member of the team was exceptional and we definitely deserved the win.”
Alex Imperatori, Bentley Team Absolute: “The guys at Bentley Team Absolute did a fantastic job getting the car in perfect condition for us and my teammate Yufeng Luo was also great. The second place in race one was the highlight of the weekend and it really shows the potential we have for the rest of the championship.”
