Bentley Denied Pikes Peak “Triple Crown” Due To Shorter Course, Boost Pressure Issue

Bentley’s specially prepared Continental GT3 finished in second place in the Time Attack I class and in fourth place overall at this year’s Pikes Peak.

The Continental GT3 Pikes Peak was driven by Rhys Millen, who completed this year’s shorter course in 6:36.281 despite suffering a late engine issue. Millen took the 750 HP racer and set a blistering pace over the first two sectors of the route, entering the third and final sector 12 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. However, a boost pressure problem presented itself a few corners from the finish line, costing Bentley and Millen 16 seconds and the first position in the class.

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Combine this and the fact that this year’s Pikes Peak route was shortened due to icy conditions at the summit, and Bentley’s goal of achieving a “Triple Crown” in the historic racing event was never on the cards.

“We know we had the pace today both to win our class and to break the Time Attack 1 record. The weather sadly wasn’t with us though, with the shortened course meaning our assault on the record was never a possibility,” said Paul Williams, Bentley’s Director of Motorsport. “While that’s a bitter pill to swallow, I’m proud to have entered such a strong renewably-powered racecar – the fastest at the event – and equally proud of the team that’s delivered this project. This is the first step on Bentley’s renewable fuel journey, and there will be many more opportunities to come. Perhaps we’ll even come back to Pikes Peak next year…”

Bentley’s specially prepared Continental GT3 was jointly developed between the British carmaker, Fastr, Roger Clark Motorsport, M-Sport, and Rhys Millen Racing. Power came from a 750 HP version of the twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 engine, tuned to run on 98RON renewable racing fuel, which offers a greenhouse gas reduction of up to 85 percent.

This was Bentley’s third entry in recent years at the Pikes Peak event, following the successful record runs of a specially-prepared Bentayga which set the record for a production SUV, and a Continental GT that set the production class record.