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UNDER THE SKIN: BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT3

Under The Skin: Bentley Continental

By Bruce Williams

Under The Skin: Bentley Continental

Under The Skin: Bentley Continental

The engineering team at M-Sport really did work wonders with its first-ever entry into circuit racing as a designer, builder and race team.

By HEATH McALPINE

It was a massive task to turn what was in effect a yacht with four-wheels, the Bentley Continental, into not only a competitive GT3 car, but also a race winner.

The M-Sport team, better known for its ultra-fast rally cars, looks set to continue this with the latest generation of Bentley’s GT3 hero car.

At the recent Bathurst 12 Hour, Bentley was well in contention for most of the day. However, a bit of bad luck and a couple of mistakes, which marred the team’s 2018 Blancpain GT campaign, saw the big British brutes ultimately play little more than a supporting role.

It was M-Sport’s first trip to The Mountain with the new car but the current specification Continental GT3 already had a whole season of Blancpain GT under its belt, plus a number of one-off races at a variety of venues worldwide.

Reflecting on the car’s debut season, driver Steven Kane felt there were plenty of missed opportunities for the car to take its first victory, but the Brit is confident that this season will provide the breakthrough.

“We’ve been able to race it well (but) we’ve had some misfortune with driver errors and other errors that didn’t get us results we deserved. There’s quite a few times where luck wasn’t on our side,” Kane lamented.

“Spa, we should have won it, we had the car, both cars, we had the speed and I just picked up a bit of debris damaging the front radiator, just silly stuff like that. This year is a full-on attack to try to win races and win championships.”

It’s the same opinion that was conveyed by Chief Engineer Christian Loriaux, as the concern isn’t so much car pace but minimising the issues that afflicted the team last year.

“We didn’t have that much of a successful year, our best finish was second at Paul Ricard, we didn’t win any race. But we had a few amazing races and I think no one made a better comeback than us all season,” Loriaux told Auto Action.

“We had a lot of times where we started from the pit lane or pretty far back and we’d end up close to the podium so the pace has been good, (however) the reliability and team had some bad luck, but we’re getting there.”

GT3 has moved along considerably since Bentley debuted the older-generation Continental GT3 in 2014, much of this was led by the M-Sport team.

When it developed the previous model for racing it had a lot of work to do and moved the goalposts considerably, becoming the first manufacturer to dramatically change the way GT3 cars were developed, as Loriaux explained.

“Obviously, when we were developing the old car it was quite a step. Before that, all the GT3 cars were a lot more closely related to the road cars and when the Bentley came out everyone was shocked by it.

“Everyone said, ‘that wouldn’t work’, but obviously Bentley and M-Sport pushed the boundaries with the regulations, I think a lot of other manufacturers (then) realised what they could do with the regulations, where we can take it.

“The old Bentley kicked that off, so when a lot of the other manufacturers like Audi and Mercedes went and did their Evo 2 version of their GT3 cars, they were a lot more advanced than the old ones.”

Unlike the original Continental GT3, this new car was developed alongside a new road model meaning that many of the issues and difficulties that were encountered initially during the development run of the first generation had been removed, leaving M-Sport to focus on improving every component on the car, the main goal being 50-50 weight distribution.

“It’s a much better platform to build a race car from. The chassis is completely different, the way it’s manufactured, it suits more of a race car development on it,” Loriaux continued.

“We started running the old car and by doing that we learnt its limitations, we knew what we had to improve and the main thing we had to improve was weight distribution, to get the weight towards the back and still save weight to make the car lighter.

“That makes the little details better. The fact that you’ve got the opportunity to do a new car allows you to do that, because to gain three, four, five percent of weight distribution further to the back, now we’re close to (the) 50-50 you need to review everything.

“The new car with the bodyshell has got a completely new platform so that allows us within the limit of the regulations to move the engine to a better place, but as well we made a new transmission that is still transaxle, which is better for weight distribution.”

Bentley’s commitment to GT3 racing is demonstrated with the developments in its road car, as the manufacturer has moved away from focusing solely on luxurious models by also developing the performance side of the car as well. As mentioned, M-Sport’s engineering team had a better base to work off, starting with a much lighter shell.

“The new Bentley is mostly an aluminium bodyshell, it’s aluminium and steel, so that’s allowed us to save quite a bit of weight, so we benefitted from the new technology of the road car,” Loriaux told Auto Action.

“We conducted a new aero program so we improved the aero. We worked on suspension geometry, where we wanted it to go, so it’s allowed us to improve everything really. The big thing is the weight distribution, the engine is pretty much the same. That’s where we nibbled and tried to make every little thing better, centre of gravity is lower, weight distribution is a big improvement for the back end of the car, the car is much more efficient than the old car.”

The improved aero program has developed a wild kit for the Continental GT3 with a tall rear wing, extensive rear diffuser, low side skirts and re-designed front bumper, which maximises the cooling through a variety of vents and grills. It also features a widened stance, providing an all-over more aggressive look and all made out of light carbon fibre.

The engine is one area that has experienced limited change led by M-Sport’s Nigel Armfield, who has developed many of the team’s World Rally Championship engines from scratch. A redesigned dry sump to again improve weight distribution, and re-designed intake and exhaust systems, enable the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 to pump out 550bhp unrestricted. However, turbo restrictors are placed as part of the Balance of Performance measures that are imposed on each GT3 model.

The gearbox is a six-speed sequential unit designed in a joint venture between M-Sport and Ricardo. This was a new partnership between the two and the first of a number of key supplier changes between the two models.

“The transmission, we were with xTrac with the old car, but for the new car we wanted to do more and the xTrac transmission was pretty much a general transmission,” explained Loriaux. “We went to Ricardo and we designed a box, so a team of designers with Ricardo designed our own gearbox layout.

“We knew we needed to reach the target we had, we knew we had to design a very different transmission and xTrac don’t work like that. We always design the transmission ourselves to really suit the car and we need a supplier to make that work.

“We’ve got a good relationship with Ricardo and good success, that’s for sure. But on top of that, we said to them we’re giving you a chance, but we want the price to be right.”

The dampers were also another major component to change, a lack of manoeuvrability from Ohlins provided Penske with its chance as Loriaux has worked closely to develop a four-way adjustable damper specific to the Bentley.

“If you look at the dampers, it’s a classic one where Ohlins, not bad dampers, but when I asked them to make a change, I said I wanted this and this and this different to eradicate those problems forever, and they said ‘Nah, this is the way it works, we don’t want to change,’ and I said we wanted different and they responded ‘Nah, nah it works fine,” said Loriaux.

“I started speaking to Penske, I said, ‘Look guys, this is your chance if you want to jump in, but you have to do exactly what we want and not what you have on the shelf’. Tune with bits and bods to fit, (but) I wanted the thing made exactly for us to the specs and they excepted.

“But the dampers are more expensive so to compensate we have something that is absolutely perfect. The first thing is always getting the right specification, if you can do that and drop the price then you’ve got even more chance to go there. If not and it is better, you still have to accept to pay the price.”

This is a philosophy that is carried throughout the car with Alcon six-piston front and four-piston rear callipers and ventilated discs replacing the Brembo units from the previous generation. The rim brand has also been changed from OZ to BBS to align with Bentley’s road car division, the only part of the car that is dictated by any commercial relationship the manufacturer has.

“Technically we want to have the best car, that’s the first step, so usually we try to work with a company that’s more open to develop a product specifically for us,” Loriaux said.

The redesigned cooling system can be attributed to a well-known Australian business. PWR supply much of the motorsport world’s cooling needs, but Loriaux has been a loyal customer to the brand even before the company grew to what it is now.

“I was one of the first to start with them in my previous job at Subaru 15-20 years (ago), I started working with them before anyone knew about them, now every Formula 1 team use them, MotoGP.”

The interior is highlighted by a Formula 1-style steering wheel, and a body-hugging race seat and harness that has been moved towards the centre of the cabin slightly. There’s also a rear-view camera which is now essential for all GT3 cars, as the vision out the rear of these vehicles has become increasingly impaired. In another example of Bentley working to develop a product with a supplier, it paired with Bosch on its electronic power steering system, a proud achievement for the team as the German company was initially reluctant to get involved.

The growth of GT3 has been significant and will continue to be as more manufacturers develop and build cars for the successful formula. The goalposts will continue to move as each car is updated and a new model is released, this is why the Bentley stretches the envelope considerably in nearly every single way.

“Manufacturers are pushing the boundaries the way we’ve put different chassis legs on the front, very similar to the BMW, we’ve moved further back. It’s on the limit of the FIA wanting us to do that,” said Loriaux.

“It’s one of the best series in the world now with each manufacturer using it to advertise its cars. They are pushing the boundaries because, obviously they want to be the fastest to showcase what they can do, so the regulations are being pushed at the moment. The thing is, every year the regulations are changing, so as long as we’re in this bubble and we stay as a manufacturer sport, when a new car comes out there will always be manufacturers that will push the boundaries a bit more, the FIA will allow them this and won’t allow them to do that.

“We use those regulations and go ‘right, where’s the hole? Can we do this or do that?’ As engineers, that’s what we’re there to do, we’re trying to make the best of the set of rules and we’re there to make the best car under the regulations.”

TECH BOX

Engine:

4.0-litre direct-injection twin-turbo V8, Cosworth engine management system
Max Power Approx. 550 bhp derestricted
Oil System Dry sump

Transmission:

Rear wheel drive, Ricardo six-speed sequential transaxle gearbox
AP racing clutch, steering wheel mounted paddle-operated pneumatic gear shift

Drivetrain:

Carbon fibre propshaft, limited slip differential

Suspension:

Double wishbone suspension front and rear, four-way adjustable racing dampers

Steering:

Electric power-assisted steering

Brakes:

Alcon ventilated iron disc brakes front and rear, Alcon six-piston front callipers, four-piston rear callipers, driver-adjustable brake bias

Safety:

FIA-specification steel roll cage, six-point FIA safety harness, onboard fire extinguisher, onboard pneumatic jack system

Fuel System:

FIA-specification ATL racing fuel cell

Electronics:

Race-specification Bosch ABS and traction control. Lightweight race battery.

Wheels:

BBS Motorsport 18” x 13” rims

Tyres:

355 / 705 R18

Aerodynamics:

Carbon fibre front splitter, rear wing and body panels. Lightweight, aerodynamically-optimised bumpers, bonnet, sills and fenders
Length: 4860 mm
Width: 2045 mm
Height: 1355 mm
Weight: 1300 kg

Article originally published in Issue 1755 of Auto Action.

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