- BENTLEY MOTORSPORT ADDS JULES GOUNON FOR THE 2018 SEASON
- 22-YEAR OLD FRENCHMAN TO RACE ALONGSIDE GUY SMITH AND STEVEN KANE
- 2017 CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS SOULET, SOUCEK AND ABRIL CONTINUE COMPETING TOGETHER
9 January 2018, Crewe.– Bentley Motorsport announced that it has retained five of its six works drivers for the 2018 season, adding Spa 24 Hours race-winner Jules Gounon (FR) to long-standing Bentley Boys Guy Smith (GB), Steven Kane (GB), Andy Soucek (ES), Maxime Soulet (BE) and Vince Abril (MC).
The six drivers will contest the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup for Bentley’s fifth season with two brand new second generation Bentley Team M-Sport Continental GT3s, and will also complete the entire Intercontinental GT Challenge for the first time.
Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush, comments: “Consistency is key for endurance racing so to have five of our drivers back to continue their long-standing relationships with us allows us to get stronger year-on-year and is testament to the loyalty within our team.
“Jules [Gounon] has shown that he has the pace and maturity to fit in to a leading team, despite only being 22 years old, and we’re looking forward to supporting him as he develops his career. We’re all looking forward to arriving in Bathurst in February and getting 2018 underway.”
The 2018 season kick starts with Bathurst 12 Hours and, for homologation reasons, will be completed in the current-spec Continental GT3. The all-new Continental GT3, based on the new Continental GT road car, will make its debut in Monza for the opening round of the Blancpain GT Series and will used to complete the Intercontinental GT Challenge races at Spa-Francorchamps, Laguna Seca and Suzuka.
Bentley Motorsport is based at the Bentley Motors headquarters in Crewe. From there, the operation runs Bentley Team M-Sport, and oversees three Works-supported teams around the world.
The Continental GT3 is built by the Bentley motorsport team in conjunction with M-Sport. The Bentley GT3 team is led by Bentley Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush supported by M-Sport’s Chief Engineer, Christian Loriaux.
Bentley Motors’ headquarters in Crewe is home to all of its operations including design, R&D, engineering and production of the company’s four model lines, Continental, Bentayga, Flying Spur and Mulsanne. 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 car brands.
Source: Bentley
Photograph: Bentley
