Automobile
Bentley Blower - to return to racing
Crewe - 21 March 2023
The first car of Bentley's Blower Continuation Series - known as Car Zero - is set to invoke the history of its ancestor by racing at a series of events 2023. Completing its purpose of engineering validation while honoring its genealogy, Blower Car Zero will take to tracks in the UK, France and Belgium in a set of races that will test its performance and endurance.
The Blower Continuation Series - the first pre-war continuation series ever created - has been built by hand using a combination of modern laser-scanned data and original drawings. Both, the blueprints and the 3D data were taken from the 1929 4 1/2-litre supercharged Team Car #2 - the most famous Bentley in the world, and one of the icons of the Bentley Heritage Collection. 93 years after that car competed at Le Mans (and elsewhere), Car Zero will assume the original Blower's mantle and race to win - including at the Circuit de la Sarthe, in what will be the first Bentley works car to race at Le Mans since the Speed 8's victory in 2003.
Modifications to allow Blower Car Zero to go racing have been minor, and safety-related. They include the installation of a rain light, wing mirrors, towing points, a fire extinguisher and a battery isolation switch. The car also now holds a Historic Technical Passport (HTP), that certifies the car as eligible to compete in FIA-Sanctioned events for historic vehicles.
After Car Zero, 12 further Blower Continuation Series cars have been commissioned through Mulliner - Bentley's bespoke and personalisation division - with eight delivered and four still in-build. Some of these customer cars will compete alongside Car Zero at Le Mans in the summer, together with original Bentley Team car from the 1920s.
Paul Williams - Mulliner's Chief Technical Officer - comments :
"By going racing with Blower Car Zero, we will prove the performance, authenticity and durability of our Continuation Series by taking on the original competition, and give our customers confidence that they too can take their continuation cars to the track. We've already proved the quality of the engineering within the car by completing a tough test of several hours at the race pace around Goodwood, and it's now time for the car to be unleashed for real racing. We'll take the learnings from this race programme and apply them to the upcoming Speed Six Continuation Series, for which the first engineering car is in build now."
To prepare for its racing debut, Car Zero recently completed a six-hour endurance test at full race pace, at the Goodwood Motor Circuit. Driven by Stuart Morley (GB), the car performed flawlessly throughout the test, covering 380 miles and averaging 83 miles per hour.
Drivers for the race programme will be confirmed shortly, and will feature a mix of experienced motoring journalists with racing credentials alongside professional racing drivers.
