£10m Le Mans Bentley Speed 8 To Be Reunited With Tom Kristensen

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Bentley at Goodwood Festival of Speed, 12 July 2013

The Bentley Speed 8, raced by Tom Kristensen to secure the win in the 2003 24hrs of Le Mans, will be reunited with the legendary racer at Race Retro, the international historic motorsport show held at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, from 24-26 February. With an estimated value of £10million, the Bentley was an evolution of the prototype designed by Peter Elleray. It has a strong resemblance to and shares some of the technology with the Audi R8C, a manufacturer Kristensen had a long and successful career with. Kristensen will be reunited with the car in the Motor Sport Hall of Fame, the centre piece of Race Retro, with over £25 million of motorsport heritage on display around the live interview stage alone. Other vehicles of note include the John Surtees’ DFV powered racers, TS7 and TS14. TS7 was Team Surtees’ first Formula One car introduced for the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in 1970 driven by John Surtees running in the top six when it retired with engine problems.  It won the Gold Cup against an international field at Oulton Park. The TS14 was the first car to be introduced to the new safety regulations in 1972 and was driven by Mike Hailwood and Carlos Pace setting lap records in the German and Austrian Grand Prix. Hailwood took second place at the Italian Grand Prix. The team finished fifth in the World Championship (one place behind Ferrari). Adding to the DFV 50th anniversary celebrations is James Hunt’s McLaren M23, the Williams FW08 raced to Championship victory by Keko Rosberg, and the Lotus 49B R10, along with the Cosworth 4-wheel and 6-wheel Tyrell. Lotus will also have a Jim Clark tribute with the first public viewing of the Lotus 33 R11 in over 40 years, complete with Clark memorabilia from the Jim Clark Trust and Museum in Duns. Celebrating the Hall of Fame inductees, the 1957 Vanwall which Sir Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks drove to success in the British Grand Prix will be on show. This was the first British car piloted by British drivers to win a World Championship race on its home ground. There will also feature a 1950s D-Type Jaguar which has raced at the Sebring 12-hr, Aston Martin Racing’s endurance racer the V8 Vantage GTE, and a British Touring Cars Championship ex-works Rover 3500 SD1, driven in period by the likes of Steve Soper and Tom Walkinshaw. Rally legends Markku Alén and Ari Vatanen are also represented with an ex-works Fiat 131 Abarth, and a Ford Escort 1700T, both driven by the drivers in period, displayed respectfully. They will also be reunited with period cars out on the Live Rally Stage, with both getting behind the wheel of the Subaru Legacy they drove in the early 1990s. Vatanen will also drive the iconic Rothmans Escort as well as the BMW M3. Acting Show Director Lee Masters said: “We would like to thank all the owners who have supported Race Retro by loaning their cars and are so grateful in their efforts to make our 15th anniversary ‘’Super Show’ a huge success.” The 2017 outing of Race Retro will have more cars than ever before on static display as well as around 80 cars in action on the Live Rally Stage including the Andrews Heat for Hire Opel Manta 400, Ford Escort RS1800, and Sierra Cosworth, Dai Llewellyn’s Subaru Impreza 555, and the late Colin McRae’s Ford Focus WRC.Tags:, ,