M-Sport to field Bentley in British GT

The factory Bentley M-Sport team will field a Continental GT3 on a customer basis in the British GT championship this season.

M-Sport will run the Continental in a full-season campaign for former American Le Mans Series race winner Humaid Al Masaood and his former driving partner Steven Kane, who is racing a factory Bentley in this year's Blancpain Endurance Series.

"Once Steven signed for us for the BES, Humaid got excited about Bentley," said M-Sport team manager Matthew Wilson, whose squad took part in four British GT races last year with an Audi R8 LMS ultra. "It's an iconic brand and the car has good performance.

"This deal is good for Humaid, but it is also good for us. The BES is only a short program and up to now we have only taken part in five events as a race team, so this is a good way to increase our experience and to keep us sharp through the season."

Kane explained that he was relishing the chance to race in the seven-date British series this season.

"I'm really looking forward to it, because it has become such a strong series with a lot of quick and professional drivers," he said.

Kane and Al Masaood will race the second Continental GT3 constructed, the car with which Bentley made a successful return to international motorsport in December's Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi. The car run by M-Sport joins the Continental run under the Generation Bentley Racing banner for Steve Tandy and James Appleby in British GTs.

Originally on Autosport.com