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Added on the 01/11/2021 17:40:59 - Copyright : Euronews EN
To celebrate 20 years of the Continental GT, Bentley Motors is hosting a four-month programme of unique models, drives and events that kicks-off today at the Shanghai Auto Show with the debut of a one-of-one Continental GT S. This unique car showcases several bespoke Mulliner features, including commemorative badging, inlays and design motifs marking 20 years of the car that has defined the modern era of Bentley Motors.The exterior of the special GT S for Shanghai is the strikingly sinister Magnetic dark grey metallic, complemented by black chrome and black 22” 10-spoke sports wheels but with a splash of colour provided by red brake calipers. The black-and-red theme is carried into the interior, with duo-tone finish in Beluga and Hotspur leather with Piano Black. A bespoke interior features a unique Mulliner colour way, dual-finish fascias and waistrails and bespoke detailing to centre console and treadplates. The upper fascia veneer is in Granite Stone, giving a unique tactile finish, while the lower veneer is in Grand Black and features a laser-etched overlay celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the Continental GT. A red pinstripe separates the two finishes, stretching across the fascia from door to door and passing across the upper vanes of the bullseye air vents.The treadplates proudly display two silhouettes, one of the 1st generation Continental GT and second of the 3rd generation, representing the 20 years of the modern GT. The same design can be found on the centre console, whilst the LED welcome lamp in the door has a unique design celebrating the anniversary of the iconic grand tourer.
It’s time for the Japanese Grand Prix, one of the most popular events on the calendar for enthusiasts and F1 folk alike. Suzuka first featured on the World Championship trail almost four decades ago and along with two races at Fuji in the mid-70s and again in 2007 and 2008 and with two Pacific Grands Prix in the Nineties, the Land of the Rising Sun has played an important part in the history of the sport. Suzuka is special, not just because of the beautiful figure-of-eight track, but also because of the electrifying atmosphere around the circuit, the grandstands packed with local fans, both young and old who love to dress up in race suits, often wearing the most bizarre home-made caps made to look like the race cars, as they wander around the track and even in the paddock.If the 18 corners that make up Suzuka circuit could talk, they would tell the tale of some of the most memorable moments in the history of the sport. So many world championships have been decided here, many of them in favour of Scuderia Ferrari. In 2000 came the “Red Dawn” as the tifosi called it, when Michael Schumacher won the race to clinch his first title in red, repeating the feat in Japan in 2003. There were also moments of disappointment for the Prancing Horse, in 1990 when Alain Prost was beaten to the crown by Ayrton Senna and in 1998, when Schumacher was bested by Mika Häkkinen.
Formula 1 arrives in Australia for what will be the first race this year to be held as usual on a Sunday, after the first two rounds of the season were run on Saturday in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Australians love their motorsport and Ferrari is particularly popular here, making for a very special atmosphere. The Albert Park circuit is spectacular and everything points to it being an interesting weekend. Carlos Sainz is expected to be back in the car, having had to miss Jeddah with appendicitis and he and team-mate Charles Leclerc will most likely be fighting at the front of the field, as they have done in the first two rounds.The circuit. The Albert Park track made its first appearance on the Formula 1 calendar in 1996. It features plenty of medium to high speed corners, with four DRS zones to provide plenty of excitement. Turn 1 is a quick chicane with walls on one side and a gravel run-off on the other, making it one of the trickiest sections, especially as it is followed by a long straight, before drivers brake heavily for turn 3, a favourite overtaking spot, as it comes at the end of a DRS zone, but mind out, here too there’s a gravel run-off area lying in wait. Turns 9 and 10 are definitely among the quickest corners on the track and overtaking is possible here, although drivers can also opt to stay in the slipstream and then give it their all to pass into turn 11, where overtaking carries a bit less risk.
A unique global relay, marking 20 years of the Continental GT, has reached its conclusion with the arrival in Crewe of the specially-made 20th anniversary baton. The baton’s lap of the world included stops in Europe, the Middle East, China, Asia Pacific, the US and UK, visiting 20 journalists and content creators in the process as part of 20 memorable drives – one for each year of Continental GT production.The launch of the first-generation Continental GT in 2003 marked a seismic change in the fortunes of Bentley Motors. The first all-new Bentley of the modern era, the first with all-wheel drive and the first to feature the innovative W12 engine, the Continental GT swiftly propelled Bentley to its current status as the most sought-after luxury car brand in the world.The design of the 20th anniversary baton was developed in the Crewe design studio and received the same level of meticulous refinement as any production model feature. Finished in Cypress Green (the exterior finish of the first-ever production Continental GT) the baton has an intriguing, asymmetrical twist, like the blade of an aircraft propellor. A knurled cap, modelled on the Continental GT’s drive mode selector, allows access to the baton’s interior where the scroll is carried. Head of Bentley Design Collaborations, Chris Cooke takes a deep dive into the details: “Every element of the baton sculpture was inspired by the Continental GT, and there is purpose in every form. For example, the end cap shows a simplified graphic of the Continental GT with its three feature lines; the Bentley powerline from the front wheel arch along the car’s flanks; the flyline of the roof; and the muscular ‘haunch’ over the rear wheel. Hold the baton horizontally, and as you turn it in your hands you will see each of those lines in the contours of the sculpture.” In the subtlest of touches, each profile also lines up perfectly with its corresponding line on the cap graphic.
The Barcelona-Catalunya circuit returns to the layout used up until 2006, doing away with the chicane in the third sector, as it hosts the seventh round of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix. It is Carlos Sainz’s home race, at which he finished fourth last year, his best ever home result in Spain.
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