Driver Dynamics Blog

Le Mans, France 21st June 2006… The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) has honoured Bentley Motors displaying a replica of the 2003 Le Mans winning Bentley Speed 8 in the Musée Automobile de la Sarthe. In addition, Bentley’s chairman and chief executive, Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen, was presented the ACO’s prestigious “Spirit of Le Mans” award.The display model is an exact replica of the car driven to victory by Tom Kristensen, Guy Smith and Dindo Capello in 2003. The original car is kept at the company’s headquarters in Crewe, England. It finished the race just ahead of its sister car (the number 8 Speed driven by Mark Blundell, David Brabham and Johnny Herbert.

The 2003 victory marked the successful completion of Bentley’s Le Mans programme, which saw the company return to the race after an absence of 71 years. The dual success echoed the company’s previous Le Mans victories during the 1920s and 1930s. (more…)