42 December 2021 www.bahrainthismonth.com motoring news 100 years since the first race win for a Bentley, the winning car itself – known as EXP2 – returned to the famous Brooklands Racetrack in Surrey to lead a cavalcade of three-litre Bentleys to celebrate the centenary of its victory. EXP2 is the oldest Bentley in the world, and only the second car ever built by W.O. Bentley’s fledgling company in 1921. EXP2 led a field of 24 threelitres from across the country, which formed up on the remaining section of the banked Brooklands circuit where Bentley took its first ever win back in 1921. The car took victory in the Whitsun Junior Sprint Handicap at the hands of ‘works’ driver Frank Clement, starting a series of race wins for the three-litre model that culminated in two victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – Bentley’s first in 1924, driven by Clement and John Duff, and again in 1927. Between those successes, in 1925 Duff also used a three-litre to secure a total of 21 world records over the course of 24 hours. These early victories for the three-litre engrained motorsport in the foundations of Bentley, and paved for the way for more than 1,600 three-litre models to be produced and sold. The collection of three-Litres and the event itself was organised by the Bentley Drivers’ Club. BENTLEY CELEBRATES CENTENARY OF FIRST WIN Toyota Gazoo Racing wrapped up the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season with a one-two in a thrilling Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir. The meeting marked the sixth and final round of this WEC campaign and was the second event in the series’ first-ever double-header. It was also the second consecutive weekend that both of Toyota’s GR010 Hybrid Hypercars claimed the top two places in the final overall classification. This time, however, it was the #8 crew of Sebastien Buemi-Kazuki NakajimaBrendon Hartley to triumph, following in the footsteps of their teammates Kamui Kobayashi-Mike Conway-Jose Maria Lopez who steered their #7 car to the win in last week’s Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain. A gap of one minute 14.320 seconds separated the pair as they both completed a total of 247 laps in the gruelling eight-hour endurance spectacle. With the result, BuemiNakajima-Hartley claimed their third race win of the season. Kobayashi-Conway-Lopez, who earned enough points with their runner-up finish to secure the title of Hypercar World Endurance Drivers Championship. It was their second successive crown as a crew. Toyota Gazoo Racing had already sealed the Hypercar World Endurance Championship last week, making for a superb title double in 2021. Finishing third overall in the race, as well as in the Hypercar category, were Alpine Elf Matmut’s Andre Negrao-Nicolas Lapierre-Matthieu Vaxiviere in their #36 Alpine A480-Gibson. Meanwhile, winning the Le Mans Prototype (LMP) 2 class were Team WRT’s Robin Frijns-Ferdinand Habsburg-Charles Milesi driving their #31 Oreca 07-Gibson. They posted 240 laps in all. Second in class were JOTA’s #38 crew of Antonio Felix da Costsa-Roberto Gonzalez-Anthony Davidson, while teammates Tom Blomqvist-Sean Gelael-Stoffel Vandoorne in JOTA’s #28 car were third. The 2021 WEC Season Concludes with Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain one-two at BIC
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