As the Bentley Continental GT3 race car makes its dynamic debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed moving motor show, the British firm reveals the specs and details of their awesome new race machine. The car weighs 1,330 kg and is powered by a 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 engine.

Due to the GT3 regulations, the output of the engine had to be restricted to 600bhp. So the engineers had to seek performance elsewhere. They shed as much weight as they could, and played with the chassis and suspension setup to make the car faster.

The engine is located behind the front axle, so effectively, the GT3 is a mid-engined car. Four-wheel-drive is ditched, and the power is sent only to the rear wheels via a Xtrac six-speed sequential transaxle gearbox – transaxle means the ‘box is located at the back for better weight distribution – and a racing clutch, carbon fibre propshaft, limited slip differential. The engine itself uses a dry sump system, and a Cosworth engine management system.

The suspension system includes double wishbone front and rear, with four-way adjustable racing dampers. That combined with a pure hydraulic steering system and Brembo brakes – six-piston front calipers, four-piston rear calipers, driver-adjustable brake bias – makes for precise handling. The car’s also fitted with race-specification ABS and traction control. Mandatory safety features include FIA-specification steel roll cage, Sparco six-point FIA safety harness, onboard fire extinguisher, and onboard pneumatic jack system.

The coolest part of the Continental GT3, though, is its racing aero kit, consisting of aerodynamically-optimised bumpers, bonnet, sills and fenders, carbon front splitter, rear wing and body panel. It’s like a fat person wearing a tight track suit! It looks surprisingly good though.