Le Mans Bentley racer confirmed for Ormskirk MotorFest

A 217MPH Bentley which raced to victory at Le Mans has just been confirmed as one of the stars of this month's Ormskirk MotorFest.

Aintree Circuit Club, which organises the annual motorsport-themed spectacular, said today the Bentley Speed 8 GT racing car, which competed in the 24 hour race in 2003, will take part in this year's event in the West Lancashire market town on August 25.

Mike Ashcroft, the club's chairman, told Life On Cars: "We are absolutely delighted that Bentley Motors have agreed to bring their priceless Le Mans winning Speed 8 racing car to MotorFest. This car won the world's most famous race in 2003 and is maintained in full running order at Bentley's motorsport HQ at the Crewe factory.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to see this fantastic engineering masterpiece in the flesh! The car will be on display throughout the event in the Moor Street race paddock."

In previous years the event has played host to the likes of the Ferrari Enzo and the McLaren MP4-12C, as well as allowing thousands of petrolheads to see Grand Prix cars taking to the town's one way system.

The Ormskirk MotorFest takes place in and around Ormskirk town centre from 11am on Sunday, August 25. To find out more visit the official website.

If Darth Vader drove a car...

THE same people who brought you the Micra and the Almera have just fitted wheels to an SR-71 spyplane.

This, believe it or not, is not the next Batmobile, but a racing car which Nissan is going to campaign at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. The DeltaWing, the company reckons, will weigh half as much as a normal racer and have half the drag. And, presumably, twice the wow factor.

Andy Palmer, executive vice president of Nissan, said:

“As motor racing rulebooks have become tighter over time, racing cars look more and more similar and the technology used has had less and less relevance to road car development. Nissan DeltaWing aims to change that and we were an obvious choice to become part of the project.

“But this is just the start of our involvement. Nissan DeltaWing embodies a vast number of highly-innovative ideas that we can learn from. At the same time, our engineering resources and commitment to fuel efficiency leadership via our PureDrive strategy will help develop DeltaWing into a testbed of innovation for Nissan.”


Admittedly, it's not a classified entrant - so technically, it can't win the race anyway - and it's only got a 1.6 litre engine, but because they've bolted an enormous turbocharger it still manages to pump out an impressive 300bhp. Not that any of that matters, because while it's purportedly acting as a technological testbed the thing absolutely everyone will be talking about is that body.

As a sort of cross between an SR-71 spyplane, a Le Mans racer and something out of the Star Wars films I think it looks fabulous.

You probably disagree. Let me know...

H stands for...

… hot, hardcore, hip hop, hairy, and hi-energy in the case of this 911. Almost certainly a little bit horny. But you probably didn’t guess it also stands for Hybrid.

The Porsche 911 GT3 R, unveiled last week and coming to a racetrack near you later this year, is one of those effortlessly gorgeous GT racers you’re just glad to know exists, like the Aston Martin DBR9, Ford GT40 and D-Type Jaguar. I can’t wait to hear what it sounds like screaming down the main straight at Le Mans, but I hope it’s a racing noise and not a hybrid one.

Can this really have come from the same way of thinking that came up with the Toyota Prius, the Lexus LX450h and the Honda Insight? We’ve already had the electric sports car, the diesel Le Mans winner and the Porsche off-roader, but is a hybrid 911 a step too far?

Of course not, because if eco-friendly cars are really going to catch on they have to be things we want, with style and panache alongside green credentials. So far only Tesla’s really proven you can be environmentally-conscious in something that you’d proudly power down a country lane in, so the idea of a hybrid 911 is an utterly brilliant one.

The fact it looks stunning and has 480bhp at its disposal is a handy bonus.