Duncan joins Bentley Team Absolute in South Korea

Bentley Team Absolute readies three-car line-up as 2015 GT Asia Series gets under way

  • GT Asia Series 2015 begins at South Korean F1 track
  • Three-car Bentley Team Absolute to face “most competitive field on record”
  • Duncan Tappy drafted in while Steve Kane tackles Nurburgring

(Yeongam, South Korea, 13th May 2015) The three-car Bentley Team Absolute entry embarks upon its 2015 GT Asia Series campaign this weekend at South Korea’s 5.6 km F1 track, where two sixty-minute races will see the powerful line-up take on what has been billed as the series’ most competitive field on record.

Marking the start of the team’s first full season contesting the region’s most high-profile GT championship, piloting the three Bentley Continental GT3 race cars will be an expert line-up of drivers with diverse backgrounds, together representing an intriguing combination of sportscar experience and exciting young talent.

All three are entered in the GT3 Class, with car #07 driven by Jeffrey Lee of Chinese Taipei and 2010 Indy Lights champion, Frenchman Jean-Karl Vernay, runner-up in the Blancpain Endurance Race in Monza last month. New Lotus F1 Development Driver Adderly Fong of Hong Kong will be at the wheel of the #08 car alongside multiple GT race and championship winner Keita Sawa of Japan.

The third entry sees reigning GTM Class champion Jacky Yeung team up with Briton Duncan Tappy who steps in to replace fellow countryman ‘Bentley Boy’ Steve Kane who will contest the ADAC Zurich 24h Race at the Nurburgring the same weekend. It will be a new partnership for the pair in the #77 car, but 30-year-old Tappy, a former single seater star and Blancpain Endurance Series regular, brings a wealth of experience.

Tappy said: “I’m very pleased to be joining Absolute Racing for this weekend’s GT Asia Series race at the Korea International Circuit. This will be my first time racing in Korea and in this Championship, which I know is very competitive. But the Bentley Continental GT3 is a car that I know well and that I love racing in and I’m looking forward to rising to the challenge as part of an excellent team. I’d like to thank Ingo and Fabien from Absolute Racing and Bentley Motorsport for giving me this opportunity.”

The Continental GT3 retains the iconic silhouette of the Continental GT but weighs 1000 kg less, while its road-derived 4.0-litre V8 produces up to 600bhp. Now in its second season of racing, this weekend marks the start of a first full season of competition in Asia for Continental GT3.

“Everyone at Bentley Team Absolute is raring to go, and looking forward to getting the season under way,” said Absolute Racing director Ingo Matter. “The GT Asia Series entry for 2015 is indeed formidable, but we have the very best line-up of drivers more than able to rise to the challenge. We believe the nimble, powerful Bentley Continental GT3 will be ideally suited to varied nature of the Korea International Circuit, with long straights, tight hairpins, and medium-speed turns.”

The weekend marks the start of the 11-race GT Asia Series season, and complements an expanded global motorsport agenda for the Bentley Continental GT3 in 2015, which includes both Bentley Works and Works-supported teams. The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, this weekend’s ADAC Zurich 24h Race at the Nurburgring, and the Sepang 12 Hours headline a programme which also includes the Blancpain Endurance and Sprint Series, the ADAC GT Masters and the Pirelli World Challenge.

Qualifying for Round 1 of the GT Asia Series gets under way on Saturday, 16th May, with the first 60-minute race following three hours later. Round 2 will be held on Sunday 17th May.

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