ABT Sportsline to Run Bentleys in GT Masters, Nürburgring 24

Bentley will again be represented in the hotly contested ADAC GT Masters Series, as well as the Nürburgring 24, with the British manufacturer having announced Friday a deal with ABT Sportsline for 2016.

The legendary DTM squad, which has also recently expanded into Formula E, will field a pair of works-supported Continental GT3s in the German-based sprint race championship, as well as selected VLN rounds and the 24-hour race itself.

“We are pleased to welcome ABT Sportsline into the Bentley fold,” said Bentley Director of Motorsport Brian Gush. “Like Bentley, it has a very long and rich heritage in motorsport and we both strive to achieve success at the highest level.”

The Hans-Jürgen Abt-led squad will run jointly with his brother Christian’s C.ABT Racing, which scored a podium with a new Audi R8 LMS in last weekend’s Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai.

“We have a very long-standing and successful relationship with the Volkswagen Group brands and we’re pleased to have been able to extend this to Bentley for 2016,” Hans-Jürgen Abt said.

“It is a luxury manufacturer that has proven the Continental GT3 on track and we are looking forward to working closely with them and developing our relationship.”

The ABT effort effectively takes the place of the Continental GT3s fielded by HTP in the German championships last year. HTP is in the process of finalizing a switch to the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 for this year.

ABT’s first race with the Continental GT3 will come at VLN1 on April 2, followed by the GT Masters kickoff two weeks later at Oschersleben.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John