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Team Parker Racing Calls Time on Bentley Program

Team Parker Racing to switch to new program for 2021 as Bentley term comes to an end…

Photo: Jules Benichou/21 Creation

Team Parker Racing has brought its Bentley customer program to a close after five seasons of working with the British manufacturer.

The British team, which has been running Bentley Continental GT3s since 2016, confirmed on Wednesday that it will embark on a new program for the upcoming season.

Its final appearance with the second-gen Bentley came in last weekend’s Gulf 12 Hours held at Bahrain International Circuit.

The team’s decision follows Bentley’s move to withdraw its funding of the Continental GT3 project at the end of 2020.

While the manufacturer has left open the possibility for existing customers to continue running their cars with parts supply from M-Sport, three teams have now moved away from their Bentley programs.

Team Parker Racing will detail its 2021 racing plans “in due course”, while both K-PAX Racing and T3 Motorsport have switched to running Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evos.

Team Parker contested last year’s GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup with a Silver Cup-class Continental GT3 for Bentley academy program drivers Euan McKay, Frank Bird and Nicolai Kjaergaard.

It also ran a car in the Intelligent Money British GT Championship for Nick Jones and Scott Malvern, who won a race at Donington Park.

In 2017 Team Parker won the British GT title with a first-generation Bentley driven by Rick Parfitt Jr. and Seb Morris, who went on to become a Bentley factory driver.

“It’s been a fantastic adventure over the past five years with Bentley,” said team principal Stuart Parker.

“We started the relationship back in 2016 when we entered the Continental GT3 into the British GT Championship, and it continued a relationship between the Parker family and Bentley that goes right back to my grandfather, Albert.

“Winning the British GT title in 2017 was a real highlight for us all.

“It has been an honor to represent the Bentley brand and we’ve had some fantastic results and some wonderful memories along the way.”

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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