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Submitted by Electric Studio on Fri, 03/09/2010 - 4:28pm.
Manchester-based professional racing driver, Michael Bentwood, was delighted to set the fastest ever time for an Aston Martin DBRS9 round Snetterton at the Avon Tyres British GT race weekend there on the August Bank Holiday.
Bentwood’s joy was short-lived as it became clear just how far behind the DBRS9 is on Avon tyres compared to the mid-engine cars in the championship. Despite a very impressive drive from Bentwood’s teammate, Paul Whight, who put in one of his best qualifying performances ever, the pair could only manage 5th and 7th on the grid for the bank holiday event.
Race one saw Bentwood’s teammate start the car off and drive one of his best races to date and bringing the 6-litre GT car back in sixth position. Bentwood took over and was immediately aware that the best of the tyres had been had in the first stint. The car felt nervous and Bentwood was coaxing all he could from the lively rear end of the big V12 machine. On the very last lap Bentwood passed the Mosler, giving the team a hard-fought fifth place.
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Submitted by Electric Studio on Fri, 03/09/2010 - 4:27pm.
Manchester-based racing driver, Michael Bentwood was upbeat after a weekend which started so well with a superb qualifying, ended with a disappointing result in the Silverstone Avon Tyres British GT Championship round.
Bentwood was delighted with a qualifying performance that put the Barwell-Cadena Aston Martin ahead of the two other DBRS9s in the field, both driven by top class professional drivers. With fourth on the grid sewn up, the professional driver coach was in a buoyant mood when the race started.
Unfortunately the good spirits were short lived, as Bentwood’s teammate Paul Whight began to feel ill during his stint at the wheel. Whight manfully pushed on while feeling increasingly unwell, but was unable to stay out long enough to enter the pit stop window. Whight came into hand over to Bentwood, getting the car back to the pits despite having been sick. This meant that Bentwood had to have an extra stop at the end of the race to gain sufficient fuel and was effectively ruled out of the running at that point.
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Submitted by Electric Studio on Fri, 03/09/2010 - 4:26pm.
Manchester-based racing driver, Michael Bentwood made his Malaysian debut in the Merdeka Millennium 12-hour race at the Sepang circuit on the 7th-8th August, bringing the Craft Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 home in 5th position in the prestigious endurance event.
Bentwood had been selected for the night race due to his immense experience and success in the GT3 class Aston Martin. Hong-Kong-based businessmen, Frank Yu and Alain Li selected the ex-F3000 driver to develop, test and race their DBRS9 after Bentwood was put forward as the best driver for the job.
Before the race, Bentwood was responsible for getting a good set-up on the car, as the DBRS9 has not been run on Pirelli tyres before. Another first was running the V12 GT car with ABS brakes, which would bring extra braking performance, but also increased brake wear. The Craft team completed race simulations with Bentwood in advance to gauge the likely lifespan of tyres and brakes on the untried setup. While pushing for more pace, the team went to what they knew could be an excessive level of camber, which resulted in a 158 mph blowout of one of the front tyres.
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Submitted by Electric Studio on Thu, 17/06/2010 - 11:46am.
Manchester-based professional racing driver, Michael Bentwood had a successful weekend at Spa, narrowly missing out on a podium place in a hard fought 2.5 hour Avon Tyres British GT Championship race.
Bentwood went into the weekend on a high, having recently been invited to race as part of a team in the Sepang 12-hour race in Malaysia this summer. The fresh recognition of Bentwood’s position as one of the most successful drivers of the Aston Martin DBRS9 in the world, was a welcome boost to an already promising season.
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Submitted by Electric Studio on Mon, 24/05/2010 - 7:54am.
Manchester-based racing driver, Michael Bentwood has been selected to participate in the prestigious Sepang 12-hour race on the 5-7th August.
The experienced endurance specialist was selected by Aston Martin DBRS9 owner, Frank Yu, who wanted to drive alongside a successful pro-racer to give him the best set-up data and performance. Bentwood, who has been racing GT3 specification DBRS9s for more than five years was a natural choice because of his success and experience with the Barwell Motorsport team.
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Submitted by Electric Studio on Tue, 13/04/2010 - 5:18pm.
Manchester- based racing driver, Michael Bentwood, returned to the Avon Tyres British GT Championship in style, with a third place at his home circuit of Oulton Park.
In the season he celebrates 10 years as a member of the prestigious British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC), Bentwood was pleased to be back in British GT with Barwell Racing. After missing part of last season, the super-fit endurance specialist has joined forces with gentleman driver, Paul Whight in a 600 bhp Aston Martin DBRS9 race car.
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Submitted by Electric Studio on Sat, 27/02/2010 - 5:27pm.
Manchester-based Racing Driver, Michael Bentwood will be back behind the wheel of a Barwell Motorsport run Aston Martin DBRS9, during the 2010 season. The hugely experienced ex-F3 driver has signed up with businessman Paul Whight, to drive in selected Avon Tyres British GT rounds, plus events from the Spanish and French GT championships.
Bentwood has previously campaigned the 6.0 litre V12 supercar in the British Championship in 2006 and 2007, and has had outings in a selection of GT cars since then. Bentwood was recommended to Whight through Aston Martin Racing and the Barwell Motorsport team, who will run the pair in 2010.
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Submitted by Electric Studio on Mon, 09/11/2009 - 2:19pm.
From November Michael Bentwood will be starting a new specialist driving instruction business called ‘On Track’ which will be one to one training for clients around the UK’s premier racing circuits and also some training on road.
Customers will be able to take advantage of Michael’s fifteen years experience and success in motor racing whilst enjoying an exciting day out of valuable tuition with one of Britain’s finest talents.
Submitted by Electric Studio on Tue, 21/07/2009 - 7:02am.
Manchester-based Racing Driver, Michael Bentwood had a trying weekend at the ultra-fast Snetterton round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship last weekend.
Bentwood had shown his class by qualifying on the front row, alongside fellow professional GT racer Alan Simonsen in the consistently quick, Ferrari F430. Bentwood had demonstrated the prowess of the Ford GT on more open circuits where the former-F3000 ace can really open up the big V8 engine.
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Submitted by Electric Studio on Thu, 18/06/2009 - 3:01pm.
Manchester-based racing driver, Michael Bentwood put in two solid performances at the Knockhill rounds of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship.
With only one race weekend under their belts the Team RPM pairing of professional racer, Bentwood and his gentleman driver partner, Phillip Walker had it all to do. With the team and drivers all new to each other and with the Ford GT being new to the British series, there was zero data to set up the 600bhp supercar for the tight Knockhill circuit.
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