What's the news?

The eagerly anticipated return of Bentley to the world of motor racing will soon come to be; as the brand confirms that its new Continental GT3 is now ready to race.

Its first performance will be in Abu Dhabi in December, where the lightweight, 600hp racer will take on the 2013 Gulf 12 Hours at the Yas Marina circuit.

Bentley's return to motorsport coincides nicely with the ten-year anniversary of the company's win at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2003; and early indications suggest that the new GT3 has the potential to see the brand to victory again. Since its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed back in July, Bentley has been testing the model and claims that it has either met or exceeded every expectation.

Over the first 1,900 miles or so of testing, Bentley said that the GT3 was both reliable and fast in every condition it was faced with. This success comes as no surprise when you realise that the race car is more closely related to its road-going sibling that you may think. The engine powering it the same twin-turbocharged, 4.0-litre V8 found in the road car; albeit derestricted for the track variant. Inside is very reminiscent of the road car as well; as the steering wheel, carbon racing seat and leather door-pulls have all been trimmed by hand by the craftspeople at Bentley's factory in Crewe.

"The car has performed extremely well so far," said Brian Gush, Director of Motorsport at Bentley. "The team is very pleased with the progress and we're gaining confidence in our package. We can't wait to run the car against the competition for the first time in its first test race."

Anything else?

Bentley is already looking beyond the Gulf 12 Hours by collaborating with its technical partner, M-Sport Ltd, for entry into the 2014 FIA Blancpain Series as Team M-Sport Bentley.