Bentley

Bentley is one of the founding names of the Le Mans legend. Present from the event's earliest editions, the company created by W.O. Bentley in 1919 took its first victory in 1924, when John Duff and Frank Clement drove the 3 Litre Sport to victory over the French opposition. It was the birth of the "Bentley Boys" — that band of wealthy, flamboyant gentleman racers who would go on to dominate the race and shape its mythology. After France struck back in 1925 and 1926, Bentley reeled off four consecutive wins: the 3 Litre in 1927 — the famous edition marked by the White House crash —, the 4½ Litre in 1928, then the majestic Speed Six in 1929 and 1930. Woolf Barnato won the last three of those races, achieving something unique: three starts, three victories. Within a decade, Bentley had become the ultimate symbol of the British sports car, before financial troubles ended the works adventure. What followed was one of the longest absences in the race's history: more than seventy years away from the fight for outright victory. The comeback, orchestrated in the early 2000s under Volkswagen ownership, was as brief as it was triumphant. After two learning campaigns, the Speed 8 — an elegant closed prototype in British racing green — won in 2003 with Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello and Guy Smith, handing the marque a sixth outright victory, seventy-three years after its fifth. That 2003 success remains Bentley's last official appearance in the top class. The Crewe manufacturer has since made its mark in GT3 racing with the Continental, and its name regularly surfaces in rumours of a Hypercar return. In the meantime, its Le Mans legacy stands untouched: a manufacturer that has won the great race in two different centuries, and whose early hours of glory helped make the Sarthe classic what it is today.

• Country : GBR
• Founded : 1919
• Le Mans wins : 6
• First win : 1924
• Last win : 2003