Spirit of the "Bentley Boys" at Portimão

Photos: Jayson Fong and Darc Room Photography

In 1924, Bentley became the first brand of British origin to manage to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the hands of Captain John Duff and Frank Clement who, after failing to finish the race the previous year, managed to convince Walter Owen Bentley – founder of the brand together with his brother – supporting the return of the 3 Litros Sport with the number 8 with factory support and with the aim of fighting for victory, which they ended up achieving and at the same time saving the brand from bankruptcy as this victory helped for Woolf Barnato to invest in the brand.

A century later the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve hosted the official celebration of this historic date, as happened in 2014 when celebrating the ninetieth anniversary of that same victory. This is a unique event on the entire planet, which will celebrate the centenary of the first of the brand's six victories in the mythical race.

For 24 hours – on the 4th and 5th of October – there will be 24 historic Bentleys on the track in an environment that was a real journey back to the 20s and 30s of the last century with the pit lane itself receiving a special decoration for this historical date.

There were 87 members of the Benjafield Racing Club, which honors the name of its founder, Dudley Benjafield, winner of the race in 1927, sharing a Bentley 3 Liter with Sammy Davis and the number 7.

The celebration was, once again, very special and unique with a spirit very different from pure competition, as here the experience is worth more than climbing the podium in first place.

A decade later the Bentley Boys returned to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in a unique environment.

The Bentley number 99, driven by Getley, Wood, Galliers and Pratt, won overall, Laub, Swift, and Wood in second and Sleep, Wykeham and Montgomery following.