Bentley Celebrates Strong Finish At Mille Miglia

YOU can be forgiven for thinking Jaguar stole the Mille Miglia spotlight this year, what with its roster of celebrities driving a brace of desirable racers, but Bentley was the other British brand tearing across the Italian countryside.

The Crewe-based luxury car maker fielded a handful of iconic pre-war models and, after the four-day, 1,700km marathon, the firm secured its best position to date with one of its iconic 4 ½ Litre supercharged Bentley Blowers.

Rolf Frech, Bentley’s Member of the Board for Engineering and Jerome D’Ambrosio, finished in 73rd position out of the 438 cars that took part.

Bentley works racing driver Jerome D’Ambrosio, making his Mille Miglia debut (usually employed behind the wheel of his Bentley Continental GT3), ensured the Blower was always competitive.

Speaking after the event, D’Ambrosio said: “It was great to get behind the wheel of such a famous Bentley and understand the immense skills the original Bentley Boy racing drivers had.

“The car requires a lot of raw strength to drive but has such immense character that even after four days of hard driving it was a shame to reach the finishing line. Following in the footsteps of the first Bentley racing drivers was a great honour and I now feel like a true Bentley Boy.”

By Press Association reporters