Modern Thrills: Bentley Continental GT

It just so happened that two of the three cars Bentley Motors brought to Flywheel were in the same group, and that just so happened to mean that another driver was going to be needed.

And it just so happened that nobody else was around to put their hand up for the keys when a marshal with a whistle and a clipboard and a bike was on their way.

It was all very innocent and so very coincidental, you understand.

The twisty, low-gear, short-burst figure-of-eight layout used during Flywheel wasn’t exactly the Continental GT’s usual territory but the Conti is a surprisingly versatile machine.

Pressing the start button should send you cruising across the Continent, long turbocharged W12 pointing towards the Italian Lakes, rather than towards the Bicester Heritage Paddock’s holding area and start line.

Heck, it’s even called the Continental Grand Tourer.

And it is archetypal, floatingly comfortable yet whisperingly fleet of foot, and few have done it better in the two decades since the Conti was launched. The recipe has been refined in the intervening years, the styling sharpened and the numbers shortened and lengthened to fit, but only in a way that shows just how right Bentley got it, straight off the bat. There's been no ripping up of the blueprint.

In 2003 it was good, the first new car of the Volkswagen-owned Bentley era, but when the more aggressively tweaked second generation came in 2011 it was even better. It was more than skin deep: the six-speed auto went up a couple of gears to add even more flexibility to the unique powertrain.

The third generation, which arrived six years later, Crewe labelled the ‘ultimate GT’. Buyers are never wrong, and no Bentley has sold in bigger numbers (for now).

Off the line its acceleration is breathtaking, almost brutal, thanks to 650bhp and 664 lb ft of torque, and 60mph comes and goes in just 3.5 seconds.

The run to the first ess of the Flywheel layout certainly seemed short, far shorter than in the earlier run in the Mazda RX-3, and the left hander loomed into view in an instant. The power of the brakes meant there was always room in reserve, too, and with more laps the braking would get deeper and deeper. Yet the poise you expect a Bentley to retain was unshakable, and it darts left and right with ease.

It resisted being a hooligan even at the double left hander at the Watch Tower, where the tyres allowed themselves to slip enough to pique the interest of commentator Andrew Marriott, but only for a few metres. The car soon lined itself back up, back to being prim and proper, and it's hard to imagine a time that you'd want, or need, to hustle the car. The steering is sharp, though light enough to mask the car's weight.

As if you needed reminding, a glance around the cabin of the Le Mans Collection edition reaffirms the sporting pedigree. On the passenger side of the metal-covered carbonfibre dash are six wreaths, each marking a 24 Hours of Le Mans win. The car itself has been made to honour the most recent, coincidentally the same year as the first Continental GT: 2003.

Bisecting the British Racing Green bonnet is a white stripe, leading to a white '7' on the black matrix grille. Not only is it the number of Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello and Guy Smith’s winning Speed 8 20 years ago but it recalls the radiators of the Bentleys that dominated Le Mans in the late 1920s, when the factory won four races in a row at La Sarthe.

The 12-hour clock has been replaced by a bespoke 24-hour analogue dial, and the 48 owners will have their very own piece of the winner, too. Behind the revolving dash is a slice of a valve from the engine of the winning car.

But most of it honours those six wins with its manner. Because if you had to pick one car to drive for 24 hours straight, the Continental GT would be first in line.