Bentley was appointed official supplier to the 24 Hours for the second post-war race in 1950. First the Mark VI saloon, which then gave way to the R Type saloon, before the Bentley Continental coupé became – and remained for many years – race director Charles Faroux’s favoured model. Legend tells that Faroux even drove around the track on the Sunday morning to Maurice Génissel’s restaurant alongside the Mulsanne Straight to have breakfast... a legend that the frivolous Génissel took delight in fuelling!

While the Continental coupé loaned by Walter Slater was parked down in the pits, below Race Control, the R Type and Mark VI saloons were stationed in the short run-off at the entry to the Dunlop Chicane. Facing the danger with typically British stoicism!

As a rule, the official car – sporting a white flag at the rear – completed a lap of the track at regular intervals. Faroux’s successor as the 24 Hours race director was Jacques Loste who, like Faroux, came from the world of the motoring press and was a man renowned for his good taste. At his second race in 1959, he allowed the Bentley’s owner to do the honours while he was tucking into his Sunday lunch.

The proud British owner was accompanied by his friend, David Brown, boss of Aston Martin whose magnificent DBR1/300, driven by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby, was leading the race. Fearing that Salvadori was in danger of compromising an imminent victory, Brown leaned out of the front passenger window at Mulsanne to berate the driver severely as he zipped past, ordering him to ease off the gas!

It obviously did the trick as Aston Martin went on to claim its one and only Le Mans win to date. In the following years, Ferrari not only gained a stranglehold on the race, but was also given the honour of supplying the official car. A story that will be covered in the next episode.

 

First part in the series:

“Official” Le Mans Race Control cars (1): 1923-1949