The CMR team has announced its participation in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with Bentley machinery, which makes the French structure one of the few formations that remains faithful to the British firm’s GT3 vehicles. Leaving aside this circumstance, perhaps the most relevant aspect of the CMR project is that will count among its ranks with the paraplegic pilot Nigel Bailly. The Belgian will drive a converted Bentley Continental GT3 to have manual controls in the five appointments of the Endurance Cup.
Bailly suffered a motorcycle accident when he was 14 years old in which he became a paraplegic. However, the Belgian has always been linked to the world of motorsport. In fact, Nigel was one of the drivers of the adapted Oreca 07-Gibson that competed in the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans supported by Frédéric Sausset, pilot with a quadruple amputation who achieved the milestone of finishing the French resistance classic in its 2016 edition. Takuma Aoki and Matthieu Layahe were Bailly’s companions at La Sarthe.
After knowing his program in the Endurance Cup with CMR, the Belgian nigel bailly has assured: “From the first contact with Charly Bourachot, director of the CMR team, I immediately felt confident. The CMR team is recognized for its natural taste for challenges and Charly is a workaholic, Finding a team capable of embarking on such a challenge is not that easy. I can only thank you for your welcome and to my partners because without their unconditional support this project would not be possible”.
For its part, Charly Bourachot as team manager added: “Nigel is a tenacious driver and has shown me that he is a true motorsport enthusiast. He is passionate about car racing and does everything possible to live his dream. Obviously, the project of fielding a Bentley Continental GT3 in the Endurance Cup for Nigel immediately appealed to me and I’m delighted to have managed to materialize ahead of the 2022 GT World Challenge Europe season.”
It should be remembered that the CMR team competed last year with a unit of the Continental GT3 in the Endurance Cup, while it had two Bentleys in the Sprint rounds despite not having support of any kind from Bentley Motorsport after the manufacturer’s decision to end its sports program at the end of 2020. Although it seems difficult for CMR to repeat this deployment, the formation is waiting to close the line-up of this GT3 and name Bailly’s companions in the Endurance Cup.