E-fuelled vintage Bentley wins at Castle Combe

Medcalf told us: “What a moment! Claiming first position in any race is exceptional, however, to prove these cars can win powered by synthetic fuel is a game-changer.”

Synthetic fuels are increasingly in the spotlight, not least at Goodwood where Medcalf’s clean-running 3/4½ Litre made its debut in the Trofeo Nuvolari at the 80th Members’ Meeting earlier this year. It didn’t win then but now it has and the victory is going down as a world first in Bentley circles.

Interest in synthetic fuels will be cranked up even more when Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel takes to the Goodwood Hill in two F1 cars powered by the clean fuel at the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard in July.

The fuel that Seb will be using at FoS is the same stuff that William Medcalf put in his ancient Bentley warhorse – and the same as that used since 2022 by all the cars in the World Rally Championship.

It comes from synthetic fuel specialist P1 Fuels which claims to be the only player in this area that doesn’t have an affiliation to the oil or fossil-fuel industries. The firm says its energy-dense alternative to petrol provides the same power and torque as the fossil fuel it replaces but with zero CO2.

The brew is said to be as suitable for a vintage Bentley, a WRC car or even the ex-Nigel Mansell 1992 Williams FW14B and ex-Ayrton Senna 1993 McLaren MP4/8 that Sebastian Vettel will be driving up the Goodwood Hill – with neither car needing any mods to run on the laboratory brew.

William Medcalf, who founded Vintage Bentley in Hill Brow near Petersfield, UK, has long campaigned the near-100-year-old cars his company specialises in restoring, racing and selling, but this is the first year he has put 100 per cent CO2-neutral synthetic fuel in the tank.

In the Bentley-only race at Castle Combe Circuit on 1 May 21 cars lined up for two 20-minute races. Medcalf set fastest time of the day and won both races in XU2472, the 3/4½ Litre Bentley his company rebuilt.
He said: “These cars were built to be driven, raced, and rallied - long may it continue in a sustainable way, which we have proved is possible.”

P1 Fuels’ Benjamin Cuyt told us: “Their success on the racetrack is a reminder that when we push the boundaries of what is possible, we can create a better and more sustainable classic car world for generations to come."