Archived entries to our liveblog from our trip to Monza with Bentley can be found here, posted chronologically oldest first.
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Friday: 1030h, Brooklands
There is an interesting little prelude to today's liveblogging that I'd like to share. It's relevant to trans-European Bentley jaunts, honest.
Last night I went out for dinner with an old university friend. I was very excited and had a great evening. In fact I was still feeling rather chirpy on the way home, right up until remembering I'd left a bag at her house. With my house keys in it. It should be pointed out I was about two miles from home in Twickenham at this point. She lives near Chesham. I was driving the Caterham.
The corollary of this nightmarish fiasco is that I'm exhausted for all the wrong reasons. But after so much stress, how better to relax than traversing Europe in a Bentley?
The day has already begun auspiciously. Bentley organised a chauffeur (Graham) from the office to the meet. He has some stories! There are two favourites; one involved driving Beyonce and Jay-Z around in an Arnage T as part of a nine-car convoy, the other thrashing an A8 around St Tropez to maintain pace with colleagues in an S8. Cool guy.
Anyway, to the cars! We have a pair of GT W12 cabriolets, which should make for splendid road trip companions. Our hotel is in Switzerland tonight. Shall we get going chaps?
Friday: 1550h, somewhere in France
Are there two more different open cars than the Caterham Seven and the Bentley GT Speed Convertible? Having almost jumped straight from one to the other today it will be fascinating to find out.
Driving them both is about momentum. You're flat out everywhere in the Caterham in an effort to defeat the aerodynamics where the Bentley just surges on its mountain of torque. I've barely used half the throttle pedal travel or more than 3,500rpm yet and it already feels plenty rapid. Funny how a convoy of three Bentleys clears the outside lane too.
In with the trucks and caravans for the Bentley Boys
All of England was completed with the roof up; the seat and neck warmers do an admirable job of keeping occupants toasty and the wind deflector works well too. My partner for the trip is John Simister and discussion can easily be maintained at motorway speeds. So far we've talked about 205 GTI gearknobs, Mk1 MX-5 values and which other new convertibles would be nice for the drive to Monza. We both agreed a manual R8 Spyder would be rather pleasant.
"Jesus, it's quite fast isn't it?" says John from the driver's seat after holding the throttle in the Deep Pile Overmats (£305) for a few seconds. Ironically, the Bentley feels entirely in its element at unsustainably high speeds. It still feels to be piling on mph too. Shame.
Turns out the Conti GT is a lovely place to nap as well, especially now I've discovered the massage function. Delightful.
But of far more interest is the spec sheet of our particular GT Speed Convertible. In Azure Purple with the 21-inch wheels, carbon ceramic brakes Naim audio upgrade, DG 14 KVE is a £201,615 car. The options total £33,715 with particular highlights including £1,590 for the roof (is it a roadster without that option?), 'Hide Trimmed Gear Paddles' at £530 and a storage case in the centre console, a snip at £460. Wow.
We've finally relented and got the roof up too. Easier job than in a Caterham...
Friday: 2350h, The Schweizerhof Hotel, Luzern
We've made it Switzerland! The car is filthy, flies splattered everywhere and Linen/Beluga interior strewn with wrappers; 12 hours driving has taken its toll, and that's before the occupants are mentioned. It looks damn cool for having been used though.
France certainly didn't pass in a breeze like all the best epic drive clichés but it was about as pleasurable as it could be. Having eight gears means the 2,000rpm is enough for a comfortable cruising speed and it felt like a great place to be late in the evening. With clear starry skies, the roof up and the night arriving, all was well for the Bentley boys and their little jaunt.
That's lots of fuel in any country!
Right up until a little fuel scare, of course.
W12 Bentleys with two passengers indulging themselves in ventilated this and massage that use quite a lot of fuel apparently. We were averaging 19mpg and the fuel gauge looked at an acceptable level. Except that just under a quarter of a tank equals an estimated range of 50 miles according to the trip. We had lost the other cars at this point. Fuel economy had only come up in discussion because of TwinAir Fiats, and now there was a bit of a panic on.
Hypermiling in a Bentley involves foregoing neck warmers (I was quite aghast), turning down the air-con and resisting the temptation to surge forward on that wall of torque at every opportunity. Fortunately John was driving at the time but very little fuel combined with confusion over vignettes at the Swiss border made for a rather fraught few miles. We met the other two cars, found a Shell, filled up with 78 litres of its finest 100 octane and were on the way happy again.
Tomorrow we head to Monza. I'm done with autoroutes now; can we have some fun roads?
Saturday: 1800h, Monza media centre
Don't you hate it when the perfect response comes to too late? This morning Bentley's powertrain man Paul was proudly telling me how the Bentley was the only 600hp+ supercar (his words) that could do this journey without leaving the occupants frazzled. Seemed like a fair assessment, I was certainly feeling fresh and ready to drive again today. And what else with 600hp would I really want to tackle such a great distance in? Then... after a little while... Ferrari FF! How annoying, but maybe a trip for another year? I've always quite liked the old Aston Vantage V600s too...
Anyway, it turns out the Bentley's hood and wipers work very well. Not that we wanted to discover but rain almost immediately necessitated some roof-up motoring. Even in a trio of Bentleys, a damp traffic jam isn't particularly glamorous. Roof up and only a very faint pitter patter of rain disturbs your serene progress.
Unless the gearbox's Sport mode is selected, that is. It creates a horrible boominess and resonance from the exhaust to accompany the more aggressive shift patterns. It feels like contrived sportiness in the Speed which it shouldn't. Even just using the paddles activates it, rendering them a rather expensive waste. Best just leave the eight-speed auto to its own thing.
No parking with paupers in a Bentley
We've probably been at Monza just over an hour; it's just the most fabulous place. To drive in through the park to the distant din of engines is a uniquely odd experience, and it's amazing how far in to the circuit one can get with a Bentley. We were very excitedly told to park between a Maserati and a Porsche in the paddock by a man on a moped.
The Bentley team have been great, allowing us right up close to their preparations as we do an uncannily good job of getting in the way consistently, As I write, Steven Kane has just crashed out of qualifying which is gutting to see. Chasing a fast lap, he unsettled the car over a kerb and went head on into a barrier. Let's hope it's not too serious.
Even so, just seeing qualifying makes me all the more eager for tomorrow's race. The Bentleys have added another dimension to a fantastically exciting championship, taking it to the more supercar-orientated rivals. The sight (and sound) of an SLS being chased by a 458, GT-R, 12C and R8 is just spectacular. There are 38 cars qualified; I can't wait!
Sunday: Monza media centre, 1530h
Writing a review on the Citroen DS3 Racing Cabriolet as the Lamborghini Super Trofeo race begins is quite a challenge. Even sat up high behind the glass the spectacle demands your attention; the noise is fierce and the sight of 20 or so bespoliered Gallardos at Monza, in the sunshine, elicits a huge grin. Can there be anything cooler than racing across the globe in a one-make Lamborghini championship?
Wonder if he watched the Harris vid?
The Super Trofeo cars are a beautiful combination of road and race spec, the toggle switches carried over in an interior shorn of much of its road accoutrements. The rear spoiler makes that of the road car look pathetically apologetic and the whole thing reeks of gentleman racer bravado. I love it.
Those bemoaning the noise in Formula 1 at present best not watch any Formula Renault this season. They're painfully loud, the V8s screaming and gearboxes literally banging through each upshift. But that's not what we're here for, is it?
I have to apologise for posting this update a little later than planned. Lunch was a fantastically Italian affair, hence the delay. Beautiful food was served amazingly slowly, meaning this blog discusses the support races as the GT3s have just kicked off. The lead Bentley is second already, more of that soon.
No. A hundred thousand times no.
Walking round car parks at motorsport event almost guarantees seeing some interesting cars. I'm totally infatuated by a blue and orange Diablo SV in the paddock. Other than that, I nearly cried at seeing a Peugeot 307 with Rallye stickers, swooned over an Alfa GTV and smiled at a very pretty 924. But I need to see that Diablo again.
After which I will wander out into this glorious Milanese sunshine and enjoy a little GT racing. Forza Bentley!
Sunday: 1615h, Monza media centre
A Bentley Continental GT is not an easy car to pass. It's something we all suspected, now evidenced here at Monza. Two intensely frustrated (and admittedly quicker) Ferrari 458s tried all they could to dive beyond Andy Meyrick's #7 car early on to no avail. They pushed, they shoved, they switched back and slipstreamed but could not get through. Eventually, after a battle between themselves and a chance for the huge Bentley to get away, the decision was made to conserve tyres and ease off from the M-Sport team. As I write with 45 minutes left both Bentleys are on for a top ten finish.
Monza is simply the most fabulous place to watch motorsport. Not only are the viewing areas spectacular (the grandstand at the first chicane overlooking the original banking is particularly special), it's just a beautiful place to wander round. The lush and serene parkland may sit a little incongruously with a race track containing it but that means the trudge from corner to corner can actually be enjoyed. On a bike you must be able to fly round and take in an amazing circuit at various locations. Furthermore, it's not been that busy today either, the biggest battle for a good seat being in the media centre. The grass bank on the straight leading to Parabolica, only around 10 metres from the track, was virtually deserted this afternoon.
Having said that, watching this Blancpain GT Series could be engrossing at the most sterile of circuits. In a motorsport world that appears to be turning ever more homogenous, to see such a variety of shapes, sizes and layouts race wheel to wheel is brilliant. There are front-, mid-and rear engined cars powered by six, eight, ten and 12 cylinder engines. One lap a Gallardo may be chasing down a GT-R, the next one of those ludicrously butch Z4 GT3s will be harassing the Bentleys. Very different cars but all equally competitive in this series. And exciting motorsport is diverse motorsport, right? Especially with oversteer.
We'll be heading for the airport straight after the race so there won't be an update then. Weekend review will be live as soon as possible.
[Race pics: Blancpain GT]
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