Monday 14th April 2014

Back in Blighty: PH Monza liveblog

Matt's ready to follow the Blancpain series on to Silverstone; too much time in the Monza sun?

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So the Bentleys came home seventh and eighth at Monza, a great result at its debut event. Every member of the garage was in an ebullient mood at the race finish, suggesting they had exceeded initial expectations. Having chatted with Andy Meyrick prior to the race, his season ambition of podium finishes seems eminently achievable.

Seventh and eighth a great debut for Bentley

The Bentleys are quick and reliable out of the box, which is a great basis to build on. How will M-Sport's rallying expertise transfer to GT racing? It promises to be a great season for fans. If you can tolerate some rather dull commentary, this highlights video shows just the kind of action 2014 should provide.

Anyway, the strongest impression left behind from an amazing weekend was just how engrossing the actual racing was. Of course the experience was enhanced by the sunshine, a first Monza visit and some rather exceptional transport but the abiding memory will be of great motorsport. Even without the Italian sunshine and convertible Continentals. Really.

So much so, in fact, that I've been looking into ticket prices for the next round at Silverstone. It's all very easy to have great weekend as a freeloading hack, but what about as a proper paying member of the public? With Sunday tickets just £20, I'm very tempted to find out. And if you need to justify a day of GT racing as a family day out, kids under 15 can go free. Don't forget the Dream Drive on the way up also...

 

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For archived previous instalments to the liveblog click here.

[Ved]

The old 'I left a bag at yours' huh?

[MyNameIsNotBob]

Ved said:

The old 'I left a bag at yours' huh?

[Matt Bird]

It was a genuine mistake, really! And any sordid tactics were defeated by the "Ok, I'll leave it on the porch for you". At least I arrived in a really subtle and quiet way late in the evening...

[williamp]

Should have waited then try the "ive left my keys, and now I need to drive this Bentley to Monza on my own for a weekend......"

[renaultgeek]

what was the concensus on mx5 values?

[Konan]

That thing brings 'camp' to a whole new level, does it not?

[WokkaWokka]

The bag got me too. Brilliant.

[Matt Bird]

renaultgeek said:

what was the concensus on mx5 values?

Mk1 values slowly creeping up, apparently. Makes sense with the 25th anniversary this year. Only opinion (having sold his old Eunos recently) from Mr S I may add, not gospel!

[Storer]

19mpg seems like a bargain for a car of that weight, capacity and performance.

It suggests you are not driving fast enough!

[ted 191]

You boys really need to drive faster, I was driving the black RR that passed you !

[E65Ross]

Storer said:

19mpg seems like a bargain for a car of that weight, capacity and performance.

It suggests you are not driving fast enough!

This. If I'm going for it on a long trip in my 745i I'll get lower than that. Worst was 16mpg over 90 miles motorway cruising with not a great deal of traffic.... And that's only a 4.4litre V8, let alone a 6.0 W12!

[k-ink]

Amusing write up Enjoy these wonderful beasts while they are still around. It won't be long before wafting uber powered luxury is a distant memory. If I could afford the extra running I'd go for it. For now I have to be sensible with a little 5 litre V8. Enjoy guys!

[leedsutd1]

I don't understand the headline ,Fuel shocker ,then you write you got 19 mpg ,I was expecting to see 8 mpg, ?

[Matt Bird]

leedsutd1 said:

I don't understand the headline ,Fuel shocker ,then you write you got 19 mpg ,I was expecting to see 8 mpg, ?

Sorry, that was a bit misleading. I think it was the fuel gauge's optimism that threw us rather than the mpg itself. It was very late by that point too. Instant read out rather amusing on slip roads though Maybe it should have been something like 'you thought range anxiety was an EV thing'. Lesson learnt for future!


MAtt

[k-ink]

I imagine 19mpg is nursing it along. Single digits must be the norm. I could get my V12 Jag down to 4mpg! That had half the power of these bad boys!

[alistair1234]

Have you seen the crash in Q3?

http://youtu.be/QEbWlVHCjns

[ianl]

You mention how good the Renault FR3.5 cars sound. They crash quite well too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDMxeoWk6Ao
Both drivers OK & racing again today!