Bentley - racing car of the year.

**Adam43** · 7 Dec 2003, 23:08 (Ref:806249)

Mainly a cheer for Sportscars in general, but hte Bentley has won teh Autosport racing car of the year!

http://www.autosport.com/newsitem.asp?id=25465&s=62

It is indeed a great car!

rdjones · 7 Dec 2003, 23:27 (Ref:806267)

Well it got my vote - its a fantastic car just a shame we are never going to see it race again.

jhansen · 7 Dec 2003, 23:41 (Ref:806282)

I'll agree the Bentley Speed 8 is a great car. I'm pleased that a car from the sports car world is given this honor this year. But I'm also disappointed in the Bentley, or should I say Team Bentley. I wish this car could have raced more. Their overall record is marginal in my opinion. To bad it was never allowed the chance to capture more wins by only racing it on a limited basis.

pirenzo · 7 Dec 2003, 23:54 (Ref:806295)

Got my vote too. But only marginally, you can't really say it's the best car of the year if it only raced twice.

My second was the Renault F1 car....

gttouring · 8 Dec 2003, 01:19 (Ref:806336)

i agree with pirenzo
Bentley was a superb example of a racer, but the Renault hounded the big 3 all year, and broke through for a spectacular win in convincing fashion, not an attrition win like Jordan in brasil but a win of pure grace-thanks fernando.

RacingManiac · 8 Dec 2003, 01:41 (Ref:806346)

In sportscar world, It'd be a toss up for me between the Speed 8 and the Prodrive 550. Speed 8 obvious did what it set out to do and that is to win Le Mans. But the 550 has made such a huge stride in 2003 in just about all the races it competes in.

Fogelhund · 8 Dec 2003, 03:29 (Ref:806376)

Wow, a car wins one of two races, and wins car of the year? Ok.

ceeslm · 8 Dec 2003, 05:55 (Ref:806399)

who would have won lemans else this year.
there was no competition at all in 2003 so i know its a great car but to call it the car of the year ,no

Mal · 8 Dec 2003, 07:41 (Ref:806436)

It gets my vote. We spent most of the year talking about our race of the year so why shouldnt the winner ne the car of the year. Well done Bentley, just please let us see it race again.

**Adam43** · 8 Dec 2003, 12:53 (Ref:806597)

I think its inclusion despite only entering a couple of races shows the importance of the races it entered. We all know that Le Mans is worth more than most championships.

RacingManiac, the suggestion of the 550 is a good one. It has performed well this year. I wonder how well it did in the poll?

Duffacus · 8 Dec 2003, 17:16 (Ref:806784)

Isn't there any way at all of Bentley leasing or selling the cars to a private team so it can be raced next year?

**Adam43** · 8 Dec 2003, 17:53 (Ref:806814)

There are plenty of ways, they just don't want to!

GP Racer · 8 Dec 2003, 20:49 (Ref:806937)

Bentley certainly made the biggest splash in the racing world when they introduced the Speed 8. But with so few races under it's belt, can it truly be called "car of the year"?

I think the Prodrive Ferrari's proved themselves over the long haul of a season, which to me would be more important than only a couple of races, no matter how important those races are.

How about the Jaguars in Trans Am? Totally dominated that series!

gttouring · 8 Dec 2003, 22:46 (Ref:807026)

I hadn't even thought of the myriad of series to choose from- the Champcar Lola (by numbers it did wonderful-easily)
but the prodrive Ferrari certainly did the job it needed to, overcoming small troubles and over coming the massive Vette team.
The T-A Jaguars were also a thing of Numbers over the rivals- I don't see why more body shells aren't used in that series, as they are mostly interchangable it was incredible racer- but also the dominant ones were all rocketsports, hmmm.
we can even look into everyseries to see who made the biggest impact- the car that really made people take notice-
and I would say the F1 Renault (by Fernando Alonso) yet Bentley is fighting hard vs. the Renault for this one I might change my Mind

Russfeld · 9 Dec 2003, 04:51 (Ref:807164)

I think it won by a process of elimination. There simply werent any other cars in racing this year that were particularly impressive. Technically F1 was a bit of a random toss-up, CART is still on several year old chassis, and Bentley was the only factory and only serious updated prototype.

I think its just the Autosport readers reacting to the Bentley winning at Le Mans.

**Aysedasi** · 9 Dec 2003, 08:26 (Ref:807260)

Good to see. Why the heck should it always be an F1 car.......

Pilgrimage · 9 Dec 2003, 09:12 (Ref:807293)

True - saw it again on Fifth Gear last night and it is a georgeous hunk of carbon fibre!!! May we see more of the same from more manufacturers.
At least i can say "I was there when..."

cybersdorf · 9 Dec 2003, 09:14 (Ref:807294)

Low mileage - one careful owner - coming soon to a Concours d'Elegance near you.

paul-collins · 9 Dec 2003, 14:09 (Ref:807496)

I still say the 2003 Bentley was a lowrider pickup truck.

Prodrive's 550 should have gotten it - wins at Le Mans and PLM, very nearly winning the manufacturer's championship...

cybersdorf · 9 Dec 2003, 14:55 (Ref:807539)

You want a gorgeous racecar - the DBA wins every beauty contest hands down.

http://www.gt-eins.de/Berichte2003/f...3/fiascc4k.jpg

Makes the green Volkswagen look just a bit plain, tired, and overweight I'd say.

Try Hard · 9 Dec 2003, 16:10 (Ref:807585)

I think i agree with russfeld with this. Thoguh the 550 may have been more impressive over the year, who do you think Joe public would side with? a top flight Bentley taking the LM overall in convncing fashion? or a GTS ferrari that took more wins, but less press? hmmm I leave it open for you to decide, I know what I think on that...
Still, it's deffiently a good thing for sportscar racing, and to be honest the only car i can think of that was impressive in F1 this year was the Williams, compared to last years, and the massive change in design direction they took (shorter wheelbase etc).

Ed

paul-collins · 9 Dec 2003, 16:15 (Ref:807588)

Quote:

Originally posted by Try Hard
I think i agree with russfeld with this. Thoguh the 550 may have been more impressive over the year, who do you think Joe public would side with? a top flight Bentley taking the LM overall in convncing fashion? or a GTS ferrari that took more wins, but less press?

Well, if it's based on how much press it got, then what we're seeing is return on PR investment.

Bentley raced twice, and weren't in contention in the first one. Then they droned around in front of the largest UK race crowd of the year for some demonstration laps.

I bet lots of Autosport's staff weren't even aware there was a Bentley until it showed up at Silverstone...

jhansen · 9 Dec 2003, 16:53 (Ref:807618)

Good point Paul. Maybe I'm looking at this wrong. While their race record over this year was not that stellar (in terms of races entered, only two), maybe their return on investment will more than make up for it. Hats off to them. They come out and only run two races, get the Le Mans win and press/exposure along with it, and then win car of the year along with more press/exposure. Actually, quite brilliant now that I think of it.

Still though, I would have liked to at least see them run the Spa and Le Man's 1000K events and even Petit. Now imagine if they would have swept all of those, now that would have been more impressive than going one for two at Le Mans and Sebring.

**Aysedasi** · 9 Dec 2003, 18:55 (Ref:807706)

Quote:

Originally posted by paul-collins
I still say the 2003 Bentley was a lowrider pickup truck.

Prodrive's 550 should have gotten it - wins at Le Mans and PLM, very nearly winning the manufacturer's championship...

Never persuade me there Paul.

Besides, the Ferrari didn't win Le Mans.

It won the GTS class......

pirenzo · 9 Dec 2003, 22:15 (Ref:807840)

Ayse's right. the GTS class win is not winning Le Mans

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