Bentley is Back

[u/ig_888cold]

[u/ponmbr]

I know it's not real life but the Boatley is still somewhat competitive in ACC so I'm wondering how it compares to the more modern machines in the real world.

[u/JammPot → u/ponmbr]

Some leagues have BoP’d it and some of the old guard, which is nice as it makes for more variety on the grids.

[u/rolling_catfish2704 → u/[deleted]]

The NSX is still in IMSA GTD iirc

[u/JammPot → u/[deleted]]

Yes I think this was the end of the line for Honda/Acura in IMSA GT3. Gradient (JG Wentworth) is switching to the Mustang.  I also fear no McLarens on the grid after Pfaff bailed and Inception switched to Ferrari.  

[u/JediKnightaa → u/rolling_catfish2704]

They're gone now

[u/afito → u/ponmbr]

It's simpyl the car equivalent to the F4, the victory of engine power over aerodynamics. In this case largely showing that you can BoP a garage on wheels into a competitive window if you have to.

[u/Luisyn7 → u/ponmbr]

It's scary when you have one behind. If it's a straight I don't even defend because it's gonna beam past me anyways

[u/ponmbr → u/Luisyn7]

I don't know about IMSA because I didn't really follow it but IIRC the Lexus had a pretty hard time of it this year in WEC, though that could just have been driver skill issues, so I was curious how the Bentley would fare given that it's more competitive in the game than the Lexus is.

[u/Afro_Sergeant → u/ponmbr]

lexus is given a much softer BoP in IMSA (it tends to be the reference car that they use for BoP)

[u/Fonsvinkunas → u/Luisyn7]

Oh that shit fucking pulls, I managed to overtake an aston martin out of the exit of parabolica before crossing the finish line at monza.

[u/Jamalware_ → u/ponmbr]

It finished 10th overall last year in 24h of Dubai

[u/OnePieceTwoPiece → u/ponmbr]

ACC is not a good game to compare. If it was in iRacing there would be an actual question.

[u/ponmbr → u/OnePieceTwoPiece]

I know, I was just saying in ACC it's still semi-competitive so I was curious how it is IRL against the modern GT3s like the BMW M4, McLaren 720S Evo, Ferrari 296, etc.

[u/SlowDownGandhi → u/OnePieceTwoPiece]

the front engined GT3s tend to be relatively weaker in comparison to the rest of the field in iRacing compared to how it is irl though

[u/bangbangracer]

This makes me happy. I'd honestly love it if Bentley decided to build another GT3 car. I hope these stay racing as long as they can.

[u/josap11 → u/bangbangracer]

I think the homologation for the conti ends at the end of next year so next year will likely be the last year there'll be any chance of them running outside of historics in a while

[u/afito → u/bangbangracer]

It's not super impossible as Audi left GT3, having all of Porsche/Audi/Lambo/Bentley from VAG in GT3 was always ending with something cut tbh. Even now with Porsche & Lambo I don't think chances are great? Honestly if there's a magic new VAG GT3 I'd rather expect Cupra to throw something at the masses rather than Bentley getting the nod, especially as both Bentley and Lambo are Audi daughters, but I guess it's allowed to hope.

[u/bangbangracer → u/afito]

If it were up to me to choose which VAG brand participated in motorsports, specifically sports car racing, I'd choose Porsche and Bentley to be the GT cars with Audi or VW being the touring cars or rally cars.

Porsche is still fairly autonomous inside of VW, so Porsche still gets to be Porsche. But Bentley has a history in GT racing and Lamborghini doesn't really have motorsports in its blood. Lambos until recently were always poster cars more than they were for driving. They fit better stationary with a bikini babe posing on them than they do at a track.

[u/shimmyshame → u/bangbangracer]

GT - Porsche and Bentley

Sportscar - Audi (and Porsche whenever they feel up to it)

WRC - Skoda

Touring cars - Seat/Cupra

F1 - VW

[u/charles_peugeot405]

That car is one of my favorites, it looks so out of place but I’m so glad it’s back.

[u/voidwalkerdreams]

The Boatley keeps on sailing 💪

[u/bielipee3]

WELCOME BACK BOOOOOOOAAT

[u/ajmsnr]

This is one of the cars I enjoyed watching so I am happy to see one competing again but also sad knowing this is really the end of the car’s competitive life

[u/Michal_Baranowski → u/ajmsnr]

sad knowing this is really the end of the car’s competitive life

That probably ended 4 years ago when Bentley pulled the plug on factory program. Once such thing is done by any manufacturer, a car inevitably becomes raceable only in second (or lower) tier series at some point.

[u/Luisyn7 → u/Michal_Baranowski]

Sad Audi R8 noises

[u/afito → u/Luisyn7]

R8 has better outlook on longetivity at least as long as its homologation is active. Car is used a lot, plus the base is actually good. It's largely been slowed down a lot especially on straights and with a small rear wing and the engine isn't on the brink of its performance scope, they can tune things up in every way for a while as it slowly falls behind. And because many teams have it chances are series have an interest in keeping it viable for the time being.

[u/Analog-Digital-]

Awesome news ... 👌

[u/Jezza13B]

The real BOAT

[u/F1_Geek]

We need the Boatley to come back. 😫

[u/Spyderman_213]

LET’S GO!!!!

[u/JammPot]

Does Bentley still offer support or are these teams on their own?

[u/Willy_G_on_the_Bass → u/JammPot]

Teams are on their own. I think Bentley pulled the plug on the factory effort in 2020.

[u/viper_polo → u/JammPot]

M-Sport still offers parts they can make in house and have stocks of, but it's winding down.

[u/unclaimed_username2]

We are bacc

[u/iQlipz-chan]

Cathedral on wheels, love to see it back!

[u/Kar0Zy]

Why are there so many racing in the Middle East these days?

[u/ajax30za → u/Kar0Zy]

You mean Bentley’s racing there or different race series?? This year will be the 20/21st edition of the dubai24hr if I am not mistaken, so it’s not new.

[u/Kar0Zy → u/ajax30za]

Sounds like that's on me, I've only been watching F1 and just jumped to sport cars and prototype racing this year.

Didn't know that sport cars have been in Dubai for that long.

[u/sbmmemelord]

This is sick

[u/Dubaishire]

Yessss. Was the best sounding car on the grid last time

[u/graellis]

The boat is back!

[u/compulov]

Stupid question, does the GT3 class require some level of participation by the factory, or can you take any off-the-shelf car and try to get it homologated? I assume it's easier with a factory GT3 spec car (since then you don't need to make all of your own custom parts and such), but is it *required*?

[u/BioDriver]

[u/NiteOwl421]

Just going to leave this here.

https://www.youtube.com/live/HEjZGo_HC1g?si=4UAFOLDwrlCQz4os&t=1828