Bentley NT stunt banned

Bentley Motors' has been wrapped over the knuckles for an advertising video featuring a high-speed run in the Northern Territory.

In a determination handed down last month by the Advertising Standards Board (ASB), the short video featuring a Bentley Continental GT Speed driven by racer John Bowe at speeds in excess of 330km/h on the derestricted (and closed) section of the Stuart Highway, was found to breach the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) Advertising for Motor Vehicles Voluntary Code of Practice.

The video appeared at various websites and on Bentley's own Youtube channel. It was produced with the assistance of the Northern Territory government tourism body.

The ASB found that although the video did not depict "driving practice that would breach the law", it did show "unsafe driving" and "breaking the speed limit".

The ASB noted: "that the conditions under which the driving took place and the advertisement filmed are made clear at the outset, including the location, where there is no maximum speed limit in place. However the Board considered that this is not the case in other jurisdictions where the advertisement is published, where the speed reached by the Bentley in the advertisement of 206 miles per hour (331 km per hour) 'would breach the law of any State or Territory in the relevant jurisdiction in which the advertisement is published or broadcast dealing with road safety or traffic regulation, if such driving were to occur on a road or road-related area.'"

Bentley's response was to remove the video from its Youtube channel. In the interest of British Australian relations, here's one we prepared earlier:

And while we also lament the full transition of Australia from a bunch of nanny states to a complete nanny nation, we can't help but wonder how Kawasaki's recent 400km/h H2R video will fare…