SPA SIX HOURS : UNE AFFICHE SOMPTUEUSE.

Les 21, 22 et 23 septembre prochains, le circuit de Francorchamps sera le théâtre des Spa Six Hours, lesquelles fêteront leur 20e année d'existence ! Un évènement incontournable pour tous les passionnés de belles mécaniques, d'autant que l'affiche proposée par l'équipe de Roadbook Organisation sera une fois de plus somptueuse. Point d'orgue du meeting, les Spa Six Hours Endurance confirment leur excellente santé et accueilleront plus de 100 concurrents ! Tenantes du titre, les Ford GT40 seront à nouveau présentes en masse, qui plus est avec des pilotes de tout premier ordre. Ainsi le Britannique Shaun Lynn, vainqueur en 2009, s'est adjugé les services d'un quintuple vainqueur des 24h du Mans, en la personne d'Emanuele Pirro ! Excusez du peu !

Tout aussi fort, le véloce Allemand Christopher Stahl fera équipe avec ses compatriotes Jürgen Barth, lauréat dans la Sarthe en 1977, et Klaus Ludwig, lequel compte pas moins de 3 succès au pays des rillettes ainsi que 3 titres de champion en DTM ! Seconds l'an dernier, Leo Voyazides et Simon Hadfield mettront tout en œuvre afin de gravir une marche supplémentaire. Quant à Richard Meins et Chris Lillingston-Price, fidèles de l'épreuve s'il en est, ils seront également à prendre très au sérieux. Tout comme Roger Wills qui n'a pas hésité à faire appel au jeune espoir néo-zélandais Brendon Hartley pour le seconder. Afin de contrer cet essaim de GT40, nous pourrons compter sur une horde de Jaguar E Type, emmenée par l'exemplaire de Jon Minshaw, Jason Minshaw et Martin Stretton, lauréats de l'édition 2010.

Déjà victorieux cette saison lors des 24h du Nürburgring et de Spa, l'échalas allemand Frank Stippler tentera d'ajouter une nouvelle ligne à son enviable palmarès. Pour ce faire, il fera équipe avec Georg Nolte et Marcus Graf von Oeynhausen. Les Britanniques Scragg-Scragg et Melling-Hall-Snowdon seront, eux aussi, à suivre de près. Les Aston Martin ne seront pas en reste avec, entre autres, la présence d'une DB4 pour Alan Hudd et David Croft ainsi que d'une splendide DP214 pour Wolfgang Friedrichs, David Clark et Sam Hancock, une figure bien connue du monde de l'endurance. A l'instar des innombrables Ford Shelby Mustang 350 GT, la Shelby Cobra de David Hart-Hans Hugenholtz et la TVR Griffith de Sean McInerney-Michael McInerney-Phil Keen ne devraient pas manquer de pimenter les débats.

Toujours aussi passionné, Hervé Regout sera lui aussi de la fête et ce avec une Lotus Elan GT Convertible qu'il partagera avec Guy Lauwers. Quant aux régionaux de l'étape, Philippe Ménage et José Close, ils s'aligneront sur une Porsche 911 en compagnie de la Suissesse Caroline Twaites. Cette dernière ne sera d'ailleurs pas la seule femme au départ de la classique ardennaise, la jolie Néerlandaise Shirley Van der Lof (Ford Mustang) et la redoutable Allemande Claudia Hürtgen étant également de la partie. Cerise sur le gâteau, signalons que, pour la toute première fois, une Ferrari 250 GT SWB sera au départ de l'épreuve, avec à ses commandes Clive Joy et Killian Konig.

Les Six Hours Endurance ne seront cependant pas l'unique centre d'intérêt de ce meeting de très haut vol. Pas moins de 11 courses annexes, opposant tour à tour GT, voitures de tourisme, prototypes et monoplaces, figurant à l'affiche de ce copieux programme. Autant de bonnes raisons de vous rendre dans les Ardennes belges...

La liste des engagés est ici.

Fabrice Bergenhuizen(endurance-info.com)

AC SANCTUARY KATANA

Valentino Rossi dedicates podium to Marco Simoncelli, while Nicky Hayden rides through pain barrier

Filippo Preziosi interviewed after seeing Valentino Rossi take second at Misano - and his best result for the Ducati in the dry - “Guys, this is a dream don’t wake me up! I asked Rossi to be gentler on the throttle because we had spin problems and we could have risked not finishing the race because of tire wear. We have to work to the end to give Rossi the best bike possible.

Even Rossi couldn’t believe in his great start - he was second after the first turn - and kept the position for the entire race fending off the attentions of Stefan Bradl until the German rider started to fade. Rossi’s second place finish was special not only because it is his home race, and close to his home town of Tavullia, but because the Misano circuit now is also named for the late Marco Simoncelli, who was a close friend, and Rossi believes that Marco from up there helped him to reach the podium

Rossi was riding an updated GP12 with a new chassis and swingarm, but if we want to see something other than the very good result, we could say that it also helped that he tested at Misano two weeks before in the dry, so he had some data from the test, and it will be necessary to see if this breakthrough will also work on the Motorland Aragon circuit.

Tomorrow Rossi, Nicky Hayden, who still has to decide, and Andrea Iannone - Ducati’s future rider and Franco Battaini will be testing at Misano again, The test was initially organized for Hayden so he could test the new material that he didn’t use during the weekend due to his hand injury.

“It was a really nice race, and I’m very happy. It’s a great result, which I’d like to dedicate to Sic and his family, Paolo, Rossella, and Martina,” said Valentino Rossi. “I’d also like to thank all the guys who work with me and everyone at Ducati Corse who are giving their best, like me: after two difficult years, we really needed that. I’m very pleased because we did a dry race at a high level, always with a fast pace, and with a limited gap to Lorenzo. We worked well. The new frame and swingarm allow us to make more changes to the geometry, and in fact here the feeling with the front was improved and the bike also seemed to be better balanced on acceleration. The setup that we found was also good, as I managed to be fast and consistent for the whole race. It will be important to continue working well and do our best to take the Ducati as high as possible in the next races as well.”

Nicky Hayden broke two bones of his hand during qualifying at Indianapolis a month ago and despite being declared fit, the American had to ride through the pain barrier to take 7th.

“I felt bad enough this morning that we considered not racing, but being here in Italy, I wanted to at least try. This track seems to provide a lot of drama, and I thought if I could just stay clean and get to the finish, I might salvage somewhat of a result. I knew it was going to be extremely difficult. Unless you’ve ever used carbon brakes with a Bridgestone front tyre, you don’t realize how hard you can squeeze the lever on a MotoGP bike now, and a couple of laps, I had to slow down to try to let my hand recover. It wasn’t very strong, and it was really painful, but I was able to hang on and get a seventh today. Hopefully I can start building up for the rest of the season. It’s great to see Vale on the podium, and it’s a well-deserved reward for all the effort by Filippo, his staff, the team, and the factory,” said Hayden.

with Twowheelsblog

Alvaro Bautista: "Marco was with us today"

If you are a believer, then late Marco Simoncelli’s spirit was really present over Misano on Sunday afternoon, the Italian circuit adopted his name, there were at least a half of dozen off track events dedicated to him, but his presence this weekend was probably more heartfelt in the minds of several riders and above all in team Gresini.

With all the confusion on the starting grid, Dani Pedrosa ending up in the gravel trap, and Valentino Rossi getting his first podium in the dry for Ducati, many forgot just what a very strong race that Alvaro Bautista actually had, and that the few overtaking numbers were thanks to him. The Spaniard started eighth on the grid and pushed like a mad man and was rewarded for it with a third place podium - his first in MotoGP - that went down to the wire against Andrea Dovizioso and just a blink of an eye - a 0.003s margin - and maybe a second year contract.

“It is always nice to finish on the podium but especially for me today with this being my first in MotoGP,” said Alvaro Bautista. “Above all this is a very special weekend for me and the team because our memories of Marco are so strong coming here to the circuit named in his honour. After a few tough races we have worked well here and managed to fight for the podium at last. I am so happy for the team and for Marco because I am sure that wherever he is right now he was pushing us along. I could feel his hand on my shoulder today and I realised at the end that my name had come loose from my leathers so you could say it was Marco that was with us today. It has been an extraordinary day and I almost crashed at the start – I picked myself up on my right elbow. I am happy for everybody who has believed in me and I want to dedicate this very special podium also to them.”

Michele Pirro (we’ve got an interesting silly season rumor on him) who took his maiden and very emotional victory in Moto2 at Valencia last year for Gresini and took 10th in yesterday’s MotoGP race, also believed in the presence of Simoncelli:

“After a few difficult weekends we have had a good day here and a wonderful weekend where Marco’s presence could really be felt. I am so happy that at his home circuit we have been able to get back on the right track and I hope we can get more results like this between now and the end of the season. Unfortunately in the race I lost a little time behind Hernandez otherwise I could have been much closer to De Puniet. Anyway I am happy for me and the team, who have worked with so much determination. It has been a wonderful and emotional day,” said Pirro.

It was an emotional Fausto Gresini that summed it up the best, “What a feeling! It has been an incredible day for us and I am sure that Marco has given us a huge push from up there. To be on the podium with Alvaro in MotoGP and with Michele second amongst the CRTs in our colours and at this circuit named in his honour is just unforgettable and it will stay in our hearts forever. We needed a day like this because it gives everybody the necessary enthusiasm to keep racing. Tomorrow we turn a new page in our history with Marco in our hearts every single day.”

with twowheelsblog

WRC Wales Rally GB 2012

Results of the rally:

1. Latvala - Ford Fiësta RS WRC
2. Loeb - Citroën DS3 WRC
3. Solberg - Ford Fiësta RS WRC
4. Østberg - Ford Fiësta RS WRC
5. Hirvonen - Citroën DS3 WRC