1978 CUSTOM HONDA CM185T – TINY MOTO CM185T BY CLASSIFIED MOTO

MOTO VERSO

 

It’s not how big it is, but what you do with it that counts!  The ‘Tiny Moto’ has been beautifully hand built by Classified Moto based on a 1978 Honda. The trend again seems to have shifted and unpainted raw metal finishes have started showing up more and more.

Operation Tiny Moto as they have deemed is based on a 1978 Honda CM185T is packed with details like the nickel plated removable basket made from a vintage water ski, normally a basket on a custom motorcycle would just be plain wrong but I have to admit, MC have done a fantastic job with this one. The side covers have also been nickel plated and work really well with that bare metal tank and frame.

Classified Moto said “The tank was snagged from an old Suzuki dirt bike and nickel plated to prevent rust. After some waffling on coluor, we decided to do a copper stripe on top of the tank.” I adore the copper strip on the tank, people should use it more as I bet it turns colours after a while out on the road and starts to look even better when it does. The whole thing has been transformed into a piece of art and finished off by one of the finest custom leather seats I have ever seen.

Image: Adam Ewing

Website: classifiedmoto.com

6x6 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG production confirmed

Twin-turbo V8 with 536 hp

Mercedes-Benz has confirmed plans to build 20-30 units of the 6x6 G63 AMGevery year.

The exotic three-axle G-Class will be approximately three times more expensive than the regular G63 AMG (137,000 EUR), making it the second most pricy Mercedes-Benz model after the SLS Electric Drive (416,500 EUR). It is expected to go on sale this October.

According to Autoweek, the car is based on the G320 CDI developed for the Australian army and is 5867mm (231.3 inches) long, 2111mm (83.1 inches) wide and 2209mm (87 inches) tall, which makes it 1105mm (43.5 inches) longer, 226mm (8.9 inches) wider and 272mm (10.7 inches) taller than the standard 2013 G63 AMG.

The military version has a 3.0-liter diesel engine and a five-speed automatic version but this civilian model sports a V8 5.5-liter bi-turbo engine producing 536 hp (400 kW) and 560 lb-ft (758 Nm) of torque. The power unit is linked to a seven-speed 7G-tronic transmission.

Chief of G-Class development Axel Harries says the car will do 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in less than 6 seconds on its way to an electronically-limited top speed of 100 mph (160 km/h). He also mentioned the 6x6 G63 AMG returns 13 mpg US (15.6 mpg UK or 18 liters / 100 km).

It boasts an impressive ground clearance of 460mm (18.1 inches) and weighs 3,775 kg (8,322 lbs). It rides on huge 37-inch wheels, with approach and departure angles of 52 degrees (up by 16) and 54 degrees (up by 27), respectively. It also has a stainless steel roll cage and a payload capacity of 650 kg (1,433 lbs).

Source: autoweek.com via autoreview.ru

W650 CAFETRACKER from REDMAXSPEEDSHOP.COM

WRC : Un nouveau vainqueur au Mexique / A different winner in Mexico

Whatever the outcome of the 2013 Rally Mexico, we will see a new winner on the event’s list of winners, since neither Martin, Solberg, Loeb, Rovanperä, Pons, Ferreyros nor Ligato will be at the start of its 10th running as a WRC round.

Quelle que soit l’issue du Rallye du Mexique 2013, le vainqueur sera inédit puisque ni Markko Martin, ni Petter Solberg, ni Sébastien Loeb, pas même Harri Rovanperä, Xavi Pons, Ramon Ferreyros ou Marcos Ligato ne sont au départ de cette 10e édition en WRC.

So, whose names will appear on the list of Rally Guanajuato Mexico winners after those of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena? Indeed, it is very probable that the competition will be quite open next week in the absence of the Frenchman who has won this event for the past six years.

On top of that, the Franco-Monegasque pair hasn’t missed a world class fixture since the 2006 Rally of Turkey, which works out at exactly 84 rallies!

Nature doesn’t like vacuums, however, and there are plenty of crews who would be more than happy to follow in the footsteps of the nine-time world champions. Their numbers include Sébastien Ogier who some already believe will dominate this season – and those to come – following his assertive showings in Monte Carlo and Sweden with the new Polo R WRC. The situation seems a little less comfortable for Finns Jari-Matti Latvala (VW) and Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) who will need a top result soon to boost their confidence and get back into the title race. With Loeb’s shadow no longer hanging over him, Dani Sordo (Citroën) would also like to claim his maiden WRC victory, while Mads Ostberg (Ford) will be keen to do the same for the first time since his surprise win in Portugal last spring following Hirvonen’s exclusion.

Volkswagen Motorsport’s preparations for the year’s first gravel round included a test Mexico last November, ahead of a week in Portugal at the end of 2012. Meanwhile, Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT was in Portugal, near Almodovar, last week for two days in good weather with Mikko Hirvonen and Dani Sordo, plus another day in rain with Chris Atkinson. Qatar M-Sport WRT travelled to the south of Spain for its gravel test with Mads Ostberg, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Evgeny Novikov and Thierry Neuville. All four were given an opportunity to sample the extra durability of the latest ‘hard’ (H2) and ‘soft’ (S2) compound Michelin Latitude Cross tyres.

With the exception of 2009, the visit to Mexico has recently tended to be the first gravel clash of the year. A sequence of six rounds will now take us to the first ‘clear’ asphalt event in Germany at the end of August. Even though it takes places at high altitudes (more than 2500 metres), and even though some experts prefer to wait until Portugal, Mexico often provides a good idea of the championship’s pecking order…

Qui va donc ajouter son nom au palmarès du Rally Guanajuato Mexico ? On est tenté de dire qu’en l’absence de Sébastien Loeb, vainqueur des six dernières éditions, cette troisième manche mondiale s’annonce très ouverte.

Sans Sébastien Loeb et Daniel Elena au départ, l’ambiance sera sans doute un peu différente au Poliforum de Leon. Les nonuples champions du monde n’ont pas manqué une manche mondiale depuis le Rallye de Turquie 2006, soit exactement 84 rallyes !

Mais la nature a horreur du vide et de nombreux pilotes vont se charger de tourner la page Loeb. A commencer par un autre Sébastien, Ogier, que certains voient déjà écraser la saison 2013 – et celles à venir - après deux rallyes très convaincants sur la Polo R WRC. La situation est moins confortable pour les deux Finlandais Jari-Matti Latvala (VW) et Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) qui ont quasiment obligation de victoire pour maintenir leurs espoirs de titre et surtout se rassurer. Libéré du joug Loeb, Dani Sordo (Citroën) aimerait bien remporter enfin sa première victoire mondiale et Mads Ostberg (Ford) souhaiterait quant à lui monter pour la première fois sur la plus haute marche du podium, ce qu’il n’avait pas eu l’honneur de faire au Portugal 2012 (victoire sur « tapis vert »).

Volkswagen Motorsport a préparé le premier rallye « terre » de la saison sur place, au Mexique, en novembre dernier avant une semaine d’essais au Portugal fin 2012. L’équipe Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT était également au Portugal, près d’Almodovar, la semaine passée : deux jours d’essais dans de bonnes conditions pour Mikko Hirvonen et Dani Sordo, et une journée sous la pluie pour l’Australien Chris Atkinson. Qatar M-Sport WRT a choisi le sud de l’Espagne pour sa séance d’essais « terre » avec Mads Ostberg, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Evgeny Novikov et Thierry Neuville. Tous ont pu tester les nouveaux pneus Michelin Latitude Cross H2 (hard) et S2 (soft) et apprécier les améliorations apportées en termes d’endurance.

Hormis en 2009, le Rallye du Mexique ouvre la partie « terre » du WRC depuis bientôt dix ans. Six rallyes consécutifs se dérouleront sur cette surface avant de retrouver l’asphalte, en Allemagne, fin août. Malgré son parcours en altitude (+2500 m) et même si les experts préfèrent attendre le Portugal, le Rallye du Mexique offre souvent un bon état des lieux du championnat.

Mikko au Guinness Book

Mikko Hirvonen a établi un nouveau record de vitesse « indoors » avec 140 km/h enregistré au volant d’un Cross Kart de 150 chevaux.

Ce record, qui appartenait au pilote américain de Rallycross Tanner Foust, a été battu par le vice-champion du monde des rallyes dimanche au Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre (Finlande). « Je pensais que ce serait plus facile », a reconnu Mikko. « Mais j’ai eu du mal à trouver la motricité. Avec un peu de travail sur les réglages, je pourrais aller plus vite. »

Mikko Hirvonen côtoie désormais Tillman, le Bulldog le plus rapide sur skateboard (100 m en 19.678 secondes), ou encore Christopher Irmscher, recordman du 100 m haie avec palmes en 14.82 secondes… Bravo Mikko !

En attendant d’entrer dans le Guinness Book en catégorie WRC et y rejoindre Sébastien Loeb qui fête ses 39 ans aujourd’hui, Mikko va disputer son 140^e rallye mondial le week-end prochain au Mexique où il visera un 16^e succès en WRC après un début de saison difficile (4^e au Monte-Carlo, 17^e en Suède).

Avec 12 points au championnat Pilotes, Mikko pointe au 6^e rang à déjà 34 points du leader Sébastien Ogier et à 12 points de Mads Ostberg. En 2012, après le Rallye de Suède, Mikko avait déjà marqué 32 points…

Pour préparer les deux premiers rallyes « terre » de la saison, le pilote n°1 de Citroën a effectué deux jours d’essais en Algarve la semaine passée, près d’Almodovar, avec au menu set-up des suspensions, différentiels et travail sur la cartographie moteur pour les hautes altitudes mexicaines.

from best-of-rallylive.

Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez exchange compliments over riding styles

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

That Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez are fans of one another is a pretty well known fact, with the Italian often comparing the new MotoGP rookie to himself when he was younger and during the final day of testing at Sepang the two riders chased after each other for a few laps, and while it wasn’t a real duel - hopefully we’ll be seeing a few of them this season - the two riders learned even more about each other.

Marquez told the press that he even if he rode behind Rossi for only three laps he learned at lot from the veteran MotoGP champion, “I was quite happy for that although in the beginning it was a little bit strange. He was in front and then I was in front and it was quite good because I saw one rider with a lot of experience and I learned many things in only three laps behind him. In some corners I don’t have the right line or in some corners I ride more complicated. He did it a bit easier and faster in some parts and my line was more on the limit but slower. I learn many things.”

Rossi also talked about the encounter, that saw the two exit the pitlane together and Marquez wait for Rossi to lead the way before exchanging places, “It was very funny from behind watching him. I enjoy a lot because his riding style is very spectacular, f**k, he rides very hard. I like his riding a lot. I said to him yesterday that this year we can fight and we can enjoy. He rides very similar to Stoner. He is very spectacular and the bike moves and he slides and he always touches his elbow on the tarmac. He is very good and is already so fast. He is particular because he has a strange riding style, maybe something new. Jorge and I ride in a more classic style but Marquez is something different.”

Source | mcn.com

John McGuinness: still the master of the Isle of Man TT

Once in a while, and seemingly at best every generation, a sport unearths a man or woman who almost single handedly carries the charm and character of the craft in which they turn their hand to. In the case of the Isle of Man TT we are lucky enough to be in the midst of John McGuinness' reign as King of the Mountain.

In a paddock that's not short of characters, John's ability to balance multiple wins at the TT with his trademark smile and infectuous personality sees him as the most celebrated competitor. In the 2012 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy he picked up the baton with 17 wins to his name and countless stars of 2 wheel racing looking on in awe.

Off-Road Race Truck Hits Ski Slope at Red Bull Frozen Rush

By Daniel Spalinger, Photos Courtesy of Red Bull and Bootleg Media Group

As a belated Valentine’s Day gift, Red Bull’s Frozen Rush event was far better than any overpriced collection of candy or flowers your significant other gave you. Racing a 900-horsepower Pro 4 race truck up and down the slopes of a ski area is something just outrageous enough to fit nicely within Red Bull’s ongoing series of motorsports-related exhibitions. The February 15th event at Mt. Snow in south central Vermont involved months of planning and coordinating.

As with many unique undertakings, Frozen Rush began as the slightly unbalanced idea of a single individual. In this case the individual happens to be Pete Brinkerhoff, currently of Colorado and running Front & Bridge, LLC with his wife. Brinkerhoff had spent some of his professional life at Red Bull and maintained a number of contacts there so that when he came up with the crazy idea of sending a short-course truck up a ski slope, he knew just the right people to call.


At first, wintertime Vermont seems like an odd place for Red Bull to put on such an event. Maybe Vermont IS a bid odd, having currently elected the only Socialist senator in the country. There’s no dirt, most New Englander’s wouldn’t know a Pro 4 from ProFlowers.com, and the closest a TORC event has come to the area is some 900 miles away. But when you look deeper, Mt. Snow made perfect sense.
Vermont has an extensive extreme sports history that many tend to forget, including its place as the home of Burton snowboards and the 2000 and 2001 winter X Games at Mt. Snow. Combine these facts with Brinkerhoff’s familiarity with the area given his time at the University of Vermont and you begin to see the pieces falling into place.
Red Bull obviously also put a number of other pieces in place. Maartje Kardol, out of Red Bull’s NY office, threw the energy drink’s substantial marketing resources behind the idea and off it went. The first step was to find the appropriate driver. With Red Bull’s sponsorship of a number of short-course pilots the ball got rolling quickly.  Initially Luke Johnson was considered, though given the anticipated slippery conditions, his two-wheel-drive Pro 2 wasn’t deemed the optimal vehicle. Instead, Red Bull turned to Luke’s father Ricky Johnson and his championship-winning Pro 4, along with logistical support provided by the Menzies Motorsports team.

One of the most surprising things about the day is the extent to which Ricky is known in the Northeast. Almost immediately upon arrival to the staging area a man could be seen holding up a “Legends of Motocross” t-shirt with numerous autographs on it.  It turns out that he is a huge motocross fan and has been collecting the signatures of numerous motocross luminaries (Ryan Dungey and Travis Pastrana’s signatures were spotted at first glance) on it for years. This fan had heard of the event and came out seeking the autograph of a particular legend he had been missing, while another attendee harkened back to seeing Ricky race in AMA Supercross at the old Giants Stadium in New Jersey back in the ‘80s.
The Northeast area is one more familiar to Ricky Johnson than many might expect. Beyond his visits to Giants Stadium for Supercross, Ricky would spend nearly a week in the central Massachusetts/Connecticut region each year acclimating to the region’s sandy (yes, I said sandy) soil. Annually, the top level of AMA Motocross riders return to the loose surface of the Southwick, MA, track and getting used to the unique feel of this track was integral to any rider’s success (Ricky had wins at both Southwick and Giants Stadium back in the day).

Later in life Ricky’s travels would continue to return him to the area. His younger son is an excellent lacrosse player and went to school in Maine and, as with a number of today’s desert and short-course drivers, he has trained at the Team O’Neil Rally School in New Hampshire. Ricky, his son Luke, and Bryce Menzies have all attended the school in recent years to hone their driving skills. But we won’t say who the instructors claimed was the best driver of the three!
Suffice it to say that when the idea of driving his Pro 4 up a Vermont mountain in the winter came up, Ricky knew what he was in for, was comfortable with the location, and knew that the local people would appreciate such a unique event.

Have you ever seen BFGs like this? We didn't think so.

Before sending a 900-horsepower truck up a ski slope, however, one would be wise to do a bit of testing to find out what works and what doesn’t. No sense in hyping an event up only to have the truck roll off the trailer and proceed to immediately get stuck upon hitting the snow.
And getting stuck was exactly what Ricky’s Pro 4 did its first testing session.
Coming off the trailer in the middle of a snowstorm (you may have seen the swirling snow in the initial Red Bull produced video) and without specially prepared equipment, the Pro 4 went nowhere. It eventually took a snowcat to push it up the road (the truck and trailer having been left further down the mountain due to the storm). Lesson one in the books. Other lessons learned included the need for more traction and warmer clothing, both items that would be covered before the big day.
Mt. Snow itself would be a phenomenally welcoming partner in this whole venture. While the PR staff at Mt. Snow knew right away that they needed to be a part of this “absolutely most incredible thing,” they weren’t sure at first if their bosses would go for the idea of someone tearing up their beautifully groomed slopes. As was shown with the X Games, however, management at Mt. Snow is extremely progressive in its thinking. In fact only a conflict with the US Forest Service (who has rights to the topmost portion of the ski area) prevented Ricky’s use of the entire mountain, top to bottom, for his hoonage.

Come the day of the Red Bull Frozen Rush, a few more changes to the Pro 4 were made. Added to each tire by the BFG tire crew were 684 (an exact count) half-inch metallic studs. In addition to the studs, the tires were grooved into a pattern mixing short course and winter rally characteristics. BFG’s lead representative on site this day has been in the US only for about a year after having served in its WRC and Dakar efforts over the past decade. His experience with tires performing in the winter WRC events came in handy here and describes the studs used more generally in stage rally efforts as being much shorter than those present on Ricky’s truck due to regulations but are quite similar in design.
With every unique event comes unforeseen circumstances, and Frozen Rush is no exception. The aforementioned half-inch spikes necessitated the crew breaking out the cutoff wheel. Upon full compression, the spikes were now tearing up the beautiful fiberglass fenders and bedsides. A few minutes of cutting and there was now an extra few inches of clearance all the way around and a couple people in the crowd had some special souvenirs.

A portable heater also came in handy this day. Performing double duty, its flame was used to both warm up the valve stems in order to get tire pressures (aired down for the snow to 15 psi vs. its normal 18 psi on the dirt) and also to keep the truck’s front shocks warm. In short course and the normal course of his career, Ricky has been more accustomed to trying to keep his shocks cool, but sub-freezing-temperature shock oil can have some interesting characteristics as well, so out came the heaters.

Speaking with Ricky in between the test runs revealed some interesting items about the upcoming short-course season. While his Pro4 currently wears its Dodge Ram livery proudly, it is not long for this world. Without direct support from Dodge Ricky is returning to Ford branding. This shouldn’t be read that Ford was willing to support the Johnson’s short-course efforts, as neither Dodge nor Ford are throwing their weight behind Ricky, but at least now the truck body will match the engine underneath it. Secondly Johnson states that the TORC Pro 4 ranks should be gaining the full time attention of one Rob MacCachren vs. his split time in the Pro 2 ranks with Andrew Caddell during ’12.
With the ubiquitous Red Bull girls handing out cans of the energy drink, Ricky moves from his snow boots to his Oakley driving shoes and climbed behind the wheel of the #1 Red Bull Pro 4. Turning the engine over in this 30-degree weather seems a little more time consuming than it normally would be, but soon things fired up. Staring through his glassless dash, Ricky lets things warm up and with each revving of the truck’s engine more and more skiers and snowboarders unclip from their bindings and join the throngs along the snowfence lining the up-to-30-degree-inclined, black-diamond-rated hill.

At the appointed time and with a shout from the onsite announcer, the Pro 4 put down all its power into the snow and tore up the mountain at what is a decidedly frightful speed. In all honesty it doesn’t look real that something that big can move that fast UP a ski slope. The truck should be sliding, it should be fishtailing, and it SHOULDN’T be accelerating as the slope gets ever steeper. But there it is, literally carving its way up the snowy mountain, cresting jumps molded by the Mt. Snow terrain park crew. A few moments out of sight at the top of the course some many hundreds of yards away, Ricky turns the truck around and comes racing back down a separate section of ski trails. Again, it seems as if something that big and fast should go careening out of control into the woods like an inexperienced skier attempting a mogul run, but Johnson keeps it tightly under control with nary a hiccup. Through the Red Bull arch and over a final jump, Johnson slowed down into the lowest-most spectator area and the truck pauses while the crew ensures no one ventured onto the course … and he’s off again.
This time Ricky is ripping up the hill with even more violence than before, snow spraying rearward from its tires like Mt. Snow’s most powerful snowguns. Repeating the course the truck flies smoothly over the jumps and lands as softly as a multi-ton vehicle ever could. Upon reaching the bottom for the second time, Ricky decides to have a little fun with the gathered crowd and performs the favorite trick of every little boy by spraying the spectators with literally sheets of snow, as those half-inch spikes turn into half-inch snowblowers during the multiple donuts his Pro4 digs into the snow.

Ricky parked the truck and exited to a cheer from the crowd. A giant grin presents itself as he recaps the drive with those closest to him. “I’m like a 48-year-old kid,” he said. “When am I ever going to get a chance to do something like this again?”
Inside the Mt. Snow lodge and bar at the after-party, the subject of doing this again was foremost on my mind.
Inquiring as to Ricky’s thoughts on the day revealed that there were substantial differences between the snow he had been testing on in the Western US and the Eastern snowpack. While the Western snow was dry and fluffy it provided little grip. In contrast the conditions at Mt. Snow were near perfect. A few inches of moisture-laden white stuff covered a more solid and icy subsurface. It was this subsurface that the stud-equipped BFG’s were able to dig down to and find purchase upon. In truth, Ricky stated that one of the reasons Mt. Snow was chosen was due to the fact that the Eastern snow conditions and weather were more predictable and thus more suitable for an event such as this. While flying up the mountain was exhilarating in its own right, Ricky seemed most in awe of coming down the hill. He described jumps where the whole earth just dropped away leaving nothing visible but the distant horizon—a special experience to be sure.
Ricky Johnson was as much a hero at the after-party as he was on the slopes. The line of autograph and picture seekers wound its way through the bar, with RJ signing for kids donning flat-billed Ken Block hats and dads with tattered, old-school motocross programs. The event and the marketing of TORC and Red Bull to the Northeast was a success. Scores of kids and adults are now going to be festooning their walls with Red Bull Frozen Rush posters with RJ and his Pro 4 front and center.
Taking a TORC truck to the snows of wintertime New England was far from a no brainer.  It involved a new audience generally unfamiliar with RJ and short course racing, in the heart of one of the most enviro-litigous areas of the country. It could have been raining; there could have been no snow. In short, it could have been a flipping disaster. That it wasn’t, is a credit to all those involved—including those aforementioned New England weather gods.
RJ mused that with a bit of tweaking (shorter tire studs that make tires act more like paddles, a harder snow pack via more water and salt grooming of the snow, etc.) he could envision an entire short-course race, using perhaps the lighter Pro Lites, taking place at a ski area. “If there is a spill of oil or gas you just scoop it up and cart it away,” he said. “With the snow you aren’t tearing up the ground, you’re not digging a course out of the earth. There’s very little environmental impact with this.”
Hopefully RJ and Red Bull enjoyed their stay to this little wintery corner of the country. Hopefully they decide to comeback sometime soon, and hopefully they bring a bunch of their friends to come play in the snow with them!
via .off-road.com

GREAT !!! Best of Jean Ragnotti & Renault Clio Kit Car - with pure engine sounds

fun scoot !!

monstrous !! Parker 425 short video clips

Triumph Scrambler by Mule

from MULEMOTORCYCLES

Alfa Romeo Gloria: Italian students create sports saloon for Geneva

At the forthcoming Geneva Motor Show, a collaborative effort between Italian design students and the Alfa Romeo Style Centre will see classic Alfa design cues reinterpreted in a sleek saloon.

Twenty students from the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Turin participated in the project, which was overseen by the Alfa Romeo design team. Theoretically aimed at the Asian and American markets, the brief for the ‘Gloria’ concept was to create a “completely independent interpretation of a new Alfa Romeo saloon”, while looking back to the design cues which originally helped Alfa break into the American market in the late 1960s. This seems like a smart publicity move for Alfa, with an American relaunch spearheaded by the 4C sports car on the horizon.

The traditional triangular grille retains pride of place at the front of the car, and has its shape echoed in the strong lines rising up the bonnet. Leather straps recall those previously used to secure the bonnet in times gone by.

Although billed strictly as a design exercise, the designers say the Gloria would hypothetically use a V6 or V8 bi-turbo engine. It will be shown as a 1:1 scale clay model on IED’s stand at the Geneva Show.

Related Links Many of the cars which inspired the Gloria's design can be found in the Classic Driver Marketplace

Text: Joe Breeze (ClassicDriver)
Photos: Alfa Romeo

V8 Supercars : SVG IN THE SPOTLIGHT AGAIN WITH CLIPSAL 500 POLE

Kiwi flyer the topic of a different kind of discussion today - a celebrated pole position for Tekno Autosports on the streets of Adelaide.

HE has been the topic of discussion amongst the V8 Supercar fraternity for much of the off-season, but today was a different kind of spotlight for New Zealand ace Shane van Gisbergen.

Having controversially changed teams from Stone Brothers Racing to Tekno Autosports across the off-season, van Gisbergen delivered his new team immediate results by rocketing to pole position at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide today, jumping Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom to take the top spot for the first race of 2013.

The VIP Petfoods Tekno Autosport Holden was second-last on the circuit in today’s shootout and put used his usually committed style to take the top spot and the ARMOR ALL pole award by just 0.04s.

His lap of 1m21.3595s was actually slower than last year’s pole time: however it was enough to further push the 22-year-old New Zealander into the spotlight – one that is already intensely focussed on him, though for different reasons.

The Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford of Mark Winterbottom was the biggest improver of the day, leaping from 8^th position in qualifying to second via a stunning Shootout lap – and held the top spot for much of the shootout before van Gisbergen bumped the brightly liveried Ford back to second.

Provisional polesitter Craig Lowndes was the last on the track and, for a moment, looked like he would convert his provisional pole to the top spot in the shootout – but fell short by a fraction of a second after a committed lap, ultimately slipping two places to third.

The three were split by just 0.08s, continuing a day of remarkably close competition by the next-generation V8 Supercars being tested in the heat of battle for the first time today.

Today’s effort marked the first pole position for Tekno Autosport and the second in van Gisbergen’s career, though the first he’s earned as a ‘solo’ driver.

“It’s amazing. Thanks to the team, they’ve done a great job,” he said following his pole-winning lap.

“We’ve been amongst it all weekend. Thanks to the Webb family, and the Quinn family at VIP. It’s been a big offseason so it’s good to deliver this.

“I’m not paying attention to the stuff going on outside the car – I don’t even have a working phone at the moment. I just get in there and drive it. Thanks to everyone for their support and it’s great to be here.”

A nervous Winterbottom watched six cars try to topple his strong lap-time and ultimately fell just short of a 26^th career pole position – but after some questioned the factory Ford squad’s pace earlier in the day, Winterbottom’s turnaround to the front row of the grid was a welcome relief to Ford fans.

“The car felt pretty good. You do the time and stand and wait and you don’t know if it’s god enough,” he said.  

“When you finesse the lap and critique it there are bits here and there, but it’s not really worth looking at it. Good luck to Shane – he’s had a pretty interesting off season but has come back and bounced on – so we’ll go for it tomorrow.

“The suspense here is tough – you don’t’ know for 30-seconds where you’re going to end up. You just stand here, pray, and hope you end up on the front row.”

Fabian Coulthard matched his career-best qualifying effort by placing his Lockwood Racing Holden fourth, defending champion Jamie Whincup ending fifth.

Jonathon Webb, Will Davison, Alex Premat, James Courtney and Scott McLaughlin completed the ten, no driver finishing the shootout in the same position that they started it.

The V8 Supercars will return to the circuit tomorrow morning at 08:45am for a morning warmup session, prior to the first race of the championship commencing at 14:35pm local time – to be contested over 78 laps of the demanding 3.22km circuit.

Pos	Car	Make	Driver	Entry / Team	Fastest	Gap	On Lap	Total Laps
1	97	Holden	Shane van Gisbergen	TEKNO Team VIP	1:21.3595		1	1
2	5	Ford	Mark Winterbottom	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	1:21.4075	0.0480	1	1
3	888	Holden	Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Racing Australia	1:21.4453	0.0858	1	1
4	14	Holden	Fabian Coulthard	Lockwood Racing	1:21.4852	0.1257	1	1
5	1	Holden	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Racing Australia	1:21.5258	0.1663	1	1
6	19	Holden	Jonathon Webb	Tekno Autosports	1:21.5916	0.2321	1	1
7	6	Ford	Will Davison	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	1:21.6558	0.2963	1	1
8	34	Holden	Alexandre Premat	Fujitsu Racing GRM	1:21.7859	0.4264	1	1
9	22	Holden	James Courtney	Holden Racing Team	1:22.1825	0.8230	1	1
10	33	Holden	Scott McLaughlin	Fujitsu Racing GRM	1:22.2235	0.8640	1	1