Ogier, solide leader en Sardaigne

Après deux rallyes consécutifs sans victoire, Sébastien Ogier a retrouvé la première place. A l’issue de la première journée du Rally Italia-Sardegna, il est leader avec 46.6 secondes d’avance sur Mikko Hirvonen et 49s7sur Thierry Neuville.

C’est une longue et chaude journée de course qui attendait les concurrents du Rally Italia-Sardegna avec huit spéciales au programme, la première (Monte Lerno, 31,08 km) disputée à 7h58, la dernière, Gallura (13,55 km) à 21h55 !

Après sa tragédie grecque, Sébastien Ogier (VW/Michelin) s’est immédiatement hissé en tête du rallye en remportant l’ES1 devant Hirvonen et Novikov. Son équipier Jari-Matti Latvala, vainqueur de la Qualifying Stage, avait déjà perdu près de deux minutes (choc flanc pneu avant gauche). Dommage, car le Finlandais (remonté à la 5^e place) fut le seul à devancer Ogier sur l’ensemble de la journée.

Dans l’ES2, c’est le Russe Evgeny Novikov (Ford/Michelin) qui est parti à la faute, laissant la 3^eplace à son équipier Mads Ostberg, pas très à l’aise avec le comportement de sa Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Après le « Remote Service » de Sassari, le Belge Thierry Neuville est passé à l’attaque, signant deux meilleurs temps consécutifs pour rentrer au parc d’assistance d’Olbia en 3^e position après l’ES7, à seulement 6s2 de Mikko Hirvonen.

Sur les spéciales surchauffées de l’après-midi, abrasives et cassantes pour certaines, Ogier et Neuville ont parfaitement sur gérer leurs pneus Michelin Latitude Cross H2 (hard). Ce soir, Sébastien Ogier mène l’épreuve avec 46s6 d’avance sur Hirvonen, lui-même sous la menace de Neuville (+3s2). « Une journée parfaite à part un tête-à-queue ce matin », résumait le Belge à l’arrivée.

Mads Ostberg est parti en tonneaux dans l’ES8, remportée par Latvala. Le Finlandais a ainsi pris la 5^e place à son équipier Andreas Mikkelsen (6^e), perturbé par des ennuis de suspensions ce matin. Dani Sordo, qui n’avait pas disputé ce rallye en 2012, est 4^e à 29s7 du podium.

En WRC-2, malgré une petite touchette, Robert Kubica (Citroën DS3 RRC/Michelin) compte encore plus d’une minute d’avance sur Al-Kuwari. Lorenzo Bertelli a perdu une minute dans l’ES8 et Sepp Wiegand (Skoda Fabia) était signalé arrêté dans cette dernière ES du jour.

En WRC-3, Stéphane Consani (Citroën DS3 R3) a pris la tête en toute fin de journée. Il devance Christian Riedeman de 16s1 et Sébastien Chardonnet de 26s2. Bryan Bouffier s'est retiré en début d'étape

SIGNATECH-ALPINE SATISFAIT DE SES ESSAIS.

La pluie redoutée n'aura fait que de très rares apparitions aujourd'hui. Mais les quelques courtes averses ont été suffisantes pour durablement mouiller la piste. Jusqu'à la toute dernière heure, les temps établis hier n'étaient pas améliorés.

Dans un dernier effort, l'ensemble des équipages a pu tenter de réaliser une performance juste avant minuit. Au volant de l'Alpine A450 numéro 36, Nelson Panciatici signait son meilleur tour en 3'41''654 pour se classer au huitième rang des LM P2.

« Nous avons beaucoup progressé sur le comportement de la voiture », explique Philippe Sinault, Team Principal de Signatech Alpine. « C'est un vrai sujet de satisfaction. Nelson Panciatici a réalisé une belle performance même si le trafic et les drapeaux jaunes ne lui ont pas permis de terminer aux avant-postes. Nous avons fini de regarder le chrono. Désormais, nous allons regarder la grosse pendule ! »

Parti pour signer un temps de référence dans les dernières minutes, Nelson Panciatici terminait au huitième rang de la catégorie : « J'ai été gêné par le trafic. Il n'était peut-être pas question de faire la pole mais une place dans le ‘top 4' était à notre portée. L'Alpine A450 marche très bien. C'est prometteur pour la course. »

Un peu plus tôt, Tristan Gommendy avait été en mesure de boucler quelques tours : « En dehors de la trajectoire, certaines portions étaient encore humides. Il y avait des pièges dans les Hunaudières, et jusqu'à Indianapolis. Nous avons progressé sur les réglages de l'Alpine A450. J'attends la course avec impatience. »

Parti en tout début de séance, Pierre Ragues avait dû composer avec une piste encore très mouillée : « Les deux tiers du circuit étaient secs et le reste était vraiment détrempé. L'équipe m'avait demandé de compléter cinq tours pour assurer ma qualification de nuit. Le contrat est rempli. »

Les voitures ne rouleront pas demain. Samedi matin, elles seront en piste pour 45 minutes lors du warm-up. Le départ de l'édition du 90e anniversaire des 24 Heures du Mans sera donné à 15h00. L'Alpine A450 numéro 36 partira depuis la huitième ligne avec Nelson Panciatici au volant.

Source : Alpine

via Endurance-Info

COMING SOON: THE RIDE from BIKEEXIF

Over the past couple of years, one of the most common requests we’ve had from readers has been for the ultimate motorcycle book—‘the book of Bike EXIF’. We’ve finally found the perfect match for this project in the Berlin-based publisher Gestalten.

Gestalten books sit on the cutting edge of design, photography and popular culture. The company is famous for its spectacular production values, and has worked with Diesel, MTV, Nokia, Red Bull and Volkswagen.

Over the past few months, I’ve been editing the book with Robert Klanten, Gestalten’s CEO—a confirmed petrolhead who rides at every opportunity he gets. To help with writing The Ride, we’ve brought on board several big names in the motorcycling world.

They include Paul d’Orléans (The Vintagent), David Edwards (former Cycle World editor, now running BikeCraft) and the leading UK journalist Gary Inman (founder of Sideburnmagazine and a regular contributor to Bike).

The Ride will feature most of the world’s top custom motorcycle builders, spanning the alphabet from An-Bu to the Wrenchmonkees. It’ll be a luxurious hardcover format with over 300 pages of the finest photography.

Last weekend, many of our featured builders from Europe travelled to France for the Wheels & Waves motorcycle festival in Biarritz. We took a film crew there, and shot footage for a documentary that will be released when the book is published. Here’s short teaser—enjoy.

The Ride — Gestalten.tv at Wheels & Waves from Gestalten on Vimeo.

To be one of the first to receive The Ride when it is published in a couple of months, pre-order your copy now.

North America and Rest Of World readers head here, readers in Europe order direct from the publisher here.

Kevils Hashtag 88

You may have noticed Kevils builds are getting more and more interesting, and having spoken with Kev Hill a few times now it’s clear that their rep for affordable quality and their growing list of happy clients is allowing them to push things a little further, build by build, as this Honda-tanked R100 demonstrates. it’s all about the refinement of a set of skills, knowing their BMW platform intimately, and being able to give their customers exactly what they want. As they did with the recent Bmonda Blitz homage.

Hashtag 88″ is a 1979 R100/7 and is a proper Brat-style build with a short flat wheel-hugging seat, old school up-swept ’70s crosser bars and of course that silhouette-changing Honda tank.

This build was commissioned by Richard, a classic car dealer from Oxford,who visited the shop and loved what he saw. His brief was to create a ‘bobber style BMW’ and his only other direction was to have black wire-spoked wheels , coffee & cream paint and to carry his lucky number 88. Kev and co took care of the rest and we think they nailed it.

The basic elements of the build are pretty clear from the pictures, including that reworked rear end, but like all Kevils builds the bike has also been stripped and rebuilt, with generous amounts of textured satin powdercoat complemented by plenty of bare metal. There’s something very right about a black frame and metal engine, especially with the outline of that BMW lump which looks like it was designed by the same guys who built Flash Gordon’s spaceships in the 1950s. (…maybe, it was the same guys?).

The paint job is really standout on the tank and headlamp, referencing the Japanese rising sun motif but played-out in toffee bronze (posh brown) and cream, with a distressed dark brown leather tuck & roll seat, and matching gum grips. The usual secretly-sourced slimline clocks sit in front of the wide Triumph scrambler style bars with minimal indies and simple tail light on a shortie fender.

The finished build looks great, a complete, thought-out package, rather than just an assortment of assembled safe parts. Nothing wrong with thoughtfully assembled parts, mind, but this step-up may be Kevils’ best build yet.

See more from Kev Hill and his crew here on The Bike Shed, or head over to their Wesbite for more designs on the Bavarian beast from the South West of England.

from BIKE SHED

F3 by Radical Ducati

This precious retro racer comes from a 1963 Ducati 125 TS donor Bike. Its frame has been converted to a cantiléver rear suspension system. The custom sub frame is new. The upside down fork is from a Derbi GPR 50. The mechanics is heavily modified and rebuilt with a Ducati 250 short stroke engine (ported heads, hi compression piston, lightened crankshaft, no alternator, straight cut gaer pinions lightened, metallic  outside oil lines, racing camshaft, big valves, dual spark) fuelled by an Amal 32 mm carburetor. The tank is from a vintage Ducati 160 Sport… But the list of changes and custom made components is endless… You can check it out on the Radical Ducati website. The final result? Espectacular! Pictures by Del Perro.

Questa preziosa retro racer deriva da una Ducati 125 TS del 1963. Il telaio è stato trasformato con una sospensione posteriore tipo cantilever. Il telaio sottosella custom è nuovo. La forcella rovesciata arriva da una Derbi GPR 50. La meccanica è stata pesantemente modificata e ricostruita con un motore Ducati 250 a corsa corta (teste abbassate, pistone ad alta compressione, albero motore alleggerito, niente alternatore, pignone cambio alleggerito, condotti metallici dell'olio esterni, albero a camme racing, valvole maggiorate e doppia accensione) alimentato da un carburatore Amal 32 millimetri. Il serbatoio è di un Ducati 160 Sport d'epoca... Ma la lista dei cambiamenti e dei componenti su misura è infinita... Potete verificarla sul sito Radical Ducati. Il risultato finale? Espectacular! Foto di Del Perro.

via INAZUMA CAFE

TUG TRIP to Wheels and Waves 2013 TRAILER

TON-UP GARAGE trip to 2013 Wheels and Waves (Oporto- Biarritz) Short film coming soon! Stay Tuned! - See more at: http://blog.derestricted.com/travel/tug-trip-to-wheels-and-waves-2013-trailer/#sthash.A7egNtem.dpuf

Triumph Thunderbird Sport by Urban Motor

Foto: Urban Motor
via Racing Café

Porsche 356 ‘Continental’: A short story about a well-known name

Yes, Porsche, too, built a ‘Continental’. It was way back in the mid-1950s and was a special version of the ‘pre-A’ 356, specifically aimed at the North American market. The Ford Motor Company, however, was none too pleased...

Like so many successful marketing ideas of the time, it came from the German company’s North American importer, Max Hoffman (the man who also brought the world the 356 Speedster and the Mercedes 300SL ‘Gullwing’).
As a means of clearing stock of soon-to-be-outdated 356 coupés and convertibles, he suggested naming them ‘Continentals’, to emphasise the international, sophisticated European nature of the advanced sports cars from Zuffenhausen.
All Continental-badged cars were the top-model, 1500cc version, with many extras.


The chrome badge was in Porsche’s characteristic script, set on the top of each front wing. The cars were well equipped, too – a foretaste of special editions from all manufacturers in years to come.


Very few of these special 356s were built, though, as Ford was none too keen on Lincoln’s well-known ‘Continental’ name being applied to any other car. Legal proceedings, settled in favour of the Blue Oval, meant that only a handful of 356 Continentals were produced. For 1956 the name changed to ‘European’. This example, a 1955 pre-A 356 Cabriolet, is a genuine Continental and the concours-ready car is in its original colour scheme of Terra Cotta with Yellow Earth interior – a combination specified by its first owner, Robert Jackson.

The car, available for sale at Classic Driver dealer Driver Source, has been the subject of the most meticulous restoration. Concours- and event-ready, it carries a 21st Century price of USD 379,000.

Related Links Further information on this 1955 Porsche 356 Continental can be found in the Classic Driver Marketplace

Text: Jan Richter(Classic Driver)
Photos: DriverSource

GARB: WEEKEND WEDDING

Here comes the bride. And here comes you, ready for two days of looking good.

Gitman Chambray Linen Popover ($180). Vans Authentic Sneakers ($45). Obey Classique Shorts ($70). General Assembly Navy Suit Jacket ($165). Native Youth Sailing Boat Shirt ($63). General Assembly Navy Chino ($99). Daniel Wellington Classic Warwick Watch ($195). Cause and Effect Copper Bar Cuff ($49). Raen Savoye Sunglasses($112). Alden Sand Suede Blucher ($486).

This edition of Garb is sponsored by our friends at Need Supply Co.

CUSTOM 1979 DODGE RAM BY NELSON RACING ENGINE’S

A classic beauty, a custom 1979 Dodge Ram by Nelson Racing Engine’s who are based in Chatsworth just outside Los Angeles. They have become synonymous with extreme horsepower applications whether your look for 2,000hp+ race engine, or a 1,500hp street application these are the boys you want to go see. Just by looking at the Dodge you can tell it’s been restored perfectly, it looks better than it did when it rolled of the production line. Look how clean this thing is underneath it all looks brand new. Nice chrome wheels and grill with the addition of some really nice chromed wing mirrors the Dodge is one sweet looking custom truck. I bet it sounds like thunder with that massive racing engine hiding under the hood.

This beautifully finished custom 1979 Dodge Ram is a project car by NRE and has been photographed by RCH Designs which I have featured before on Moto Verso. From the super clean cut exterior you can see that this is a very high standard build, the wood decking out back is amazing along with the huge beautifully finished engine sitting up up. The interior has been given special attention with a update in technology and the addition of touch screen stereo but still sticking with the classic dials of the original.

THey have been open since 1995 and fonder Tom Nelson has created a wonderful company producing some of the finest high performance engines on the planet. NRE describe themselves and said “Put simply – we are gear-heads. We love high-horsepower performance and always have. It began with the question: “What if…?” and turned into a quest to squeeze every inch of power using innovative thinking combined with proven theory.”

Images: facebook.com/rchdesigns

Website: nelsonracingengines.com

from MOTOVERSO

The ICON Airmada Bostrom Signature

pensive