Walker fights back to win Day Two of Romaniacs

KTM factory rider Jonny Walker kept his podium hopes alive on Friday with another strong ride in the wilds of the Carpathian Mountains on Day three of the 2013 Red Bull Romaniacs.

Walker, the young British extreme rider finished the stage fit and fighting sandwiched between overall leader Graham Jarvis and in front of Alfredo Gomez, second overall after Day Two. Overall results for Day Three will be released later tonight. Walker also gained about five minutes on Friday on the leader Jarvis and still has a chance of repeating his 2012 effort and finish on the podium.

As Thursday’s stage winner, Walker was charged with opening the track on Friday. He went out fast and stayed at the front of the pack for the first half of stage. A small navigational error in the second half cost him the lead but he still gained an important five minutes on Jarvis at the end of the day.

Team manager Julian Stevens said Walker was fresh, feeling good and looking forward to the final day. “This is the tenth anniversary of the Romaniacs and I think tomorrow will be a very difficult day, “Stevens said. “But Johnny is happy and feeling great and many of the other riders are very tired after these hard days of riding.”

Veteran Romaniac and KTM rider Chris Birch of New Zealand is hanging in with the top riders and finished in sixth place on Day Three. UK KTM rider Paul Bolton finished fourth.

Not so lucky was KTM factory rider Cristobal Guerrero of Spain. He was close behind another rider on a very fast section when the rider in front overlooked a ditch and crashed. Unable to avoid him, Guerrero too crashed and both riders were taken to hospital for checks. Stevens said indications were that Guerrero’s injuries were not serious.

Teammate Ivan Cervantes retired after Day One following a small injury. He wanted to continue but he had to keep in mind that there is still one round of the Enduro World Championships to go. The Spanish rider has promised to return to contest the Romaniacs in 2014.

Unofficial Results Day 3
1, Graham Jarvis, UK, Husaberg 06:01:17
2, Jonny Walker, UK, KTM 06:05:06
3, Alfredo Gomez, Spain, Husaberg 06:24:23
4, Paul Bolton, UK KTM 06:29:30
5, Andreas Lettenbichler, Germany, Husqvarna 06:31:47

- See more at: http://blog.derestricted.com/racing/walker-fights-back-to-win-day-two-of-romaniacs/#sthash.Kab4Ybkg.dpuf

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RED BULL ROMANIACS DAY 1

KTM factory rider Jonny Walker put up a valiant effort to struggle back to fifth place on the opening day of the notoriously difficult Red Bull Romaniacs Extreme Enduro in Romania on Wednesday after finishing on the podium after Tuesday’s ultra-tough prologue.

Overall winner of the day was the very experienced Graham Jarvis, followed by Andreas Lettenbichler while Alfredo Gomez was listed provisionally third.

Second out into the rough and tumble of the mountains around Sibiu, the 22-year-old Walker got away to a great start but some distance into the race got caught up in a tree, hurt his arm and in the process misplaced his GPS device, essential for navigating. He got back into the race, found his rhythm once again and was trailing the leaders by about 11 minutes at the refueling point and well back in the running for a good result.

But today was not Jonny’s day and around five km from the finish he ran out of fuel and for the last 30 minutes plus had to push his bike at considerable cost to his energy levels. That he hit the finish in fifth was testament to his toughness on a day when even the most experienced had their problems. Walker now has around a one-hour deficit on the leader with three more days to go.

“I pushed hard and then crashed off the side of a bank. I got going again with Lettenbichler but ran out of fuel before the service. I must have pushed my bike for about 3km until I managed to get some fuel from an Expert rider. When I got going again I managed to get back to fifth.” Walker told reporters.

But if Walker found it tough going on the opening day of competition, he was not alone. Some 40 riders started in the professional class, the elite and most skilled competing, but only eight were on the list of the provisional results. KTM’s Ivan Cervantes and Cristobal Guerrero were accounted for but both not included in the provisional results. Veteran Romaniac Chris Birch of New Zealand took time out for a cooling off swim in one of the rivers and finished sixth provisionally.

Provisional Results Pro Class Day One (of 40 starters, only 8 finishers)
1, Graham Jarvis, UK, Husaberg
2, Andreas Lttenbichler, Germany, Husqvarna
3, Alfredo Gomez, Spain, Husaberg
4, Ben Hemingway, UK, Beta
5, Jonny Walker, UK KTM

- See more at: http://blog.derestricted.com/racing/red-bull-romaniacs-day-1/#sthash.ogZw5zBq.dpuf
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Loris Baz auctions helmet to help Alessia Polita

Alessia Polita suffered a career ending accident at Misano Circuit last month, during the second qualifying session during the fifth round of the Italian Superstock 600 championship.

The 27-year old Alessia (who is the sister of Alex Polita), lost control of her Yamaha YZF-R6 at turn 16 - and it was the same corner where Wayne Rainey crashed in 1993 that left him paralyzed - and the same cruel destiny also happened to the two-time Italian female champion, who is now paralyzed, after sustaining a fracture and spinal cord injuries on her 12th vertebra during the accident.

Alessia has received numerous visits from riders, including Chiara Fontanese and Troy Bayliss, and during the Assen GP, several riders decided to put a sticker of her racing #51 on their helmets or fairings, as did her boyfriend, Superstock rider Eddi La Marra, who wanted to win the Imola round and dedicate the victory, but he crashed out at the Acque Minerali during the 9th lap.

A number of Superbike riders also had Alessia stickers on their bikes, like Kawasaki’s Loris Baz. The Frenchman has decided to help Polita by auctioning one of his Shark Race-R Pro customized helmet on e-Bay in order to raise funds for the newly formed Lady Polita Onlus (foundation) in order to help her in her rehabilitation.

The helmet graphics were designed by Baz and he has used this helmet in the Phillip Island, Aragon and Assen rounds of the 2013 championship.

If you’re interested in owning Baz’ helmet and helping Alessia, just click here and check out the Lady Polita Facebook page.

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

Spa Summer Classic 2013

Classic car enthusiasts gathered during the weekend of June 14th until June 16th at Spa-Francorchamps for the annual Spa Summer Classic, a great event organised by the Roadbook Organisation. Over 500 classic cars, 10 different races, including touring cars, GT’s and single seaters found their way to the Ardennes rollercoaster.

By © Marcel Hundscheid / www.speed-o-graphica.com

The BRAVO organisation from Belgium has been existing for more than thirty years organizing events for historic cars. In 2008 BRAVO decided to set up a Belgian national historic championship known  as the Belgian Historic Cup open to touring cars and GT’s up to 1976.

Historic Motor Racing, Spa Ardennes Challenge and the Crosslé Racing Drivers Club combined their grids into a vast field of 1966-71 closed prototypes, sports cars, GT cars and touring cars as well as a number of Crosslé 9S sports racing cars. The Crosslé Company, originally founded in 1957 is the oldest constructor of customer racing cars in the world.  The company has built close to 1000 cars over the and won countless championships.

The Classic Sports Car Club was set up in 2001 presenting CSCC Swingin Sixties, a series open to sports cars, touring and GT’s produced during the ‘60s. Over the weekend of lot of Triumph, MG and Austin Healey models found their way to Spa as well as some TVR’s, Porsches, BMW etc. Another combined grid managed by the Classic Sports Car Club came from the Inter-Series Cup and the French HTCC Le Group 1 (Historique Tourisme Champion Car). This serie was initiated in 2003 by a driver who revived the Group 1 category featuring all kinds of touring cars and GTs.

Fans of Caterham/Lotus Seven type cars had their own race within the combined grid of the Magnificent Sevens race series managed by the Classic Sports Car Club and the French Trophée Lotus. Frenchman Jean-Paul Couilliot relaunched the Trophy Lotus Seven in 1987 as it became the Trophée Lotus Seven from 2005.

The Monoposto Racing Club from Great Britain and the French Trophée Formule Ford Kent combined their grids into a large field of classic single seaters, featuring F3, Formula Ford and some very fast Jedi single seaters.

The Historic Sports Car Club from the UK presented the Guards Trophy GT and Sports Racing Championship. This serie is open to GT and sports racing cars built before 1966. An invitation class for pre ’69 sports-racing, GT and sports-prototypes is also included. Several Chevron B6’s and B8’s as well as a bunch of Jaguar E-Types to name just a few.

Fastest cars on track during the weekend were the single seaters from the French Trophy F3 Classic. A nice field of Ralt RT1’s and RT3’s, different Chevron and March chassis as well as bunch of different Martini’s coupled with pre-1995 Formula Renaults. Classic liveries from the ‘80s featuring the March of Nigel Mansell, the Ralf of Andrea de Cesaris and many others claimed the legendary Ardennes rollercoaster.

Finally touring cars and GTs from the French ASAVE Challenge GT-Tourisme & Trophée Maxi 1000 as well as F.I.S.C. Legendary Circuits claimed the track. Like during earlier versions of the Spa Summer Classic, it was an event not to be missed and we’re already looking forward to the next edition in 2014.

(scroll down below the results for more photos)

Street Fighter Retro Kawasaki ZRX1200 by MB Cycles

Retro street fighter Kawasaki ZRX1200 is a project of MB Cycles, who prefer the older bikes with slim design with modern sport bike or chrome chopper. MB Cycles company was founded in 2001 and is located in Heidelberg, Germany. Local professionals involved in the production of interesting custom bikes and motorbike, considering the most important aspects of the personality of each bike and unusual design.

Some features of Retro Kawasaki ZRX1200:

Donor Kawasaki ZRX1200
Entirely new back end, MB CYCLES
Shorter stretcher
Inverted fork USD
Light Grid
Starter button under the tank
200-mm rear tire
And other small items

from BIKEGLAM

BMW Isetta 300. Petrolicious. Jack’s Toy

If you are local to Southern California, chances are you may have run into Jack Charney, his beautiful 1957 BMW Isetta and his one-of-a-kind sweater. On a weekly basis Jack can be seen driving his Isetta along Mulholland Highway and at various BMW events. This particular Isetta has a story, one that started when Jack purchased it new in 1957, and after regretting selling it, found himself on journey that led him back to his same car nearly twenty years later.

Drive Tastefully©

TRIUMPH SCRAMBLER BY TON-UP GARAGE

Pedro Oliveira of Portugal’s Ton-Up Garage has a knack of building practical, stylish customs that work beautifully as daily riders. His latest build is this 2012 Triumph Scrambler, nicknamed ‘Amazonia’ and commissioned by a client who loves off-roading.

“The brief was to build a bike with off-road aesthetics,” says Pedro, “such as the tires, foot pegs, bars and so on—but with good on-road handling, because it’ll be used on the road every day.” So Pedro started with an airbox elimination kit to increase power, and installed a Zard Short exhaust—a design that fits both the injected and carbureted versions of the Triumph Scrambler.

The rear mudguard was shortened and the front mudguard was lifted slightly. The seat is a custom fabricated two-up design and the old-school off-road bars have been fitted with Magura levers. Other components are minimalist in design, from the Lucas-style taillight to the small indicators and the Motogadget ‘Tiny’ speedo.

The stock rear shocks have been swapped out for Öhlins units, and the fork springs are now Öhlins progressive springs. The finishing touch was a respray in deep green and an old jerry can converted into a luggage box.

The result is a Triumph Scrambler with a useful boost in dynamics—with more power, better handling, and the ability to tackle forest roads with ease. And it looks pretty good too, don’t you think?

Images by Joel Bessa. Head over to the Ton-Up Garage website to get their latest news, or check our coverage of previous Ton-Up builds here.

from BIKEEXIF

BESPOKE LAND ROVER DEFENDER – THE ALPINE EDITION BY TWIST PERFORMANCE

Twisted Performance’s bespoke Land Rover Defender has been created to tackle any terrain and conditions that god can through at it. The Alpine Edition is not only built to go anywhere but it has interior, exterior and a massive amount of performance upgrades to take this car from stock to highly tuned bespoke offroader.Twisted Performance have recently taken part in the GunBall 3000 this year in one of the sweetest looking Defenders every to grace Europe’s roads. Not only did it look amazing but it had the performance to match any of the other supercars taking part in this years run, well done guys on flying the flag for this great nation in one of the most iconic and very British cars.

It’s got huge 20″ Eltex Alloys Powdercoated Gloss Black wrapped in 20″ Cooper Tyres giving this thing a huge presence on the road not to mention the ability to actually drive off it. Full leather on the front seats and far too many over upgrades to even mention. I really like the Alloy Roof Rack & Ladder Powdercoated Gloss White, which makes this stand out from other custom Defenders. The main image on this post is really cool, really showing off the vehicle in an incredible location.

Twisted performance describe the Alpine Edition with “The ability to go anywhere, anytime is one thing and do it in style is quite another. Twisted Alpine is a Defender that’s been dipped into a vat of extravagance and excess, and transformed inside and out. This is a family cruiser for the driver who knows that they deserve everything… and more.” I’m looking forward to any future release by these guys as I know nothing is ever boring. You’ll be the first to know when the launch there latest Edition.

Images: twistedperformance.co.uk

Website: twistedperformance.co.uk

 from .moto-verso