UNE SÉRIE COMMUNE EN 2017 : DTM, GRAND-AM ET SUPER GT

En marge de la manche DTM du Norisring, les représentants du DTM, du GRAND-AM et du SUPER GT se sont réunis, de même que les constructeurs déjà présents dans ces Séries, Audi, BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Nenz, Nissan et Toyota.

A l'issue de cette réunion, il a été décidé la création d'une nouvelle Série en 2017, avec une règlementation commune pour les trois championnats actuels, Série qui sera organisée aux USA. Le DTM, le GRAND-AM et le SUPER GT ont également formé un Comité de Pilotage qui sera chargé de la réglementation et dont la première réunion a donc eu lieu à Nuremberg.

Hans-Werner Aufrecht, Détenteur des Droits du DTM : « Nous sommes tombés d'accord sur l'objectif qu'en 2017 tous les constructeurs courent sous une réglementation complètement identique. C'est une étape très importante. De plus, nous nous sommes mis d'accord pour que le Comité de Pilotage décide des règlements et les développent dans cet esprit. »

Masaaki Bandoh, Président du SUPER GT (les voitures du SUPER GT adopteront déjà une partie de la règlementation DTM en 2014 et au-delà) : « Nous sommes heureux de pouvoir entamer un nouveau chapitre  d'un l'histoire du sport automobile avec cette première étape. Le développement des voitures de Honda, Nissan et Toyota doit être finalisée à la fin de ce mois. Pour la cinquième manche du SUPER GT à Suzuka le 16 août, nous avons programmé de toutes les présenter et de les montrer aux fans et aux medias. »    

La nouvelle Série sera organisée aux USA dans les cadres des meetings de la nouvelle Série américaine unifiée, l'USCR (United Sportscars Racing).

Ed Bennett, Président du GRAND-AM : « Dans la nouvelle Série United Sportscars Racing, nous avons quelques grands circuits tels que Daytona, Sebring ou le Circuit of the Americas ) Austin. Nous courrons sur quelques circuits magnifiques. »

 

Le Comité de Pilotage tiendra sa deuxième réunion après celle de Nuremberg aux USA, le Comité devant se réunir au moins une fois tous les  six mois.

Ed Bennett : « Nous avons prévu une rotation entre nos trois pays. En conséquence, la prochaine réunion aura lieu aux USA à l'occasion des 24 Heures de Daytona fin janvier 2014."

La troisième réunion aura pour cadre Suzuka à l'occasion des 1000 Km durant l'été 2014.

La constitution d'un Groupe de Travail Technique a également été décidée.

Dr Gerd Ennser, Membre du Directoire de la Fédération Allemande du Sport Automobile (DMSB) : « Bien sûr, au cours  de notre première réunion, des opinions différentes ont été exprimées. Cependant, nous avons le même but et nous essayons de trouver des solutions pour les points de détail. Le Groupe de Travail Technique assistera le Comité de Pilotage et sera constitué de techniciens qui trouveront ces solutions. »

Yoshiki Hiyama, Secrétaire Général de la Fédération Automobile du Japon (JAF) : « Avec la nouvelle règlementation, nous avons une magnifique occasion de parvenir à une réduction des coûts et la possibilité d'amener nos courses japonaises à un échelon mondial. »

Assistaient à cette première réunion : Masaaki Bandoh, Junichi Tsuda, Membre de la GTA, Promoteur du SUPER GT, Hideo Sato (Honda), Shoichi Miyatani et Toshikazu Tanaka (Nissan), Keizo Takahashi (Toyota), Ed Bennett, Jim France (NASCAR), Hans Werner Aufrecht et Michael Bernard (ITR), Hans-Joachim Stuck, Dr Gerd Ennser et Christian Schacht (tous trois de la DSMB)n Jens arquardt (BMW), Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Audi) et Toto Wolff (Mercedes-Benz).

Rappelons qu'à l'automne 2012 le DTM et le SUPER GT avaient signé un accord de coopération pour une règlementation commune, ITR, Promoteur du DTM, et l'IMSA avaient signé un accord identique en mars 2013.   

D'après le communiqué du DTM,

Claude Foubert(Endurance-Info)

Jorge Lorenzo undergoes 'another' successful collarbone surgery

Just two weeks after undergoing collarbone surgery, Jorge Lorenzo went under the knife again this morning to fix the titanium plate he damaged after highsiding during Friday’s second free practice at Sachsenring.

The reigning world champion who was just 9 points for standings leader Dani Pedrosa, after he raced at Assen just 36 hours after undergoing surgery, was already on top of the timesheets after just three laps, when he crashed out heavily and bending the plate that was holding together his fracture.

The first operation operation had required a plate and eight screws, the second operation which was slightly more complicated, and required a new plate and 10 screws and the removal of bone substance from his pelvis, in order to stabilize the original fracture.

“As a result of the trauma suffered in the crash yesterday the original fracture suffered a little movement that required a new surgery to close the space and reduce the fracture by the osteosynthesis method and with a new plate,” said Dr. Joaquin Rodriguez, who was originally against Lorenzo racing at Assen. “The new plate needed 10 screws plus 1 inter fragmentary screw. We then needed to take out some bone substance from the pelvis that was mixed with dried bone. We placed this implant into the collarbone to stimulate the creation of the callus and help speed up the consolidation of the bone. The operation lasted two hours.”

Yamaha is yet to announce if Lorenzo will try to ride at Laguna Seca next week, before the championship stops for the summer break to resume in August at Indianapolis.

via TWOWHEELSBLOG

2013 Bentley Continental GT3 revealed

Without a doubt one of the most exciting race cars to debut in the last year has been the Continental GT3 from Bentley. The car will be making its on-track debut at Goodwood this weekend, and as part of the occasion Bentley has released this video clip showing the car in action. Even though it’s being driven lightly in a lot of this video, you can still sense just how cool this thing. The 600 horsepower twin turbo V8 makes some beautiful music and the car looks flat-out amazing. The Continental GT3 is scheduled to enter the FIA Blancpain Series in 2014.

-Mike

Marc Marequez takes pole position Sachsenring

Marc Marquez took his third pole position of the 2013 season (Austin and Le Mans) in today’s qualifying session at the German circuit at Sachsenring.

The MotoGP rookie had absolutely no qualms of blasting his Repsol Honda around the track - considering all the crashes that happened during the four practice sessions that kept the doctors at the Clinica Mobile very busy.

With a best lap of 1.21.311 Marquez pushed a suffering and heroic Cal Crutchlow (after his two crashes on Friday) and Valentino Rossi to second and third. For Crutchlow this is his fourth front row start (he was on pole at Assen) of the season, while for Valentino Rossi you have to go back two years, Estoril 2010.

The Yamaha factory rider and Tech3 satellite rider were separated by a mere 0.059s, with Crutchlow pipping the Italian for second by grabbing a tow.

Stefan Bradl slid out at turn 3 after taking a provisional fourth sport during the first half of the session, and he rejoined uninjured and will take off in fourth.

The most impressive rider of Q2 was without a doubt - and all weekend so far - was Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro. The ART rider qualified fifth and a little less than six tenths from Marquez! The track layout and cool temperatures have helped the Spaniard according team boss ‘Aspar’ Martinez.

Ducati riders Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso were sixth and ninth, while Bradley Smith will take off in seventh with Alvaro Bautista beside him in 8th.

CRT riders Claudio Corti and Danilo Petrucci who were the fastest riders in Q1 and took part in Q2 were 10th and 11th.
If Dani Pedrosa decides to race tomorrow he will start in 12th.

2013 MotoGP Sachsenring starting grid:

01- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V
02- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1
03- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1
04- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V
05- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP13
06- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13
07- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1
08- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V
09- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13
10- Claudio Corti – NGM Mobile Forward Racing – FTR Kawasaki
11- Danilo Petrucci – CAME Iodaracing Project – Ioda Suter BMW

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

Handmade in Canadian wood: The boats of Muskoka

Greavette, Duke and Ditchburn are famous names in Canadian boat-building – and they all hail from the Muskoka region which, in the 1930s, was central to the wooden boat-building industry of the north American continent.

The beautiful scenery of the Muskoka region had become popular in the 1920s with timber barons and industrialists, who built their summer vacation homes on the shores of the sparkling lakes. This meant there was an illustrious clientele for an elegant and sporty style of locomotion on the water – first satisfied by elegant American runabouts, and then by the small local boatyards that had previously built canoes, but now turned their attentions to motorised water transport.

Some of them still exist today, such as the shipyard founded in 1924, Duke Boats in Port Carling. Behind the white wooden façade, handmade wooden boats are still built here, although the majority of the work undertaken today is restoration.

In the 1950s, water travel was still a fairly tranquil affair but it wasn’t long before the peace was somewhat compromised by the arrival of the new, fashionable hydroplanes. Later came racing boats, many with 300bhp-plus engines, that seemed almost to fly across the water: but all was not lost. Today, almost every weekend sees meetings of wooden boats on the clear water of the Muskoka lakes.

Auctions | Yachts

Ventnor Boats K2 Runabout

P.O.R.

Market | Yachts

Einzelbau 33 Classic Runabout

EUR 550 000

Auctions | Yachts

Timossi Maserati KD-13

P.O.R.

Auctions | Yachts

Guess DeSoto F-4 26

Fiat 500 Abarth: here's one made of women in body paint /video

The idea came from Abarth and Fiat, that saw a good opportunity to promote their Fiat 500 Abarth in a pretty effective and fashionable way - and recently they’ve been quite good at that, actually. What they did it’s a one-of-a-kind print ad called “Body Paint” that will make its debut - quite appropriately - in this year’s annual ESPN The Magazine’s ‘Body Issue’, the one that is entirely devoted to the human body and its beauty.

Seventeen female artists, models and contortionists in body paint came together to form the shape of a the Fiat 500 Abarth Cabrio with just their human bodies, and we have to say they did a really nice job. Apart from these ambitious and beautiful body paint photos, you can also see here a cool behind-the-scenes video that allows us to appreciate the techniques used by artists to coordinate the position of the girls to create the forms of the Italian hot-hatch (and also shows us this was for real and not the work of some skilled photoshopper).

Jason Stoicevich, Head of FIAT Brand North America, commented:

“We wanted to create a concept for ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue that was as visually unique as the Fiat 500 Abarth Cabrio. The notion of the ‘Body Paint’ print ad conveying athletic grace in a magazine that specifically devotes itself to covering athletes around the world sparked a perfect union for the FIAT Brand.”

for EUROCABLOG

Marc Marquez lead FP3 as Dani Pedrosa suffers huge highside

After Friday’s crash fest during MotoGP’s two practice sessions at Sachsenring and consequently lose main title contender Jorge Lorenzo for the weekend, this morning’s third session opened to cold track, just 15°, and under cloudy skies.

However, as soon as the pitlane opened it and the riders headed out for their first out lap and then it started to rain lightly, and all the riders returned to the safety of their pits, as it was too risky to ride on slicks and still to dry for wet tires.

After a few minutes, a few riders headed out to check the conditions and disaster struck Dani Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda rider lost the rear of his RC213V at turn 1 and went into a massive highside, landing hard on his left shoulder and still kneeling in the gravel pit with a panicked look in his eyes, grabbed his left shoulder/collarbone. The rider passed the rest of the session in the Clinica Mobile being assessed, with the latest news reporting that he has no fractures.

Just a few minutes later Bryan Staring crashed out at turn 11, but he managed to walk away, while Hector Barbera was less lucky as he tumbled through the gravel pit hurting his foot or ankle, and limped away assisted by the marshals.

The fastest rider of the session and of the weekend so far and the only rider to break the 1.22 mark was Marc Marquez. The MotoGP rookie blasted out a stunning 1.21.903 as the chequered flag was waved.

Marquez doing a hot lap is pretty normal, but the biggest suprise was Aleix Espargaro who set the second best time with his Aprilia ART and he was just 0.226s from his fellow countryman and once again qualified directly for the Q2.

Valentino Rossi, probably thinking of his team mate’s crash and seeing Dani Pedrosa injured, was more cautious and he was third and followed by a very battered and bruised Cal Crutchlow who shook off both crashes yesterday.

Stefan Bradl who was top rider in yesterday’s FP2 took fifth, and the German, Rossi and Crutchlow were separated by a mere 0.083s.

Alvaro Bautista was sixth ahead of Bradley Smith, with three Ducati riders following, Nicky Hayden, Andrea Iannone, and Andrea Dovizioso closing out the top ten and made it into Q2 because of Lorenzo’s pullout.

2013 MotoGP Sachsenring FP3 results:

01- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’21.903
02- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP13 – + 0.226
03- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.403
04- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.474
05- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 0.486
06- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 0.711
07- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.855
08- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 0.971
09- Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.128
10- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.160
11- Randy De Puniet – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP13 – + 1.271

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

LONG NOSES AND KAMM TAILS: AMOC SPOTLIGHTS

The Aston Martin Owner’s Club meeting at the Brands Hatch Centenary Meeting provided a whole lot more eye candy than just the produce of Newport Pagnell and Gaydon – though that would have been enough to satisfy most – and the chance to get a good look at a whole host of rare racers. This set of spotlights kicks off with a quartet where it’s all about what’s up front, before taking a look at what’s hanging out back for the final pair.

First up, the hugely long, unmistakeable nose of a Marcos. Born from the ’60s, Marcos GTs became the bedrock of the national British GT series during the ’90s, but it’s the grace of their early output that has always intrigued me – such as this 1963 1800GT. Inside the long nose was the inline four from a Volvo P1800, and the 1800GT was based on a wood-ply chassis. A carbon fibre tech centre this is not, but that doesn’t make it any less of an exciting car to race.

I just think they always looked ahead of their time. The curving rear shoulders and almost Aston grille-like shape of the Kamm tail are a signature of the majority of Marcos’ output, and dare I say that its long lines evoke a more muscular (and flattened!) E-Type. The colour scheme of this 1800GT was particularly effective as well – and the numberplate appropriate!

Peering through the porthole in the window, you get an idea of how cramped things are in the cockpit. At least, there’s actually no real shortage of space side to side, but with the big and boxy transmission tunnel bisecting the car, the driver is shoved right up against the door, down low in a narrow aperture. And when I say low, I mean really low. The roofline is just 43 inches off the ground!

Then, just think about having six feet of bonnet in front. If you take the driver’s eye-line and extrapolate that out, there must be about 20 feet of dead zone in front of the car… Not really being able to see has always been a classic Marcos trait (think of the brutal LM600 Evo of the ’90s for instance). A stunning racer though.

Moving across to my first Aston Martin, I’m going to slightly cheat and show a couple of cars in one. Brands Hatch showed off two Le Mans racers from Aston Martin, the DP212 and 214 from ’62 and ’63. Yet more rare sights on a weekend rich with surprises.

The 212 was based on a DB4GT, with an elongated nose and tail to cope with the high speeds of Le Mans. The original car had a more rounded tail and suffered from terrible stability at speed; it currently sports the Kamm tail that was added following tests after the 24 Hours, a design that was then also utilised for the DB6 road car and the following year’s Le Mans.

Graham Hill and Richie Ginther drove the DP212 in ’62 – it wasn’t stable, but it was fast, even leading early on before being hobbled by piston failure six hours in. This unique DP212 has been in pretty much constant competition ever since, and is still the original chassis underneath. Fifty years not out!

The DP212 was replaced for 1963 by a pair of DP214s, using lessons learned from the previous year. The body was wider still, and the Kamm tail cured the stability problem, but despite prodigious speed cracked pistons once again took the cars out of contention at Le Mans.

Of the two original cars, one was destroyed in a race at the Nürburgring in 1964 and the other survives despite a big crash at the Goodwood Revival last year. This car, owned by the same driver as the genuine DP212, is a ’70s recreation, but that didn’t make it any less upsetting when I witnessed him coming round Sheene curve at Brands to find another car stationary and broadside across the track. Luckily it was only a glancing blow to one corner…

I talked in my first story from AMOC about blunt force trauma, so it’s time to turn to a couple of cars that completely follow that ethos: stuffing big V8s under the bonnet and turning them all the way up. With TVR supposedly near to being back in business, I thought it’s about time we paid tribute to the original Griffith, with this 400 from 1965.

This is another Anglo-American success story in the mould of the Cobra. The American Griffith Motorcar Company took the UK’s four-cylinder TVR Grantura MkIII and shoe-horned a 4.7-litre Ford 289 ‘HiPo’ Windsor V8 into it.

The results were predictable. Three hundred V8 horses in a chassis akin to a go-kart. They’re as fun to watch (and hear) now as they ever were.

The Griffith was a squat car with a squashed profile: just check out the difference in track between front and rear. The acres of glass at the rear gave great visibility…

… but with the short wheelbase the story was similar to the Marcos. Worse in fact, as the pedals are even more offset. A car for long-distance racing this isn’t! Still, imagine driving one…

From a short wheelbase V8 go-kart to a huge battleship of a GT: an Aston Martin V8 from 1976.

Where is subtlety? Gone. Destroyed with a hammer. Three of these glorious brutes were out at Brands, with this being the least subtle of the lot. It was awesome to watch, nosing its way round corners before rearing up and blasting down the straights.

The road car was already fast, despite its size and weight, so the stripped-out race cars were even more full-on, especially with this firepower up front: a 5.4 litre development of the Aston Martin Lagonda V8.

Inside, you’re definitely not suffering from the cramped conditions of the TVR or Marcos…

… in fact, even the passenger seemed pretty comfortable!

From the monster big to the teensy small, and an Abarth 850TC from 1963 complete with obligatory suicide doors.

The Abarth badge still brings a sparkle to otherwise pedestrian FIATs, and the 850TC was a right terrier.

Naturally the tail is propped open to help cool the little 1.0-litre, four-cylinder Autobianchi Abarth A112.

It’s impossible not to like these little buzz boxes, and this one was immaculately prepared, sharing an awning with a larger Lancia Aurelia run by the same team.

This replica wasn’t running as extreme camber as some I’ve seen, but was still looking great.

The final car I wanted to pick up on is at the other end of the scale in every sense: age, materials, speed and downforce. It’s the modern descendent of the classic DB4 GT Zagato: the 50-year younger daughter.

The front half of the Zagato GT might be relatively regular current Aston, but the rear styling is what really makes it, with the bubble roof, slash cockpit line, high waist and pointed tail – as well as the huge GT3 wing and carbon diffuser. It’s now run by the Young Driver team in the VLN for a pair of Danes who obviously have a sense of humour…

The Zagato was sporting some serious exhaust muffling in order to run at Brands Hatch: a second can was added before it went out of course. We wouldn’t want the poor dears who moved into a house next a racing track to be disturbed, would we?

Like the original, only 19 were built, so the modern V12 Zagato is a rare beast. I’d only seen a Zagato GT once before, run by the factory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours last year…

… and like the original holds its own on the track as well as the road.

Jonathan Moore