ACE CAFE RADIO

    lundi 30 septembre 2013

    MOTOCORSA PRESENTS: THE 1199 TERRACORSA



    We've been called a lot of things, but "not crazy" has never made the list. So, when Arun and our good friend Quentin Wilson from Ducati started preparing for their annual trip to Eastern Oregon for some off-roading, the subject of Arun's track Panigale came up. It had hit the deck once, so it was a great candidate to turn into something truly awesome.
    What resulted from a lot of brainstorming and a few rounds of digging through parts piles may be (we'll say it) the most badass Panigale to date.
    Some may say that taking a bike like this off-road is a questionable choice. We agree, but we're going to do it anyway. Why? Because TerraCorsa, that's why.

    PORSCHE : RWB Japan


    UN PREMIER DOUBLÉ POUR LE SÉBASTIEN LOEB RACING / A WIN AND THE TEAM’S FIRST 1-2 FINISH FOR SÉBASTIEN LOEB RACING



    Sur le circuit de Navarra en Espagne, là où le team avait entamé sa préparation hivernale il y a plusieurs mois, le Sébastien Loeb Racing a concrétisé le potentiel si souvent montré en FIA GT Series. Tout d'abord avec une troisième victoire dans la course qualificative pour Sébastien Loeb et Alvaro Parente, complétée par une superbe remontée de Mike Parisy et Andreas Zuber, cinquièmes après s'être élancés du 18e rang ! Ensuite par un doublé dans la course de championnat avec les deux voitures aux deux premières places ! L'équipe alsacienne a ainsi confirmé l'étendue de ses qualités. L'excellent week-end en terres hispaniques vient à point nommé pour saluer la détermination de la structure dirigée par Dominique Heintz et Sébastien Loeb, et récompenser tout son travail.

    Réactions.
    Alvaro Parente McLaren MP4-12C #9, 1er course de qualification et course de championnat : « Cette victoire dans la course de championnat a été longue à venir mais nous la tenons ! Nous avons été très forts tout le week-end depuis les essais libres jusqu'à la deuxième course, et ce dans toutes les conditions, sur le sec ou sur le mouillé. C'est un travail parfait ! Nous étions à l'aise, nous avions tout sous contrôle et nous étions très rapides. C'est un sentiment très agréable d'avoir concrétisé ! Nous avons été malchanceux depuis le début de la saison mais ce meeting démontre que lorsque nous sommes épargnés par les faits de courses, nous pointons en tête. »

    Andreas Zuber. McLaren MP4-12C #10, 5e course de qualification et 2e course de championnat: « Fantastique! Après des qualifications difficiles, Mike a sorti le grand jeu dans la première course ! Il gère très bien son départ et le premier tour de course pour finalement me donner le volant à la 13e position (après être parti 18e). La voiture était incroyable ce week-end et j'ai pu remonter jusqu'à la 5e place. Pour la course de championnat, j'ai pris un très bon départ en venant sur la droite le long du mur des stands pour venir me mettre dans les roues de Sébastien. Nous sommes restés de nombreux tours ensemble. C''était assez facile de le suivre et nous avions un bon rythme jusqu'à ma crevaison qui me coute 8 ou 9 secondes. Je suis très heureux de ce résultat surtout pour l'équipe qui a fait un très bon travail comme toujours. »

    Mike Parisy. McLaren MP4-12C #10, 5e course de qualification et 2e course de championnat : « Notre voiture était parfaite ! Le team a comme toujours très bien travaillé. La course de qualification était un peu délicate car nous sommes partis 18e. Je n'avais pas le choix, il fallait que j'attaque dès les premiers mètres pour revenir au milieu du peloton... en faisant un peu ma place. Andreas et moi, nous nous sommes parfaitement complétés, toujours en position d'attaque. Nous nous sommes montrés constants, expérimentés et rapides. Nous avons été malchanceux depuis le début de la saison, mais pas ce week-end. Avoir la possibilité de s'exprimer de la plus belle des façons fait beaucoup plaisir. Merci à toute l'équipe. »

    Course qualificative.
    Alors que tous les concurrents sont déjà sur la grille de départ de la course qualificative, la pluie détrempe la piste de Navarra obligeant les techniciens à remplacer des pneus slicks par des « pluie ». A l'extinction des feux, les pilotes se lancent dans l'inconnu. Pour Alvaro Parente, la seule boucle de reconnaissance suffit. Le Portugais réalise un départ dont il a le secret et bondit de la seconde ligne pour prendre la tête. Irrésistible au volant de la McLaren #9 du Sébastien Loeb Racing, il fait cavalier seul jusqu'à son passage de témoin avec plus de 10 secondes d'avance !

    Derrière, les choses semblaient mal engagées pour la voiture sœur mais c'était sans compter sur la détermination de Mike Parisy. Parti 18e, le Palois boucle son premier tour 14e puis est compté 12e dans le passage suivant. Il est au cœur d'une âpre bataille avec deux BMW, une Mercedes et une Nissan, le tout, roues dans roues jusqu'à l'arrêt ravitaillement réglementaire. Premier pilote de l'équipe de Soultz-sous-Forêt à relayer, Sébastien Loeb reprend la piste aux commandes, après un pit stop parfaitement géré avec un capital de 8 secondes d'avance sur son plus proche rival. Il est imité dans le tour suivant par Andreas Zuber coéquipier de Mike Parisy. 10e à sa sortie des stands, le pilote de la McLaren #10 part le couteau entre les dents. Il passe les deux BMW #puis une Audi. Même la pluie qui réapparaît ne tempère pas les ardeurs de l'Autrichien qui a dans son viseur un trio composé d'une Mercedes et deux Audi. Au terme de ces dernières passes d'arme, Andi gagne sa place dans le top 5, juste avant le drapeau à damier.Pour la troisième fois, sur cinq, depuis le début de la saison, le duo Parente/Loeb gagne la course qualificative du FIA GT Series et le billet pour la pole position de la course de championnat.

    Course de Championnat.
    Parfaitement parti à l'extinction des feux depuis la position de tête, Sébastien Loeb est rapidement rejoint par son équipier Andy Zuber qui gagne trois positions avant même la fin du premier virage ! Piste libre devant elles, les deux McLaren s'échappent comme à la parade. Aucun des concurrents ne parvient à contester le rythme qu'elles imposent, à tel point qu'au bout d'un quart d'heure, l'escadrille du Sébastien Loeb Racing compte 7 secondes d'avance sur le premier poursuivant.

    A chaque tour, Sébastien et Andy enfoncent le clou et augmentent leur avance. Même la crevaison qui pénalisera Andy avant son arrêt réglementaire ne permettra pas à ses poursuivants de revenir au contact !

    Une fois la fenêtre d'arrêt aux stands fermée, la McLaren # 9, maintenant aux mains d'Alvaro Parente, est toujours leader devant Mike Parisy et la #10. Si le Palois est suivi de très près par une Audi, il ne tarde pas à le distancer et à creuser un écart de 10 secondes entre eux.

    A l'issue de cette course déroulée sans accroc, le Sébastien Loeb Racing signe son premier doublé en FIA GT Series après une domination sans partage : le tandem Loeb/Parente l'emporte devant le duo Zuber/Parisy.

    A WIN AND THE TEAM’S FIRST 1-2 FINISH FOR SÉBASTIEN LOEB RACING



    On the Spanish Navarra circuit, the same location the team had performed its winter preparations several months ago, Sébastien Loeb Racing confirmed its potential so often shown this year in FIA GT Series. First it was a third consecutive victory in the qualifying race for Sébastien Loeb and Alvaro Parente, complemented by a great comeback from teammates Mike Parisy and Andreas Zuber, finishing fifth after starting 18th! Then it was on to the championship race where the two cars finished in the top two positions ! The Alsacian team therefore confirmed the breadth of its qualities. The team's excellent performance on the Iberian peninsula comes at a perfect time to recognize the hard work and determination put forth by the entire team led by Dominique Heintz and Sébastien Loeb.


    Reactions.
    Alvaro Parente McLaren MP4-12C #9, 1st in both qualifying and championship races: « This championship race victory was a long time in the making but we got it ! We were really strong all weekend from practice to the second race, and under all conditions, dry or wet. It was a perfect job done by everyone ! We were comfortable, we had everything under control and we were quick. It's a really good feeling to have finally confirmed our strengths ! We've been unlucky since the start of the season but this weekend shows that when we are spared from racing incidents, we're up front. »

    Andreas Zuber. McLaren MP4-12C #10, 5th qualifying race and 2nd championship race : « Fantastic! After a difficult qualifying session, Mike laid it all out on the line in the first race. He had a great start and first lap to finally hand me the car in 13th place (after starting 18th). The car was incredible this weekend and I was able to finish in fifth place. For the championship race, I got a really good start and got close to the pit wall to make passes, ending up behind Sébastien. We stayed together for several laps. I was relatively easy to follow him and we had good pace until my tire puncture which cost us 8 or 9 seconds. I'm very happy with the result, especially for the team who did a great job as usual.. »

    Mike Parisy. McLaren MP4-12C #10, 5th qualifying race and 2nd championship race : « Our car was perfect ! The team worked really well, as usual. The qualifying race was a little dicey for us because we started 18th. I didn't have a choice, I had to attack from the start in order to reach the middle of the pack...by forcing my way a little. Andreas and I, we complemented each other perfectly, always in a position to attack. We showed our consistency, experience, and speed. We've been unlucky since the start of the season, but not this weekend. To finally be able to express ourselves in the best of ways is something that gives me great joy. Thanks to the entire team. »

    Qualifying race.
    As the cars on the grid get ready for the first race, rain soaks the Navarra track and forces teams to change from slicks to rain tires. As the starting lights go out, the drivers launch into the unknown. For Alvaro Parente, the single reconnaissance lap was enough. The Portugese driver has an incredible start and jumps from the second row to the lead. Untouchable in the No.9 Sébastien Loeb Racing Mclaren, he remains alone in the lead until he makes his first pitstop with a 10 second lead !

    Behind, things seemed to be off to a bad start for the sister car, but that was without counting on Mike Parisy's determination. Starting 18th, the Frenchman completes the first lap in 14th then the second in 12th. He is at the heart of a fierce battle with two BMWs, a Mercedes and a Nissan ; wheel to wheel action until the first stops.

    The first driver to take over for the Soultz-sous-Forêt based team, Sébastien Loeb, rejoins the track with an eight second lead after a perfectly managed pitstop from his team. The same for his teammate, Andreas Zuber, who takes over for Mike Parisy, 10th after exiting the pits. The driver of the No.10 McLaren is full throttle. He passes the two BMWs and an Audi. Even the reappearance of rain can't stop the Austrian driver who now has a Mercedes and two Audis in his sights. As he overtakes these competitors, Andi makes his way to the top five, just before the checkered flag.

    For the third time in five tries since the start of the season, the Parente/Loeb duo have won the qualifying race in the FIA GT Series, and therefore pole position for the following championship race.

    Championship race.
    With a perfectly timed start, Sébastien Loeb is quickly joined by teammate Andy Zuber, who takes three positions before the exit of the first corner ! With a clear track ahead of them, the two McLarens run away from the pack. No competitor can challenge their pace, to the point that after 15 minutes, the Sébastien Loeb Racing parade has a 7 second lead on the third place car.

    With each lap, Sébastien and Andy hammer the nail in just a bit more. Even a puncture that would penalise Andi before his first stop doesn't allow his chasers to catch up !

    As soon as the pitstop window is closed, the No.9 McLaren, now at the hands of Alvaro Parente, is still the leader ahead of Mike Parisy in the No.10. Although the Frenchman is closely followed by an Audi, it doesn't take long for him to widen the gap to 10 seconds.

    At the end of this nearly flawless race, Sébastien Loeb Racing takes its first 1-2 finish in the FIA GT Series after dominating the event: Loeb/Parente takes the win, with Zuber/Parisy second.

    911 TO THE EXTREME: THE 935/78 MOBY DICK


    There’s a legend of a long-tailed monster that roamed the race tracks of the late 1970s. Many have heard of it, though few have seen it to confirm the truth of its existence. It’s rumoured to have been part racing car, part monster. Somewhere underneath its elongated body was supposedly a Porsche 911, though that was difficult to believe. It oozed power: long straights disappeared in seconds. It spat flame: 850hp of twin-turbocharged insanity lurked in the rear. It ate the opposition for breakfast.
    Me, I know the legend is real. I’ve seen it. I know the Moby Dick lives and breathes, even today…
    I caught my first glimpse of a Porsche 935/78 at this year’s Goodwood Festival Of Speed, with Porsche’s museum car on show as part of the Martini anniversary celebration. The 935/78 is one of those magical racecars that you don’t necessarily expect to see in real life – but when you do, all the implanted memories and stories come flooding back.
    Ferrari may have long been the chosen ones in Formula 1, with many complaining of the team’s blessed existence and seeming immunity to rules that others are bound to follow. The same could be said of Porsche in sportscars, which is perhaps why it often stays chastely silent on the subject of others pushing rulebooks. Porsche has always explored the boundaries in sportscars.
    There was the Porsche 911 GT1 of the late ’90s, something supposedly based on a road-going 911 but which in reality had the curve of a rear window and the tail-lights from the real thing. Then back in 1978 was the ultimate iteration of the Porsche 935: the 935/78 – nicknamed Moby Dick.
    With customer cars flooding grids, 935 variants took apart championships across the world between ’76 and ’82, winning a third of the 370 races entered.
    Porsche’s new shovel-nosed 911 930 Turbo road car had been unleashed on the world in 1975, and its racing variant followed the year after. Competing in the perfect storm that was the Group 5 set of silhouette regulations, the 935/76 was the beginning of a series of awesome mutations that took the car to more and more extreme variants.
    The following year’s 935/77 continued the trend, but nothing prepared people for what was to emerge in 1978.
    Hulk style, first the fenders expanded outwards, then the sills, then the wings and aero grew – both by Porsche’s hand and under the warped minds of privateers teams like Kremer. But the mothership outdid them all. Behold the 935/78.
    Loopholes, damn loopholes. BMW’s front-engined 320 had required a rules break to allow the floor to be cut away for the exhaust mounting, so Porsche used that change to remove the entire floor plan of the base 911, lowering the 935/78 by 10cm.
    Aero rules were loose at best, so Porsche’s legendary engineer Norbert Singer was able to stretch out every part of the car’s bodywork for this Le Mans-bound weapon, leaving the remains of the donor 911 stranded in the middle of an island of extravagant fenders and bodywork. For this ultimate iteration, the traditional flat-six was enlarged to 3.2 litres and changed to water-cooled cylinder heads due to the employment of twin overhead camshafts.
    The increased capacity combined with the turbos gave the driver 750hp to deal with, in a car that barely pushed 1,000kg. The heart of the Moby Dick volcano contained the pair of enormous turbos and their epic lag. Speed was the aim, flame was the gain.
    One interesting result of the car’s design brief was that the driving position was moved to the right, to go with the clockwise nature of the Circuit De La Sarthe and to improve weight distribution.
    Vented and cross-drilled brakes improved retardation power (reassuring, given all that power), but the only thing that familiar to previous generation 935s was the cross-braced nose with its fuel tank and fillers.
    The original promotional photoshoot still contains the most beautiful pictures taken of the car, with its ’70s film softness and slight yellowing just adding to the effect.
    The Moby Dick nickname for the 935/78 was an obvious epithet. The tail goes on forever, reaching out back down the track, keeping hold of every last breath of air, and the Martini stripes melt away as if the sheer speed of the car was blowing the red and blue lines down the sides.
    The prototype that was run out at Paul Ricard on the cusp of the season was different in many ways, and not just with the lack of stripes to help define the shape. The prototype’s doors reached out to match the line of the front and rear fenders: one thing that scrutineers wouldn’t pass, so the ‘original’ 911 doors were retrofitted. The rear wing was also refined and raised right up into the airflow by the time the car had its race debut. And it’s amazing the difference a livery can make. Compare the bare prototype…
    … to the look of the car that would be campaigned, with its unique and subtle usage of the Martini colours. Although that can be said of the majority of the brand’s liveries, as each model the famous stripes have adorned use the design in a way that best suit the shape of the car. It’s that ‘melting’ effect and the minimalism that make the impact so effective.
    The legendary status of the Moby Dick is helped by how few races it competed in. The extreme body had been developed specifically for the 1978 Le Mans 24 Hours, but chassis #006 also raced in four other rounds that year.
    The car’s debut was at Silverstone, where it won in the hands of Jochen Mass and Jacky Ickx by seven laps from a chasing Kremer 935. Its pole and fastest lap times were only a couple of seconds slower than at that year’s Formula 1 Grand Prix…
    So Le Mans: the goal for the year. Manfred Shurti and Ralf Stommelen took up the challenge, and qualifying went perfectly. As planned, #43 was obscenely quick down the straights, blasting past even the Group 6 prototypes and achieving a terrifying velocity of 226mph on the run to Mulsanne.
    The car lined up third, but the race went less to plan – niggling engine troubles dropped Moby Dick out of contention at the front, and the pair eventually finished eighth overall, behind even three customer 935s. The final three races were memorable for all the wrong reasons. Ickx and Schurti campaigned Moby Dick at the Six Hours Of Vallelunga, with a DNF the result after the engine failed with just seven minutes to go and the car leading.
    Ickx then drove solo at the Norisring, he finished 21st in the 200 mile Norisring Trophae (brake failure crippled the 935/78) before non-starting in the DRM race that followed, which capped the 935/78′s short but spectacular career. Witnessing the Moby Dick around the stop-start blast bullring of the Norisring must be something that sticks in the mind of everyone who was there… And with that, Moby Dick was retired to the Porsche Museum.
    The story wasn’t over though: a further development, the 935/78-81 chassis, #JR-001, was produced independently by Joest Racing. After an initial run-out in Europe at the 1981 DRM round at Zolder, the car was transported to the States, liveried in another iconic branding scheme – in this case the red and yellow of MOMO – and raced in a whole slew of IMSA weekends.
    The chassis briefly returned to Europe at the beginning of 1982 for the Silverstone World Endurance Championship and DRM Wunstorf races, before a second chassis – #JR002 – was brought out for Le Mans. John Fitzpatrick and David Hobbs ran the JDavid livery to fourth overall, and winning the IMSA GTX class against prototype opposition.
    Both the MOMO and JDavid cars raced on into 1983, using 2.6, 3 and 3.2-litre flat six turbos at various stages (though none as potent as the original Moby Dick), racing in Europe and the USA. There was even one glorious opportunity to see both race side by side at the 1983 Riverside Six Hours, though the race was marred when Rolf Stommelen lost his life in the JDavid car, becoming the only fatality associated with the 935.
    Two 935/78 chassis were built in period by the factory, the race car and a spare, which has recently been built up into a complete car. When will I get to see Moby Dick again? May never, but at least I can now say I’ve paid homage to one of the most gloriously extreme Porsches ever raced.

    Jonathan Moore

    Valentino Rossi to enter VR46 Racing team in Moto3 in 2014


    Despite the usual denials in the last few weeks from Valentino Rossi regarding his entering a Moto3 team in the World championship team in 2014, his project, according the Gazzetta dello Sport has been officially formalized.
    Rossi and his VR46 Racing Team or Team VR46, is one of the 17 applicants that submitted their requests last Friday at the San Marino Grand Prix, that have been provisionally accepted.
    Rossi’s new team will however have to lodge a security deposit, by October, in order to guarantee their entry with details regarding their proposed riders.
    VR46 Racing team is a new step forward for the former World champion after creating the VR46 Riders’ Academy at his Motor Ranch in Tavullia in order to prepare young racing talents.
    For the debut season, the new two rider squad is expected to field two competitive KTM Moto3 machines, and with all probability Romano Fenati will be at the helm of one of the bikes while Rossi’s step brother Luca Marini could be riding the second, if he doesn’t decide to continue to ride in the CEV to gain more experience, with a couple of programmed wildcard appearances in Moto3.
    Rossi will also be collaborating with the Italian Motorcycle Federation to also find new budding Italian racing talents.
    Source | bikeracing.it via Twowheelsblog

    cigarette ??