MOTO GP : Lorenzo et Rossi second et sixième du premier jour à Jerez / Second and sixth for Lorenzo and Rossi on day one

Les pilotes du team Movistar Yamaha MotoGP se sont classés deuxième et sixième dans la chaleur vendredi au Grand Prix bwin d’Espagne.

Les deux pilotes ont, comme leurs adversaires, perdu en grip vendredi après-midi lorsque les températures de piste sont montées au-dessus des 50°C pour la seconde séance d’essais de la journée. Jorge Lorenzo s’est classé deuxième, à 0.357s d’Aleix Espargaró, qui a comme lui réalisé son meilleur chrono le matin.

Valentino Rossi a terminé en sixième position, à moins de quatre dixièmes de son coéquipier. Les deux ont eu l’occasion d’essayer un nouveau châssis pour leurs YZR-M1, dont l’objectif est d’améliorer la stabilité au freinage. Les premiers résultats étaient positifs et permettront aux ingénieurs de Yamaha de poursuivre leur travail dans la bonne direction.

« L’état de la piste a beaucoup changé entre le matin et l’après-midi, » a commenté Lorenzo. « Ça glissait beaucoup plus et nous avons dû essayer l’autre pneu arrière. Il nous a posé des problèmes, comme au Qatar, parce qu’il y a moins de grip et que la moto devient plus nerveuse. Nous sommes cependant beaucoup plus proches des autres et je pense que nous pouvons réduire l’écart. »

Rossi s’est de son côté dit satisfait de ses tests avec le nouveau châssis : « Nous avons essayé un châssis différent aujourd’hui, qui change surtout la stabilité au freinage, et mes premières impressions n’étaient pas mauvaises. C’est simplement une étape pour comprendre dans quelle direction nous devons avancer. La piste était très glissante et c’était difficile de travailler avec les pneus avant et arrière dans ces hautes températures. La moto est difficile à contrôler et glisse beaucoup. Notre rythme n’est pas mauvais par rapport aux autres, je crois que nous avons fait du bon travail et maintenant nous devons continuer comme ça. »

As the Gran Premio bwin de España got underway at a scorching hot Jerez on Friday, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were second and sixth respectively on the combined timesheet.

The experienced pair made progress despite a track temperature of around 50°C, making a lack of grip an increasing issue in the second session. Lorenzo ended the day in second overall with a best lap of 1’39.714, 0.357s from first.

Teammate Rossi was sixth with a 1’40.125 lap, less than four tenths from Lorenzo. The major challenge for both riders proved to be a lack of rear grip so the team will now work to make improvements for both set ups ahead of Saturday’s third free practice session.

Lorenzo and Rossi also tested a new chassis for their YZR-M1 to improve the bike’s stability under braking. Positive results were obtained, giving Yamaha’s Japanese engineers a clear direction to continue development.

Lorenzo stated, “The track changed so much from the morning to the afternoon, it was much more slippery and we had to try the different rear tyre. Like in Qatar it gave us the same problems with less grip and the bike then feels nervous. We are much closer than before though and I think we can close the gap.”

Rossi added, “We tried a different chassis today especially for the braking stability and the first impression is not so bad, it’s just a small step to understand the way to go. The track is very greasy so it’s difficult with the front and rear tyres with the high temperatures. It's difficult to control the bike and it slides a lot. Compared to the other top guys the pace is not so bad so it looks like we have worked well so far and now have to continue.”

24h motonautiques de Rouen : Nollet à l'arrachée !!!

Nous arrivons au terme de cette course 2014 qui fut une nouvelle fois passionnante dans toutes les categories representées.

En classe 3:

Apres un départ sur un rythme tres élevé pour une course d'endurance, plusieurs teams ( Team Nollet 1 et 2 , Team Autovision Tullio Abbate ainsi que le team pégase ) se livrent une lutte acharnée pour la prendre le leadership de la course. Le premier à jetter l'éponge sera le team Autovision Tullio Abbate sur rupture moteur.  Le team Pégase sera contraint quant à lui à retour au stand avant la toute fin de la première session, un piston ayant "fait des siennes" lors de la 13 heures de course. Le moteur sera remis en état et le bateau finira la course en 3ème position de la classe 3, derrière  le bateau n° 2 du team Nollet qui, lui, n 'a pratiquement jamais connu le gruttage lors de cette édition. Le bateau N° 1 du team Nollet que l'on pressentait vainqueur depuis la reprise de ce matin a pour sa part  jouer les nerfs du public avec un retour au stand a 50 minutes de la fin suite à la casse d'un cylindre. La volonté farouche de son pilote du moment Mr Peter MORIN et de l'ensemble du team a eu raison de ce mauvais coup du sort, le bateau ayan été remis à l'eau justa avant la fin officielle des grutage pour naviger à vitesse réduite vers la victoire.

En classe 2:

La bagarre fit rage durant la totalité de la course entre deux teams avec deux bateaux chacuns, les teams Navikart et New Star qui se livraient une belle empoignade ou aucun ne prennait un réel avantage. Après uune alerte pour le bateau N° 32 de chez Navikart, le bateau N° 20 de New Star s'envola pour finir sa course sur le dos et perdre toute chance d'atteindre la ligne d'arrivée. Le bateau 22 (New Star 2), bien que victime de trois retour au stand, continua seule de défendre les couleurs russes contre les 2 bateaux de chez Navikart, qui eurent raison de lui en toute fin de course. Le team Navikart s'empare donc des 2 premieres places de la classe le 35 finissant devant le 32 .

En classe 1 : 

Durant la première moitié de course, beaucoup de changement ont eu lieu en tête de cette classe qui fut la plus representer au depart de cette course. Vers la fin de soirée de jeudi, un classement commenca à se dessiner. Les bateaux 70 (Viking inshore club) et 77  (Bray inshore racing) n'étant séparer aprés 24 heures que de 4 tours, ce qui en dit long sur l intensité qui devait regner à bord des bolides et dans les équipages. Quant au troisieme, il s'agit du bateau N° 88 (marine inshore) qui a toujours une menace presente pour les deux premiers.

best off

photos Pierre Xavier via site officiel

CHEVROLET CERV II

The Chevrolet CERV II is one of those historical curiosities that, in an alternate reality, could have been as famous as the Ford GT40.

The CERV II (that stands for Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle) was the follow on from the CERV I, an open-wheeled technology testbed for Chevrolet. The CERV II was designed to be far more than just a technology testbed, the project was the brainchild of Zora Arkus-Duntov – the man known as the “Father of the Corvette”, and it was destined to be the car that took the fight to Ford and the Ferraris.

Duntov had Tom Lapine and Larry Shinoda design the car, their project brief was to design a mid-engined car capable of racing against the Ford GT40 and winning. Like the GT40, the CERV II had a space-frame monocoque chassis, a mid-mounted V8 and made extensive use of aluminium and magnesium to keep the weight as low as possible.

Interestingly, the car had a 4-wheel drive system with variable power delivery. Power would be sent to both the front and rear wheels with a rear-wheel bias at higher speeds, this allowed the four-wheel drive system to contribute greatly to acceleration and handling – making the car a genuine threat to Ford’s all conquering GT40.

Sadly, the bean-counters at Chevrolet nixed the project before it had a chance to race. Initial testing by Jim Hall, Roger Penske and Bob Clift proved beyond a doubt that the CERV II was a veritable beast on the track with a 0-62 time of 2.8 seconds and a top speed in excess of 200mph. The fact that this thing never got a fair fight with the GT40 is one of the great travesties of the 1960s, hopefully one day a billionaire with taste will make it happen. Preferably at Le Mans. In the rain.

If you already have a GT40 and you’d like to set up a racetrack duel you might be interested to know that the CERV II is coming up for auction on the 21st of November 2013. It’ll be one of the headline offerings at the Art of the Automobile auction held by RM Auctions, if you’d like to read more you can click here to view the official listing.

Photo Credits: Michael Furman

via SILODROME

24h motonautiques de Rouen : petit matin pluvieux

photos Pierre Xavier

The Solid SOUL by Ride and Pride

Everybody got soul but not everyone neither can realise nor to touch.
For us, Bikes...the endless roads, the waving grass fields passing by… friendships… smiles and laughing when we were in the BBQ party… grins behind the smoke shield… are our soul.

And yes, its concentrated until it’s "Solid form” becomes Solid enough and pushes us through days and nights until it becomes our character… and in the end it becomes our... "style”.

We’re Ride and Pride

DRIFTER BIKES GB500

Paul Stanner from Sydney is one of those guys who, by the sounds of things, has life pretty dialled in.  By day he’s a Land Surveyor, probably measuring up pieces of ground wondering what sort of amazing workshop could be constructed or whether a dirt oval would fit between the perimeter fences.  When Paul isn’t surfing, being the family man or making music he can be found at Drifter Bikes HQ, in the backyard of his house letting loose with the tools. He refers to himself as a ‘jerk’, but he must be a competent jerk as Deus awarded his SR ‘Buckshot’ 1st prize at Festival of Thump a few weeks ago.

As if Ozzies weren’t lucky enough, blessed with awesome weather, fantastic country roads, wonderful beaches etc etc, they are also close-ish to Japan and there’s a more plentiful supply of donor bikes that are relatively rare on UK shores.  (All of the stingy and bitey things over there is just plain karma).  This Honda GB500 TT was in a pretty sorry state when it reached Paul’s shed and the brief was “racey, nuggety and for everyday riding”, so there was a fair bit to do.  Google Foreigner reckons nuggety means a stocky person so we’ll assume fast and fat with a metal flake paint job was what he meant.

As standard bikes go, the rear of a GB isn’t too cluttered but Paul wanted to hide some wiring under the seat so looped the rear of the frame and buried what he could beneath.  Eastcoast Trimshop stitched a Tuckroll seat cover with closed cell foam inside, which doesn’t soak in the water like the reconstituted stuff.  Not that Paul need worry, he’ll see that round, yellow, hot thing in the big blue sky which will dry out even the most absorbent of foams.  For us Pomms, I am referring to that thing called the sun.

The original tank offers pretty good capacity, handy for getting around spread-out Sydney, so Smith Concepts were given free reign to work their magic.  The tangerine metal flake and scales look really rather good, perhaps even nuggety.  The less fancy fluids are kept down below, a custom aluminium battery box and oil tank are hidden as well as possible.  Ditching the electric start was not an option as nobody likes kicking over a hot half-litre single when it’s 40 degrees in the shade.  The exhaust has been soda blasted clean and lightly sanded for a matt look, with a GP Extreme muffler knocking off just a couple of decibels.

The engine was also blasted and given a coat of clear corrosion resistant lacquer due to the proximity to the coast. Seriously, dry seats, electric start, seawater-proof engines, you lot down under really have it tough.  The wheels had their turn in the blast cabinet before powder coat and fitting of a fresh set of Pirelli Scorpion MT90s.  Fork internals are new and the front mudguard has been on a diet for a sleeker look.  The headlight and speedo are new, as are the clip-ons.  Overall the stance is more squat and purposeful with the rider sitting more in the bike than on it.

Paul is keen to get back to the bench and build another bike, and we’d love to see the finished article in The Shed. Take a look at his website for pictures of previous builds and a heads-up on the next project.

Oh, and Paul, when it’s grey and wet here in London and you’re downunder there with sand between your toes, grease under your nails and sun on your back, we think you’re a jerk too.

via the bike shed

Monster Energy: BJ Baldwin 2013 Baja 1000 Champion!

Get an exclusive look at BJ Baldwin's return to Baja as he battles his way back to the top for his 2nd consecutive Baja 1000 title... Ironman style! 

From pre-running to the finish line, we captured it all...



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24h motonautiques de Rouen retour à la nuit !!!