8 Heures d’Oschersleben : pole provisoire pour SRC Kawasaki / SRC Kawasaki on provisional pole

SRC Kawasaki a décroché la meilleure moyenne en 1.27.466 à l’issue de la première séance d’essais qualificatifs des 8 Heures d’Oschersleben. L’équipage de la Kawasaki n°11 devance le YART 07 et Honda Racing. La meilleure performance individuelle est signée Bastien Mackels au guidon de la BMW stock n°13 de Penz 13 en 1.26.743.

En signant le meilleur temps de leur série respective, Grégory Leblanc (1.26.918) et Fabien Foret (1.27.058) ont permis au SRC Kawasaki de s’emparer de la pole provisoire avec une moyenne d’1.27.467. Matthieu Lagrive, de retour après sa chute lors du warm-up des 8 Heures de Suzuka, a bouclé son tour le plus rapide en 1.28.424.

Relégué à 0.153 seconde, le YART 07 se classe deuxième avec une moyenne d’1.27.619. Broc Parkes a signé le deuxième temps de sa session en 1.26.988. Encore en phase d’apprentissage, Michael Laverty n’a réalisé qu’1.28.250.

Malgré la chute de Julien Da Costa qui a nécessité la neutralisation de la séance par drapeau rouge à cinq minutes du drapeau à damier, Honda Racing pointe à la troisième place en 1.27.673. Très homogènes, les trois pilotes ont réalisé des chronos similaires, 1.27.505 pour Da Costa, 1.27.668 pour Gimbert et 1.27.847 pour Freddy Foray.

Le GMT 94 est quatrième à seulement 0.002 seconde d’Honda Racing. David Checa, Kenny Foray et Mathieu Gines sont crédités d’un temps moyen d’1.27.675.

En signant la meilleure performance individuelle de cette première séance qualificative en 1.26.743, Bastien Mackels hisse la BMW stock de Penz13 à la cinquième position au général et première machine de la catégorie avec une moyenne d’1.27.822. Seuls trois pilotes sont descendus en dessous de la barre d’1.27, Mackels, Leblanc et Parkes.

Le SERT (1.27.980) se classe sixième. Comme lors des essais libres en début d’après-midi, seulement 0,5 seconde sépare les six premières équipes.

Le YART (1.28.271), National Motos (1.28.311), Team Bolliger Switzerland (1.28.500) et  Team R2CL (1.28.578) complètent le Top 10.

Le Junior Team Suzuki LML, onzième au général, pointe à la deuxième place en Stock (1.28.718) devant le Qatar Endurance Racing Team (1.28.738).

La seconde séance d’essais qualificatifs est prévue demain à partir de 13h45, à suivre surwww.motoracinglive.com.

SRC Kawasaki claimed the fastest ‘average’ time in the first qualifying session for the 8 Hours of Oschersleben. The three riders of the N°11 Kawasaki (1m27.466s) finished clear of their YART 07 and Honda Racing rivals, but the best individual lap was the work of Bastien Mackels on Penz 13’s stock BMW (1m26.743).*

SRC Kawasaki’s Grégory Leblanc (1m26.918s) and Fabien Foret (1m27.058s) topped their respective sessions to put their team on pole position with an average time of 1m27.467s, while Matthieu Lagrive – who is back after his warm-up injury at Suzuka – posted a 1m28.424s.

Second-placed YART 07 (+0.153s) secured an average of 1m27.619s and Broc Parkes was the second fastest rider in his session (1m26.988), but Michael Laverty (1m28.250s) is still familiarising himself with the track.

A fall for Julien Da Costa brought the session to halt with five minutes remaining but Honda Racing is still third (1m27.673s) thanks to very similar times from its nicely-balanced trio (Da Costa: 1m27.505s / Gimbert: 1m27.668s / Freddy Foray: 1m27.847s).

GMT 94 follows in fourth spot, just 0.002s short of Honda Racing after David Checa, Kenny Foray and Mathieu Gines produced an average of 1m27.675s.

The fastest man on the track today was Bastien Mackels who recorded a personal best of 1m26.743s to put Penz 13’s stock BMW in fifth place overall and at the top of its class with an average of 1m27.822s. Only three riders lapped in less than 1m27s, namely Mackels, Leblanc and Parkes.

SERT (1m27.980s) was sixth and, as was the case this morning, the top six were covered by just half a second.

The top 10 was rounded off by YART (1m28.271s), National Motos (1m28.311s), Team Bolliger Switzerland (1m28.500s) and Team R2CL (1m28.578s).

Junior Team Suzuki LML (1m28.718s) is 11^th overall and second in the Stock class ahead of Qatar Endurance Racing Team (1m28.738s).

Qualifying 2 will start tomorrow (Friday) at 1:45pm and you will be able to follow the action live atwww.motoracinglive.com.

Rallye Deutschland : Volkswagen en pointe au Shakedown / VW show shakedown speed

Volkswagen Motorsport a envoyé un message très clair à ses concurrents lors du Shakedown ce matin. Jari-Matti Latvala, Sébastien Ogier et Andreas Mikkelsen ont signé les trois meilleurs chronos. Mais Kris Meeke (Citroën) était dans le coup lui aussi, alors que Thierry Neuville est sorti de la route.

Les forêts autour de Trèves étaient noyées dans la brume à 7h30 ce matin, heure à laquelle les premières autos quittent généralement le parc d’assistance pour parcourir le Shakedown des rallyes WRC.

Mais la séance d’essais officielle de l’ADAC Rallye Deutschland était exceptionnellement organisée à partir de 9h30, le temps à la brume de se dissiper et de laisser place à un beau ciel bleu au-dessus de la Moselle. Les conditions étaient parfaites (19°C) pour s’attaquer à 4,60 km de Konz, au sud-ouest de Trèves. Sur ce rallye, ces conditions imposent les pneumatiques Michelin Pilot Sport hard (H2).

Les trois Volkswagen Polo R WRC ont monopolisé le tiercé de tête avec Jari-Matti Latvala, Sébastien Ogier et Andreas Mikkelsen. Leur principal challenger fut Kris Meeke qui occupait la 1^ère place en début de séance, après seulement deux passages. La plupart des équipages ont bouclé quatre tours avant ce premier rallye asphalte de la saison.

La session s’était déroulée sans souci particulier jusqu’à la sortie de route spectaculaire de Thierry Neuville, parti en tonneau dans les vignes. L’équipe Hyundai Motorsport devrait pouvoir remettre l’i20 WRC en état pour le départ.

Réveil difficile aussi pour Craig Breen dont la Ford Fiesta RS WRC est restée immobilisée devant le véhicule d’assistance. La FIA n’a pas autorisé le pilote irlandais à disputer l’ADAC Rallye Deutschland après sa blessure survenue dans l’ES24 du Rallye de Finlande. Le médecin personnel de Craig et celui de la fédération irlandaise lui avaient pourtant donné le feu vert, mais leurs arguments n’ont pas convaincu les officiels de la FIA, inquiets par les récentes blessures au dos des équipages de WRC.

Ford, Hyundai et Volkswagen avaient organisé leurs opérations médias mercredi. Les pilotes vont donc pouvoir se reposer jusqu’à la séance d’autographes à 19h00, suivie par la cérémonie de départ devant la Porta Nigra, relique de l’époque romaine de Trèves. L’idée d’un départ de Cologne, à 170 km, comme en 2013, n’a pas été reprise.

Volkswagen Motorsport has sent out a clear indication of its intent win its home event this weekend in Trier, Germany. The Polo R WRC/Michelin trio Latvala, Ogier and Mikkelsen posted the fastest times on this morning’s shakedown, a sign that Manufacturers’ title could well be heading back to Hannover on Sunday afternoon… Citroën’s Meeke challenged with good early pace, while Neuville rolled his Hyundai.

The forested hills around Rallye Deutschland’s host town Trier were shrouded in mist at half-past-seven this morning, a time when the top cars are usually preparing to leave the service park for Thursday’s traditional shakedown on most rallies.

Exceptionally, the pre-event test in Germany started appreciably later (9:30am) and that gave the mist time to lift to reveal a pleasant, summery sky, as the temperature on the banks of the Mosel River climbed quickly towards the 19°C mark. The conditions were consequently ideal for the 4.60km test stage near Konz, a short drive southwest of Trier.

On this event, this sort of weather generally means hard-compound tyres and all the Michelin-equipped front-runners effectively chose the ‘H2’ version of the French firm’s Pilot Sport asphalt tyre.

The session’s timesheet was topped by the home team, Volkswagen Motorsport, which monopolised the top three places with Jari-Matti Latvala, Sébastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen in close formation. Their nearest chaser was Citroën’s Kris Meeke who appeared in front early on before settling for just two passes. Indeed, few crews chose to complete more than a handful of runs, their decision aided by the fact that most of them had carried out extensive testing ahead of the first ‘clear’ asphalt round of the season.

There was some drama at the very end, however, when Thierry Neuville’s Hyundai i20 WRC suffered extensive damage in a spectacular roll. The team is working on repairing the Belgian’s chassis in time for the start.

It was an unhappy morning, also, for Craig Breen whose Ford Fiesta WRC could be seen sitting forlornly in front of his team’s trucks. The FIA has decided not to authorise the Irishman to take part in this week’s competition because of the back injury he sustained on SS24 of the recent Rally Finland. The driver’s own doctor and the medical advisor of the Irish motorsport federation had apparently given him the green light, but their arguments failed to convince FIA officials who are said to be concerned by the recent run of back injuries in the championship.

Ford, Hyundai and Volkswagen all held their PR/media gatherings on Wednesday evening (Citroën’s is this lunchtime). The teams therefore now have a relatively relaxed day ahead of them until a public autograph session at 7pm, followed by the ceremonial start in front of Trier’s Porta Nigra monument, the chief relic of the city’s past as an important provincial capital of the Roman Empire. The idea of having an official start in Cologne, 170km away, that was trialled in 2013 has not been repeated.

Verva Street Racing: Carlos Sainz and Peugeot 2008 DKR premiere in Warsaw.

Carlos Sainz, two-time World Rally Champion and the 2010 Dakar Rally winner will join the team of the world’s best rally drivers who, on 20 September 2014, will compete against the best Polish rally drivers during VERVA STREET RACING - DAKAR AT THE NATIONAL STADIUM.

"El Matador" will bring to Warsaw the new powerful 2008 DKR "beast" from the Peugeot Sport-Red Bull-Total stable with which he will try to conquer Rally Dakar 2015. It will be the first public presentation of the new car!

"The Dakar Edition could never take place without the world’s best rally drivers," says Leszek Kurnicki, Executive Director for Marketing at PKN ORLEN. "Sainz’s participation is a great honour for our event, and yet another proof of its prestigious position among the world’s best motorsport events. All the more so, as Sainz will present during VERVA Street Racing a car that in a few months will traverse the desert in the 2015 Dakar Rally."

The first 15,000 thousand people to purchase a ticket for VERVA Street Racing shall receive free entry to the machine park located on the National Stadium’s promenade a few hours before the main event.

This is an absolutely unique opportunity to take an up-close look at this 340-horsepower beast 2008 DKR, which Carlos Sainz will race in the 2015 Dakar Rally. Though four-wheel drives are still at the forefront, engineers put in place an atypical solution for cross-country rallies, i.e. an improved two-wheel drive.

VERVA Street Racing – Dakar at the National Stadium is a one-in-a-kind event that allows fans to witness a competition between the leading rally drivers from Poland and abroad.

The Polish team (including Adam Malysz, Kuba Przygonski, Marek Dabrowski, Jaroslaw Hampel among others) will face it off with guests coming from all over the globe (including Marcus Grönholm, Marc Coma, Bryan Bouffier among others) in six categories.

For the first time, the motoring format of the event will be combined with an exciting musical performance: Jamiroquai will play live during the breaks between subsequent rounds of racing on the desert circuit. The ticket prices start at 49 PLN (approx 12 Euros) and can be purchased online at EBILET.PL. 

50 Years Old But Brand New: The Return Of The Lightweight E-Type

Last week we talked about a certain McLaren Special Operations P1 - one of a handful of bespoke machines being showcased by their respective manufacturer’s at this weekend’s prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Adding that list, and perhaps the most impressive of them all is this: a brand spanking new – yet in many ways half-century old – Jaguar Lightweight E-type.

As interesting as the proposition might sound, don’t go thinking that this ‘new’ E-type features a modern chassis under its svelte and oh-so-iconic lines. It’s a prototype built by the newly-formed Jaguar Heritage division working inside Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations, that’s paving the way for the six cars needed to finally complete the British carmaker’s intended run of 18 Lightweight GT E-types built in 1963 and 1964.

Like the 12 originals, the 2014 Lightweight E-type is built around an aluminium bodyshell. But as easy as it would have been, using modern high-strength and bonded structures was never an option though. Not only would those things compromise the car’s authenticity, but make it ineligible for FIA historic racing homologation too. What the artisans at Jaguar Heritage did do though was use state-of-the-art scanning technology to digitally map the inner and outer surfaces of an original Lightweight body shell, therefore capturing dimension and shape data down to a fraction of a millimetre in order to recreate the special panels.

As it was originally specified in the ’60s, the Lightweight E-type features a 3.8-litre XK engine with an alloy block, 10.0:1 compression and dry sump lubrication. The prototype ‘Car Zero’ features Lucas mechanical fuel injection (an original option), which owners of the six soon-to-be-built cars can specify over the standard triple Weber 45DCO3 carburettor specification. All told the inline six produces 340hp at 6,500rpm and 280lb/ft of torque – no shortage of grunt for a machine that tips the scales at just 1,000kg.

When you consider how much money original (11 are still known to exist) Lightweights fetch, the six final cars are guaranteed to come at significant cost. What that exact figure will be is not yet known, but if you have to ask you’re probably not going to be able to afford it.

I’ll leave you with this clip of the Lightweight E-type being given a shakedown, and this to ponder…  If there was one make/model you wish would return to the new car showroom, built in the same way it originally was but using some modern methodology in doing so, what would it be?

Brad Lord

DAN MANTYLA’S HONDA CL

After acquiring a 1974 Honda CL 200, unspoiled yet barely running, Dan Mantyla was faced with a decision: restore or customize?

Dan is a guy who understands the connection between art and engineering. He’s a shed-builder by night and a web developer by day. “I wanted to build a bike that to the untrained eye looks stock,” Dan tells us. “But what they’re doing in Japan with Bratstyle bikes and in Europe with scramblers is just too inspiring. When you get to design your own cockpit, you don’t pass that up.”

Customizing a bike as rare as the Honda CL is a delicate situation. Especially when the bike has survived 40 years without someone taking a welder to the frame or a hammer to the gas tank. It requires thoughtfulness rather than brash ambition, and Dan kept that in mind throughout.

Some of the modifications were an easy decision: like replacing the dorky taillight and lollipop blinkers with smaller ones, dropping the handlebars, adding more aggressive tires, and removing the mirrors.

Other mods were more challenging. Dan has kept the side covers, but had to repair extensive cracking. So with the help of bondo and fiberglass, he installed little mesh grills—a very neat custom touch. And the muffler, rendered useless by rust and holes, was chopped off to make way for beautifully chromed, glass-packed exhaust pipes.

But where do you draw the line? For Dan, that line was drawn on the bobbed rear fender, so the stock seatpan and sub-frame could stay. The Interior Shop, a hot rod upholstery business in Kansas City, wrapped the deeply upholstered seat.

While all this was happening, Dan was rebuilding the busted motor. He installed oversized pistons, resurfaced the head, and refinished the cases. It’d cost a small fortune, but the little CL was now complete.

The end result: a modest, unassuming resto-mod with styling cues from trackers and Bratstyle bikes alike. “The bike is a scrambler, capable both on- and off-road, and that’s what I wanted to convey,” says Dan. “This Honda CL is the bike for me. It’s vintage, it’s beautiful, and it wouldn’t look out of place ripping through a scene in the first Mad Maxmovie.”

For more shots, check out Dan Mantyla’s website. There is a build thread for the Honda CL on the Do The Ton website.

via 

Mission Manx by MotorCircus

MotorCircus presents Mission Manx from Schütze on Vimeo.

THE ULTIMATE TRIUMPH SCRAMBLER?

The Scrambler is one of the most-loved Triumph motorcycles of recent times. But there’s a common criticism: its off-road performance doesn’t quite match those beguiling looks.

That shortfall has just been blown to smithereens by a team of five motorcycle engineers. And not just any engineers: they’re all part of Triumph’s own chassis development team, based in Spain and led by brothers David and Felipe Lopez.

Since 2001, these guys have overseen the development testing of every new Triumph model—so you can guarantee that this custom Scrambler can walk the talk.

The bike is called Tramontana, after a northerly wind that blows over the Pyrenees on the border of France and Spain. “That’s what this Scrambler does—it traverses the mountains as fast and as light as the wind,” says David Lopez.

“During the development of the original Scrambler—launched in 2006—the aim was on-road performance, with the capability for very light off-road riding,” says Lopez. “But even then, it the potential for real off-roading was clear. The 270-degree crank version of the parallel twin allowed excellent traction with a good spread of torque. And the ergos and intuitive character of the chassis made it fun to ride on forest tracks.”

A couple of years later, Lopez and his crew handled the development of the Tiger 800XC. And they got thinking about the good off-road potential of big capacity bikes when purposely developed for it. “Our off-road backgrounds were more related to light bikes—trials and enduro,” says Lopez. “So we were surprised by the pleasure of riding bigger bikes in challenging conditions and terrains.”

Lopez and his team have a soft spot for the Triumph ‘Modern Classics’ range, and had been planning to turn one into a high performance cafe racer. But while developing the 800XC, they decided to change tack—and create the ultimate off-road Scrambler.

It took an extraordinary four years of after-hours work. But this machine has gone through the same chassis development process as an ‘official’ Triumph model, with extensive engineering input and equally extensive test-riding.

“We investigated countless different geometries, suspension types, wheel sizes, ergonomics and engine configurations,” says Lopez, “just like we’d have done for a production bike. The development decisions were made with only one target: off-road performance.”

Visually, the starting point was a very ‘classical’ Scrambler look, but the finished machine has more of what Lopez calls a ‘modern-retro’ style.

“It’s got the character of the Scrambler and the sixties Triumphs—provided by the parallel twin and the cradle/twin shock frame—mixed with modern high performance.”

The spec sheet is mouthwatering: multi-adjustable Ohlins suspension, alloy rims, twin front discs, alloy yokes and bars, and a tailor-made Arrow exhaust. Even better is what the bike is missing, to the tune of almost 40kg when weighed next to a stock Scrambler.

As you can imagine, the mods are extensive. So here’s a detailed rundown.

Chassis geometry “The geometry was developed to provide a confidence-inspiring ride, balancing front and rear grip—to allow for easy and predictable rear-wheel drifting.” This geometry was achieved by repositioning the rear suspension unit top mounts, lengthening the swing arm, and by changing the forks and yokes.

Wheel Base: 1510mm (up 10mm)
Caster Angle: 26.1 degrees (down from 27.8)
Trail: 111mm (up from 105mm)
Dry weight: 178kg (down from a real-world 217kg)
Weight Distribution: 48.5% Front – 51.5% Rear

Suspension “The suspension is now Öhlins, and was specifically developed for this bike. We increased the fork stroke from 120mm to 220mm, and the rear wheel stroke from 106mm to 180mm.” The increased rear stroke comes via clamps machined from solid alloy that reposition the top of the rear suspension unit, which also improves progressiveness.

Wheels Lightweight aluminum spoke wheels from Excel, sized 21” x 2.5” at the front and 17″ x 4.25″ at the rear. “The 21” front wheel is essential to achieve the desired level of grip and control of the front end in off-road conditions.”

Frame Modified to reduce weight by eliminating all non-essential features. The steel fork yokes have been replaced by custom aluminum parts.

Ergonomics The steel handlebars and risers have been swapped out for aluminum bars fitted with Tomaselli grips. The footrests are modified genuine Triumph accessory items, in the 1970s ‘bear trap’ motocross style. “Their position has been changed to lower the rider in relation to the center of gravity of the bike, to improve standing up bike control.” The seat is a one-off, covered with Italian brown leather.

Front Brakes Twin 308mm discs (replacing a single 310mm disc) with two-piston floating calipers by Nissin.

Bodywork Custom-made side panel and rear mudguard. Black anodized aluminum sump guard.

Powertrain Airbox replaced by inlet ports, with individual air filters to improve low and mid-range torque. Re-jetted Keihin carbs. Eliminated secondary air system. Custom-made wiring harness and battery tray. Lithium-Ion battery. Size 17-50 sprockets. Custom-made dynamic chain tensioner.

Exhaust System Custom Arrow brushed stainless steel two-into-one high-level exhaust system, covered with wrapping tape to optimize the exhaust phase.

CNC Machined Components Brake fluid reservoirs, rear brake master cylinder protector, sprocket cover, headlight brackets and protector, twin rear light.

The stock Triumph Scrambler sells for $9,099 in the USA. Perhaps Triumph should take a leaf out of the Street Triple’s book and sell this machine as an ‘R’ version for $11,000—still a grand less than the 800XC. Or put together a kit, so that Scrambler fans can convert their own machines to Tramontana spec.

Would you be tempted?

Images courtesy of Marc Bordons.

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TOUGH MOTORWORKS DRAGSTAR 650

If you’re going to name your bike building brand after your hometown, make sure it’s a good one. Lewis Reid lives in Tough, Aberdeenshire. And no, I’m not kidding. So here you have Tough Motorworks and their Yamaha 650 Dragstar.

Lewis met Andy through their respective kids being students at the local school, Tough Primary. Just gets better doesn’t it! Sorry Lewis and Andy, back to the story. Two grown up dudes, pushing back against the mainstream with a shared interest in music. Andy used to be in a punk band and had a lo-fi recording studio den set up in his garden, so the pair got together, laid down some tracks and made CD of their efforts. Polydor or EMI didn’t come knocking so Lewis thought he’d repay his new mate with a skills swap and put some work into a tired old Dragstar in the back of Andy’s garage.

A couple of hours a week of beer fuelled fettling wasn’t going to make the deadline of the brief Scottish summer, sometimes known as the week where it rains less and the skies are a very light grey. Lewis decided to take the plunge and rely on his spannering skills full time, using Andy’s bike as the guinea pig. Having owned wartime Harleys and Indians Lewis knew the stylistic route he wanted to head down.

As the mass produced Japanese plastic and cast parts were removed from the donor the vision became clearer and Lewis started to warm to Yamaha’s faux-Harley. Dust covered parts on shelves started whispering “fit me, fit me” and before he knew it 3 weeks of all nighters and one 36 hour day had passed.

The two-into-one muffler was mated to the stock exhaust but to give the impression of a fatter pipe, sections of another exhaust have been slid over the original and wrapped. This saved much needed budget and time tinkering with the carb.

The bars are in fact two pairs welded together, one of which started life as Arlen Ness Ape Hangers, with ally bar end plugs turned by mate Nigel. The step up from 7/8″ to 1″ meant clutch and brake lever housing’s needed reworking, or rasping and filing in this case.

Wiring is routed through the super-long bars to keep things tidy at the front whilst the electrickery further back hides in a cigar tin, donated by neighbour Irene. Apparently there’s a doll’s head in there to keep the CDI unit and starter relay away from the Scottish weather. If you think you’ve built a bike on a budget, think again until you’ve used your own kid’s toys.

Rattle can paint job and homemade graphics of the owner on the tank, why the heck not. Let’s hope Andy feels the same.

Again, this is the spirit of The Bike Shed through and through. Lewis converted his own shed, persuaded someone to give him a donor bike, abandoned his family (we don’t advocate this part), worked night and day with passion and dedication to the dream. Andy was over the moon and loves his ‘new’ bike, a roaring success.

There was a lot more to this story that unfortunately we didn’t have time for but drop Lewis an email if you want to hear the rest or have a build in mind. Tough Motorworks is up and running, awaiting your donor. toughmototworks@gmail.com

via The Bike Shed

BISHOP BY BANDIT 9

Daryl from Bandit 9 has quickly earned himself some hefty respect throughout the custom motorcycle scene, he consistently turns out motorcycles that catch the eye so forcefully they’ll almost snap your neck.

He’s recently shifted their primary focus to limited edition production runs, the first was EVE, a bike we featured here on Silodrome in its concept phase and then again after it had been built. 9 of them were made and shipped to an impressive variety of clientele, including royalty, and now Daryl is switching his focus to the next limited edition production motorcycle – Bishop.

Bishop is based on the versatile Honda Super Sport platform, a single cylinder, air cooled motorcycle that’s almost as ubiquitous as the bicycle on the streets of South East Asia. The team at bandit 9 will be stripping the donor bike back and mechanically sorting it out, before hand-building a custom aluminium unibody, fitting inverted forks up front and new matching springs at the rear. The electricals and lights are all to be replaced with low-key units and the customer will be able to specify oak, teak or walnut for the panelling on the side of the fuel tank.

If you’d like to order one you’ll need to click here to message Bandit 9, the cost is going to be between $6,400 and $6,800 USD depending on specification.

Rallye Deutschland 2004 : une édition mémorable / a Rallye Deutschland to remember!

Troisième victoire d’affilée pour Sébastien Loeb et Citroën/Michelin à Trèves obtenue face à un tenace François Duval, des conditions météos désastreuses, de nombreuses sorties de route et cinq membres d’équipages officiels à l’hôpital… Il y a dix ans, l’ADAC Rallye Deutschland fut très mouvementé.

Comme cette année, l’ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2004 était le premier rallye asphalte de la saison. Ce fut aussi le premier sur cette surface sans les « ouvreurs », aujourd’hui de nouveau autorisés sur asphalte. Leur interdiction avait été pointée du doigt dans de nombreux accidents.

Le double champion du monde Marcus Grönholm avait crashé sa Peugeot 307 WRC après quelques mètres de course dans l’ES1, très vite imité par « tarmac expert » Gilles Panizzi (Mitsubishi) et l’Espagnol Dani Sola (Ford). Puis Petter Solberg avait connu son plus sérieux accident dans le camp militaire de Baumholder. Un « hinkelstein » avait envoyé sa Subaru Impreza dans une impressionnante série de tonneaux.

« Un grand fracas », se souvient un collègue présent sur les lieux de l’accident. « On entendait la Subaru au départ. Petter montait les rapports jusqu’à un léger droite. Entre les arbres, on a vu passer la Subaru à grande vitesse, peut-être en 6^e, avant un gauche-referme et un autre gauche en 5^e derrière les arbres. On ne la voyait plus, puis on a entendu un énorme bang et le bruit de multiples impacts et du métal frottant l’asphalte. Petter n’a jamais franchi le gauche en 5^e où nous étions… »

Son copilote Phil Mills avait été transporté à l’hôpital pour des examens, où il avait rejoint les frères Panizzi, Sola et son copilote Xavier Amigo. Seul Mills était resté la nuit suivante.

Les conditions étaient difficiles et changeantes le 2^e jour et les nouvelles restrictions de pneumatiques avaient compliqué les choix. Le retaillage était alors autorisé et permettait de nombreuses combinaisons.

Dans ces conditions précaires, François Duval s’était révélé. Le jeune pilote Ford avait pris la tête et remporté cinq spéciales, soit deux de moins que Sébastien Loeb qui avait dû attaquer fort pour signer un « hat-trick » en Allemagne. Le pilote Citroën était constamment sous la pression du Belge qui fut retardé par quelques soucis mécaniques. Son copilote, Stéphane Prévot, avait ensuite avoué avoir quitté la route à au moins dix reprises !

Au final, Duval avait dû s’incliner pour une trentaine de secondes, alors que Carlos Sainz complétait le podium sur sa Citroën Xsara WRC. Cette victoire avait quasiment assuré Seb Loeb du titre 2004.

Mikko Hirvonen (8^e, Subaru) est le seul pilote officiel encore en activité cette année. Ses anciens adversaires sont soit à la retraite, comme François Duval qui dirige le garage familial, Marcus Grönholm qui gère un centre commercial ou Gilles Panizzi qui a ouvert un magasin de cycles, soit courent dans d’autres disciplines comme Petter Solberg en Rallycross, Sébastien Loeb en WTCC…

Germany’s round of the 2004 World Rally Championship was a dramatic affair. Loeb made it three wins in a row for Citroën/Michelin in Trier, but came under big pressure from Ford’s François Duval as many of the stars crashed in the horrendous conditions. Five works crew-members ended their Deutschland weekend in hospital.

The 2004 Rallye Deutschland was the first ‘clear’ asphalt contest of the season. It was also the first sealed-surface event to take place after the championship’s ban on the use of ‘gravel crews’, now reinstated and known as ‘safety crews’. Their absence was blamed for the high number of accidents.

Two-time world champion Marcus Grönholm crashed his Peugeot 307 WRC just metres after the start of SS1, and he was later imitated by Mitsubishi’s Gilles Panizzi and Dani Sola. However, Petter Solberg’s argument with one of the rally’s infamous hinkelstein concrete blocks is remembered as one of the scariest accidents in WRC history.

“It was a mostly auditory experience,” recalls a colleague who was spectating on the Baumholder military ranges. “We heard him off the start and flat up the gears through a slight right. Between trees, we caught a glimpse of his Subaru travelling at speed, probably in sixth, heading for a kink-left before something like a five-left. After that, the car was concealed by trees. The next thing we heard was a massive bang and sounds of multiple impact and creasing metalwork. Petter never made it to the five-left where we were standing...”

Co-driver Phil Mills was taken for checks in hospital where he joined the Panizzi brothers, Sola and the latter’s co-driver Xavier Amigo. Only Mills was retained overnight.

Conditions were notably bad and unpredictable on Day 2 and newly-introduced restrictions made tyre calls highly complex. Unlike today, the ‘re-cutting’ of tread patterns was still permitted, so there were plenty of possible permutations and it was vital to get choices right.

One driver who revelled in the mud and rain was Ford youngster François Duval who led early on and eventually claimed five stages, just two fewer than Loeb who was pushing for a Rallye Deutschland hat-trick. The Frenchman came under constant pressure from his challenger who might have pressed even harder had he not been delayed by mechanical trouble. Meanwhile, the Belgian’s co-driver Stéphane Prévot reported having left the road at least 10 times!

In the end, Duval’s bid failed by half-a-minute, while Citroën’s Carlos Sainz finished on the podium, a further 40s back. Loeb’s victory practically settled the fight for the 2004 world title.

Mikko Hirvonen (8^th, Subaru) was the only front-runner who is still active in the WRC. His comrades of the day have since either retired or moved onto other disciplines. Duval, for example, now spends most of his time today running the family garage business, but still occasionally competes in rallies and rallycross events.

panthère