WRC ; Brèves du Mexique…/ Wednesday’s WRC notes: Mexico

Vous avez été nombreux à demander le retour de la rubrique des brèves. OK, alors en voici quelques-unes rapportées dans nos valises du Mexique.

-Certains pilotes et copilotes ont profité du voyage pour prendre quelques jours de vacances : Los Angeles et Miami pour Ogier et Anttila avant le rallye, Costa-Rica et Miami pour Julien Ingrassia et Andreas Mikkelsen après l’épreuve.

- Après Pontus Tidemand (1^er scratch d’une R5 en Mondial) et Yurii Protasov en Suède, Martin Prokop était tout près de remporter sa première victoire de spéciales en WRC, mais il a été battu d’1/10^e de seconde dans la Superspéciale de Leon (ES6).

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- La vidéo de la sortie de route de Tanak avait fait 6,2 millions de vues en une seule journée sur les réseaux sociaux du WRC. Les plus anciens se souviennent d’une sortie similaire de la Britannique Louise Atken-Walker au Portugal ..

- L’équipe M-Sport s’y est reprise à deux fois, mais elle est parvenue à faire repartir la Ford n°6 en course (changement de capteurs, faisceau moteur et boîtier ECU le samedi). Le team aurait pu retirer la voiture dimanche pour bénéficier d’un moteur neuf en Argentine, mais la mécanique a été jugée OK pour la prochaine épreuve. Ott et Raigo sont montés sur le podium final avec masques et tubas !

- Victoire heureuse de Nasser Al-Attiyah en WRC-2 après la sortie de route de Protasov, alors leader. Après le Dakar, le Qatar Rally et le Mexique, le duo Al-Attiyah/Baumel poursuit sa série de victoires en 2015. Les deux hommes se sont directement envolés pour le Koweit (2^e manche MERC) dimanche soir.

- Apprentissage difficile pour Stéphane Lefebvre (DS3 R5) en WRC-2 avec une touchette/roue cassée vendredi et une sortie de route samedi. Rallye encore plus difficile pour l’Italien Lorenzo Bertelli (Fiesta WRC) avec une sortie de route quotidienne.

- Pas de rallye de doublure, ni d’épreuve de championnat NACAM cette année au Mexique où le parc d’assistance faisait un peu « pauvret ».

- Dans sa sortie de route, Thierry Neuville a perdu son téléphone portable. Raigo Molder a retrouvé le sien dans la Ford après 10 heures passées au fond du lac. Et il fonctionnait toujours !

- Ca y est ! La Finlande et la France sont ex aequo au nombre de victoires en WRC avec 172 rallyes remportés chacun.

- Et pendant le Mexique, Toyota était en tests dans la neige de Suède. Des représentants du constructeur japonais étaient soi-disant en visite au Mexique.

Many of you have asked us to reinstate our ‘Wednesday’s WRC notes’ feature. Here are some of the anecdotes we brought back from Mexico.

- Several drivers and co-drivers took advantage of the long trip to organise a few days’ holiday. Ogier and Anttila visited Los Angeles and Miami before the rally, while Julien Ingrassia and Andreas Mikkelsen headed for Costa Rica and Miami after the finish.

- After fastest times for Pontus Tidemand (first fastest time for an R5 car) and Yurii Protasov in Sweden, Martin Prokop came close to collecting his first stage victory in Mexico. He was beaten by just one-tenth of a second on the Leon super-special (SS6).

- The video of Tanak’s watery ‘off’ was watched by 6.2 million people in a single day on the WRC’s social media. Some recall Louise Atken-Walker’s similar mishap one year on the Portugal Rally

- It took M-Sport two attempts to get the Estonian’s Ford back into the event after they swapped sensors, the engine wiring loom and the ECU on Saturday. The team could have chosen to retire the car on Sunday in order to benefit from a new engine for Argentina but the mechanicals were declared to be okay for the next round. Ott Tanak and his co-driver Raigo Molder appeared on the finish ramp wearing scuba diving gear!

- Nasser Al-Attiyah collected WRC2 honours after the class’s initial pace-setter Protasov crashed. After their Dakar and Qatar Rally victories earlier in the year, Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel are on an enviable winning streak. On Sunday evening, they flew directly to Kuwait for Round 2 of the 2015 MERC.

- It was a tough Mexican debut for WRC2 runner Stéphane Lefebvre (DS3 R5) who broke a wheel rim on Friday and crashed on Saturday. It was even tougher for Italy’s Lorenzo Bertelli (Fiesta WRC) who crashed once per day.

- There was no parallel ‘national’ event or NACAM round this year. The service park consequently felt almost deserted.

- Thierry Neuville lost his mobile phone when he went off on Friday. Raigo Molder recovered his after it had spent 10 hours under water in the Estonian’s Ford. It still works!

- Drivers from Finland and France have now amassed the same number of WRC wins: 172 each.

- During Rally Mexico, Toyota was busy testing in snowy Sweden. 

THE LOUDER – YAMAHA XS650 ’78

Written by Donny Ariyanto & Galih Priambodo

Look tough and enable to ride through any terrain is what Don Sugeng wants to make his ideal motorcycle. Stock engine is the main consideration by Bro Don for his custom project. With a lot of information for this project, his choice for the machine goes to 1978 Yamaha XS650 engine, with superb and ready-to-use condition. Choosing XS650 engine is the way to enjoy the best performance engine-work from Yamaha Motor Company with 654 cc, 4 strokes inline, two cylinder and 4 valves configuration, this machine had 50bhp 36.4 kW @7200 rpm for maximum power. With this magnificent power, making this machine is the most chosen stock-engine by the other horse steel lover because it was suitable to any custom and any concept. The chosen concept by Bro Don was referred from Scrambler concept because make XS650 fit in to the main concept. After STUDIO MOTOR and Bro Don had discussed every parts that will be used, so we will begin to work on his concept.

The first thing to do is making a brand-new chassis that will be suitable to the concept, but when the rebuilding-engine process is occurred, one of my friend offering an intact chassis from Honda CB650. We noticed that chassis will be extremely fitted to this concept, in no time we are agreed to choose this chassis for the concept. “It’ll need a little change at the engine mounting at the chassis!” We said, so the main-engine will perfectly attached. It’ll make a wonderful appearance. At the forks we are prefer to be 41mm telescopic front end with the TK Japan 18X2. 50 inch wheels and combined with Dunlop K180 120/80-18 tire, which it has the best pattern for dual purpose motorcycle. Honda CB 650 swing-arms were beautifully mated with TK Japan 18X3.00 inch wheels plus Dunlop K180 130/80-18 tire at the rear. For the rear shock were using 360mm YSS Z-Series type. I’ll take you to the main body, here, We have a gas tank, fenders, and side cover to keep the battery and other cables feeling safe from the 1.2mm galvanize plate materials. It’s coloring time! Creamy brown with the red-stripped at the upside gas tank giving calm and ferocious impression. “See? Isn’t its cool right? Blending opposite color-traits” that was Bro Don said. The basic materials of color was chosen by Komet Studio, they were using base coat and finishing coat by Sikkens. Last part, all the proponent parts were installed, the handlebar was in style of fatbar was selected to giving a comfortable handling. Front and rear lights was in stylized from aftermarket was bring out a tidy appearance design. Using 2 in 2 configuration at the exhaust, was produced a “Jarring” sound.

“Trim-shaped, comfortably ride, and superior engine will produce an overwhelmingly motorcycle was exactly as I predict…”, Bro Don said when He was set eyes at his ideal motorcycle finished. “THE LOUDER” was the perfect name to this riding-machine, when the test ride session was be held, the fierceness of the engine still work when it was being accelerate. Few people were appreciated at this ‘old brew’ engine. ‘Have a nice ride Bro!’

Specification :

• Body Custom by STUDIO MOTOR
• Frame Honda CB650
• Painting & Airbrush by KOMET Studio
• Telescopic 41 mm Front Fork
• TK Japan Rim 18X2.50 Inch (front) & 18X3.00 Inch (rear)
• Dunlop Tire K180 120/80-18 (front) & 130/80-18 (rear)
• YSS Z-Series 360 mm Rear Shock
• Fatbar Handlebar
• Headlight & Tailight Aftermarket
• Exhaust Custom by STUDIO MOTOR

 from STUDIO MOTOR Custom Bike

XTR PEPO SUZUKA

Pepo Rosell made his name as the magician and brainchild of Radical Ducati. Renowned and respected for his ability to improve upon the race-derived machines by adding lightness, power and even more incredible looks, Radical were at the top of the custom Ducati pile. So it came as something of a shock when Pepo announced he would be shutting shop and Radical ceased to exist.

Challenges in his personal life led to him not only closing Radical, but to sell off all rights, moulds, logos and designs. In Pepo’s own words he’d “lost his life, his family and his company”. For 12 months, he stepped away, tools downed, ideas lay dormant, the intention was to stay away from the world of bikes entirely.

But the support of the community, the requests from his many tifossi, rendered this idea impossible. Pepo couldn’t stop. So with a renewed passion for bike building it was time to begin a new adventure. Extreme Pepo, aka XTR PEPO. A new company with a new outlook: “Enjoy life, less business and more fun!”.

While Radical had focused on the exotic, XTR was to be different, transforming standard, everyday bikes. Making modest bikes “extreme” and give them a second “special life”. So for the first XTR build Pepo took in a ‘Plain-Jane’ 600 Bandit and spat out a drop dead gorgeous Suzuka refugee for the road. Yep, he’s back, and in what fashion!

A 1998 Bandit was the lucky frump receiving the makeover. Although perfectly serviceable as a commuter, if it was to make hearts-a-flutter then the hem line had to rise. Left with just the main frame cradle and the engine, Pepo had a bit of sourcing to do; the inspiration being the old Yoshimura-Suzuki GS1000Rs from the glory days of endurance racing.

A new lightweight subframe was tacked on, lifting the rear for a racier attitude, the forward sloping seat gives a classic plum-crushingly race-a-like riding position. A TT2 endurance solo seat was modified to slot over the rails while the unclad seat foam lets you know the intent and purpose of this bike.

A 1992 Suzuki GSXR was the donor for many of the chassis parts, giving up it’s wheels, forks, swingarm and a host of other items for the cause. That swingarm was modified to slot between the Bandit’s pivot point, lightened and strengthened, it now challenges Bologna’s best for beauty.

Although the adjustable forks are inverted, the silver, rather than gold anodizing, ensures they are in keeping with the look. Being of an early ’90s vintage the 4 pot calipers are conventionally mounted; radial brakes would have just looked too out of place. The pads now clamp down on some lightweight NG drilled rotors.

Thankfully, when it came to paint, Pepo didn’t borrow the GSXR’s shellsuit inspired scheme. Classic Yoshimura black and red blocks are separated by white pinstriping, a scheme so evocative and authentic it puts you right in the mind of Cooley and Crosby.

Laid down by Artenruta, it wraps around the modified Ducati TT2 faring, and transforms the Bandit tank, giving it lines the standard bike never seemed to have. Completing the endurance look is the lighting setup, a humble Derbi Senda lends it’s lenses for that classic twin lamp style.

The previously anonymous looking engine is now a shining jewel. The oil and air cooled lump has been blasted down to bare metal before receiving some splashes of gold, to pick up on the brake rotors and chain. Stripped and serviced, along with refurbished carbs, they are now setup to breath through a pack of K&Ns.

The original down pipes have been polished to within an inch of their lives and now collect into a Spark end can. The attitude of this bike virtually ensures it will live most of it’s live in the upper echelons of it’s rev range, so it deserves to be heard.

It wouldn’t be a Pepo build without the multitude of signature parts. Fairing supports, clip-ons, folding clutch and brake levers and even the strip rear lights are all now part of the XTR catalogue. Essential touches to replace the mundane Bandit originals with race quality items.

Looking like it’s rolled straight out of the 1980 Suzuka pits, this opens a whole new avenue of build options. Suddenly those thousands of cheap Bandits knocking about seem appealing and Pepo has shown what can be done. The build is most definitely extreme, not radical. Semantics perhaps, but in this case, they count.

Some comebacks can be disappointing, there’s always a nagging doubt about capturing former glory, but with the XTR Suzuka, Pepo shows there is nothing for us to be concerned about. Challenging himself with builds based on less exotic machinery the transformation is even more impressive and with a variety of bikes on the way, including some super lightweight singles, Pepo is once again focused on what he does best. Welcome back, we’ve missed you.

Keep an eye on XTR Pepo’s exploits on their Facebook page

via The Bike Shed

Une grille Blancpain Endurance Series complète avec 56 engagés à l’année !

par Laurent Mercier (Endurance-Info.com)
La liste des engagés Blancpain Endurance Series à l’année fait état de 56 autos. On peut donc dire que la saison 2015 se déroulera à guichets fermés. Avec 23 GT3, la classe Pro-Cup sera la plus garnie. Elle regroupera Audi, BMW, Lamborghini, McLaren, Nissan, Bentley, Ferrari, Mercedes et Aston Martin.

Plusieurs nouvelles équipes arrivent. Fidèle au Blancpain Sprint Series, BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil rajoute le programme Endurance à son menu 2015. I.S.R. et ROWE Racing font leur arrivée avec respectivement Audi et Mercedes. On note la présence de Attempto Racing avec McLaren.

Pas moins de 22 GT3 seront de la partie en Pro-Am Cup avec une belle diversité et des équipes de premier plan telles que AF Corse, TDS Racing, Team AKKA-ASP, Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, etc…

Le Gentlemen Trophy s’appelle dorénavant Am-Cup où 11 GT3 en découdront avec une forte présence de Ferrari 458 Italia GT3.

 

Pro-Cup (23)
0	BMW Sports Tropy Team Brasil	BMW Z4 GT3
1	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi R8 LMS ultra
2	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi R8 LMS ultra
3	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi R8 LMS ultra
5	Phoenix Racing	Audi R8 LMS ultra
7	M-Sport Bentley	Bentley Continental GT3
8	M-Sport Bentley	Bentley Continental GT3
14	MRS-GT Racing	Nissan GT-R GT3 NISMO
19	Grasser Racing Team	Lamborghini Huracan GT3
21	Black Falcon	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3
22	Nissan GT Academy Team RJN	Nissan GT-R GT3 NISMO
44	Oman Racing Team	Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3
58	Von Ryan Racing	McLaren 650S GT3
59	Von Ryan Racing	McLaren 650S GT3
63	Grasser Racing Team	Lamborghini Huracan GT3
74	I.S.R	Audi R8 LMS ultra
75	I.S.R	Audi R8 LMS ultra
77	BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil	BMW Z4 GT3
84	Bentley Team HTP	Bentley Continental GT3
98	ROWE Racing	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3
99	ROWE Racing	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3
333	Rinaldi Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
TBC	Attempto Racing	Nissan GT-R GT3 NISMO

PRO-AM Cup (22)
4	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi R8 LMS ultra
11	Kessel Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
12	TDS Racing	BMW Z4 GT3
15	Boutsen Ginion Racing	BMW Z4 GT3
17	Insight Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
18	Black Falcon	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3
20	Team AKKA-ASP	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
23	Nissan GT Academy Team RJN	Nissan GT-R GT3 NISMO
32	Leonard Motorsport AMR	Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3
51	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
52	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
53	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
70	GT Russian Team	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3
71	GT Russian Team	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3
73	Emil Frey Racing	Emil Frey Jaguar GT3
78	Team Russia by Barwell	BMW Z4 GT3
79	Ecurie Ecosse	BMW Z4 GT3
90	Scuderia Villorba Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
100	DragonSpeed	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
457	Black Pearl by Rinaldi	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
888	Triple 888 Racing	BMW Z4 GT3
TBC	Attempto Racing	McLaren 650S GT3

am-cup (11)
16	Team AKKA-ASP	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
22	Team Parker Racing	Audi R8 LMS ultra
25	Glorax Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
30	Classic & Modern Racing	BMW Z4 GT3
33	Car Collection Racing	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3
34	Car Collection Racing	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3
41	Sport Garage	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
49	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
50	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
111	Kessel Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
TBC	Delahaye Racing	Porsche 911 GT3-R

Harley smokes, Batman – it's an all-American scrambler

For most people embarking on a custom-build scrambler project, starting with a British or Italian bike would be the default choice. But not so for American workshop Benjie’s Café Racers, which chose a 1999 Harley Davidson 883 Sportster as a basis...

For almost five years, the tired old Sportster sat in the corner of BCR’s New Jersey workshop, its fate undecided. Eventually, after toying with the idea of converting it to a café racer or a bobber, the Harley’s destiny was decided. “We want all our builds to be different, and with this being our first Harley build, we really wanted to emphasise that,” says Benjie. “We wanted to make this old cruiser something that could be ridden everywhere. It was this spark of realisation that ignited our pondering minds, and through the fire came the American Scrambler.”

From Sportster to Scrambler

On went the upside-down forks from a Suzuki GSXR1000 to lower the front end, with longer rear shocks and raised shock mounts following soon afterwards to raise the rear end – thus giving the Harley the familiar scrambler stance. The Speedster was then equipped with Borrani wire wheels shod with dual-purpose tyres, and a tank that followed the lines of the V-Twin motor was fashioned in aluminium, with an off-centre Monza fuel cap and stainless-steel rack added for detail. After adding a curved tail section and a ‘two-into-two’ custom exhaust with high-mounted mufflers, the final details were added – our favourite of which is the saddle-bag upholstered in the same cowhide as the seat.

“We set out to build a bike that was realistic and functional, but more importantly we built a bike that was fun,” Benjie summarises. We’re sure the Harley-based American Scrambler fits the brief just as well as its European cousins.

Photos: Ben Chan

You can find Harley Davidsons and other classic motorcycles for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

The new Porsche 911 GT3 RS is faster than the Carrera GT

With the world premiere of the 911 GT3 RS, Porsche will be celebrating the motorsport heritage of the 911 in Geneva. This outrageously extreme road athlete has even undercut the Porsche Carrera GT on the Nordschleife… by nine seconds.

Two years ago, Zuffenhausen chose Geneva to unveil the latest Porsche 911 GT3 – and underlined the fact that electronic aids such as a PDK gearbox might not be a purist’s choice, but they can make even a racing car go faster. Now, compared with the (relatively tame) GT3, the new RS comes closer than ever to the racing model. Its 4.0-litre naturally aspirated engine, which probably won’t survive in the next generation, puts out 500HP. That’s at least 25HP more than the GT3. In addition, the GT3 RS weighs 10kg less, thanks to its magnesium alloy roof and generous use of carbonfibre components. The new GT3 RS accelerates from 0 to 62mph in 3.3 seconds – and to double that speed in 10.9 seconds. So it’s hardly surprising that the street-legal ‘race’ car stormed round the Nordschleife in a new class record of 7 minutes and 20 seconds. Even the Porsche Carrera GT took 7 minutes and 29 seconds.

Influenced by the air-cooled classics

Visual identifiers include the GT3 RS’s wide wheelarches that incorporate air in- and outlets – and the widest standard tyres in the model range. A throwback to the classic air-cooled version is the 30cm-wide depression that runs along the boot lid and roof, reminding us that it wasn’t too long ago that this huge change in Porsche tradition took place. Let’s hope the turbo future turns out as well. The new Porsche 911 GT3 RS is available from May 2015 and will cost 181,690 euros.

Sports-racing duo in Geneva

In addition to the GT3 RS, Geneva will see the premiere of the most powerful version of the 911’s little brother, the mid-engined Cayman GT4. Powered by the 3.8-litre boxer engine from the 911 Carrera S, it brings the GT4 to 385HP, transmitted via a manual gearbox to the road. The price is €85,776 – significantly less than the GT3, which is priced from 137,303 euros.

Photos: Porsche

Many modern and classic Porsche 911s are for sale in the Classic Driver Market.