Silverstone (ELMS): 31 autos (aussi) sur l’airfield / 31 cars too!

Comme en championnat FIA WEC, la première manche de l’European Le Mans Series 2015 a attiré 31 voitures sur le circuit de Silverstone. Feu vert samedi 11 avril à 14h30.

Les 4 Heures de Silverstone ouvrent la saison ELMS 2015, après le Prologue organisé fin mars au Castellet. Double championne d’Europe en titre, l’équipe Signatech-Alpine poursuit l’aventure en FIA WEC, laissant grande ouverte la voie vers sa succession.

A Silverstone, 11 prototypes LM P2 sont attendus en piste. Le team britannique Jota Sport (Dolan/Albuquerque/Tincknell, Gibson-Nissan N°38) veut prendre sa revanche après un spectaculaire accident l’an passé l’ayant sans doute privé de la victoire.

Vainqueur de la dernière manche 2014, Michelin sera représenté par quatre teams et chaussera quatre châssis différents : Krohn Racing (Krohn/Jonsson/Negri, Ligier JS P2 N°40), Pegasus Racing (Roussel/Cheng/Coleman, Morgan-Nissan N°29) et AF Corse qui engage deux Oreca-Nissan pour les équipages SMP Racing Mediani/Markozov/Minassian (N°32) et Aleshin/Ladygin/Ladygin (N°34). Les nouvelles BR01 ont effectué leurs premiers tours de roue au Castellet mais ne sont pas prêtes pour cette première manche.

Champion en 2012, Thiriet by TDS Racing espère se relancer avec la nouvelle Oreca05-Nissan N°46 (Thiriet/Badey/Gommendy), tandis qu’Ibanez Racing engage deux Oreca03-Nissan pour La Rosa/Yamagishi (N°44) et Perret/Bellarossa/Ibanez (N°45). Pas d’Algarve Racing à Silverstone, où Greaves Motorsport (Gibson-Nissan N°41) et Murphy Prototypes (Oreca-Nissan N°48) sont à surveiller. A suivre aussi les débuts d’Eurasia Motorsport (Oreca-Nissan N°33) en ELMS.

Pas moins de cinq prototypes Ginetta-Nissan/Michelin LM P3 sont attendus à Silverstone pour le lancement de cette nouvelle catégorie où Sir Chris Hoy effectuera ses grands débuts en Endurance.

En LM GTE, six Ferrari 458 composent le plateau de neuf véhicules. BMW a engagé une Z4 pour Priaulx/Hassid/Krohn via Marc VDS Racing et deux Porsche 911 RSR sont attendues. En GTC, le plateau est plus varié avec quatre marques différentes (BMW, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini) parmi les six engagés. Toutes les GT seront chaussées par Dunlop en ELMS.

Les premiers essais libres sont programmés vendredi matin. Les qualifs se tiendront samedi 11 avril à partir de 11h05, quelques heures avant le départ (14h30).

Like the opening round of the 2015 FIA WEC, the first clash of the 2015 European Le Mans Series (ELMS) at Silverstone on Saturday (April 11) has attracted an entry of 31 cars.

This year’s ELMS campaign kicks off with Saturday’s 4 Hours of Silverstone. With two-time title-winning Signatech-Alpine having stepped up to the FIA WEC, the fight is on to see who will take this year’s top prize.

A total of 11 LM P2 prototypes is listed for Silverstone where the British team Jota Sport (Dolan/Albuquerque/Tincknell, N°38 Gibson-Nissan) will be out for revenge after being deprived of last year’s victory there following a spectacular crash.

After winning the final round of 2014, Michelin will be represented by four teams and three different chassis, from Krohn Racing’s Ligier JS P2 (N°40, (Krohn/Jonsson/Negri) and Pegasus Racing’s Morgan-Nissan (Roussel/Cheng/Coleman, N°29) to the Oreca-Nissans run by AF Corse on behalf of SMP Racing (Mediani/Markozov/Minassian, N°32 / Aleshin/Ladygin/Ladygin, N°34). The new BR01s which lapped for the first time at the Le Castellet Prologue will not be ready for the championship’s opening round, however.

The 2012 champion Thiriet by TDS Racing has high hopes with its new Oreca05-Nissan (N°46, Thiriet/Badey/Gommendy), while Ibanez Racing will have two Oreca03-Nissans for La Rosa/Yamagishi (N°44) and Perret/Bellarossa/Ibanez (N°45). Algarve Racing will not be at Silverstone, but Greaves Motorsport (N°41 Gibson-Nissan) and Murphy Prototypes (N°48 Oreca-Nissan) promise to be strong, too, as does ELMS newcomer Eurasia Motorsport (N°33 Oreca-Nissan).

To launch the new LM P3 category, no fewer than five LM P3 Ginetta-Nissan/Michelin prototypes are expected to appear at Silverstone, including one for ex-cyclist Sir Chris Hoy who is poised to make his endurance racing debut.

Six Ferrari 458s make up the nine-strong LM GTE entry, along with a Marc VDS Racing-tended BMW Z4 for Priaulx/Hassid/Krohn and a brace of Porsche 911 RSRs. The GTC field is more varied with four different makes (BMW, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Lamborghini) but only six cars. Dunlop is the sole tyre supplier for all the ELMS GT runners.

Free practice will begin on Friday morning (April 10), followed by Saturday’s qualifying from 11:05am and the race’s start shortly afterwards at 2:30pm.

WEC, Silverstone : 31 autos sur l’airfield / 31 cars for WEC curtain raiser

Le Championnat du monde d’Endurance FIA 2015 démarre ce week-end avec les 6 Heures de Silverstone où 31 voitures sont attendues sur le mythique circuit anglais. Depuis la création du WEC, les vainqueurs à Silverstone sont champions du monde en fin d’année.

Après le Prologue fin mars sur le circuit Paul Ricard, la saison mondiale d’Endurance commence vraiment ce week-end avec les 6 Heures de Silverstone dont le départ sera donné dimanche 12 avril à midi. Sur les 35 engagés à l’année, 31 voitures sont attendues dans le Northamptonshire.

Toyota Racing, qui avait réalisé un doublé l’an passé à Silverstone, aligne deux TS040 Hybrid spec 2015 et des équipages recomposés et homogénéisés : Davidson/Buemi/Nakajima sur la N°1, Wurz/Sarrazin/Conway sur la N°2.

Les Audi R18 e-tron quattro engagées par Audi Sport Team Joest retrouvent les N°7 (Fassler/Tréluyer/Lotterer) et N°8 (Di Grassi/Duval/Jarvis) qu’elles ont arborés pour la dernière fois aux 24 Heures du Mans 2010. La reconquête du titre passe par Silverstone, là où Audi a peut-être perdu sa couronne l’an passé avec un double abandon.

Porsche Team revendique 30 863 km d’essais cet hiver et a dominé les tests officiels du Castellet avec ses nouvelles 919 Hybrid. Les équipages de 2014 sont reconduits, à savoir Bernhard/Hartley/Webber sur la N°17 et Dumas/Jani/Lieb sur la N°18. Pour son retour en Prototype, Porsche avait décroché son premier podium l’an passé.

En LM GTE Pro, Ferrari, Porsche et Aston Martin vont reprendre leur match habituel, tout en se méfiant de la fameuse BoP. Le doublé des Porsche 911 RSR/Michelin à Silverstone l’an passé avait coûté cher au Team Manthey pour le reste de la saison. Equipages inchangés chez AF Corse (Bruni/Vilander N°51, Rigon/Calado N°71). Les Porsche seront partagées par deux pilotes (Lietz/Christensen N°91, Makowiecki/Pilet N°92). Chez Aston Martin Racing, trois Vantage sont engagées pour Turner/Mücke (N°97), Nygaard/Sorensen/Thiim (N°95) et MacDowall/Rees/Stanaway (N°99).

En LM P2, les 10 prototypes attendus sur la grille représenteront sept teams, cinq constructeurs de châssis, trois motoristes et deux manufacturiers de pneumatiques différents. A domicile, l’équipe Strakka Racing (Leventis/Kane/Watts, Dome S103-Nissan N°42) entend bien réussir son retour en WEC avec son partenaire Michelin.

Le team SMP Racing champion du monde en titre étant absent cette année, la succession est ouverte entre les Russes de G-Drive (Ligier JS P2 N°26 et N°28), les Américains d’Extreme Speed Motorsports (HPD-ARX03b N°30 et N°31), le Team Sard-Morand (Morgan Evo N°39 et N°43), le double champion d’Europe sortant Signatech-Alpine (Alpine A450b N°36) et les Asiatiques KCMG (Oreca05-Nissan N°47) et OAK Racing (Ligier JS P2 N°35).

De la diversité aussi en LM GTE Am cette année avec quatre marques différentes représentées : Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche et Aston Martin. Le niveau s’annonce très relevé avec des pilotes de pointe (Collard, Long, Bertolini, Lamy…). C’est d’ailleurs une GTE Am qui a réalisé le meilleur chrono des GTE aux essais officiels de pré-saison.

Les premiers essais libres sont programmés vendredi 10 avril vers midi. Les qualifs débuteront samedi à 12h00 avec un nouveau format : moyenne du meilleur tour des deux pilotes avec changement de pneus autorisés en course de séance. Départ des 6 Heures de Silverstone dimanche 12 avril à midi.

The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship gets underway this weekend with the 6 Hours of Silverstone for which 31 cars have been entered. Since the WEC’s creation, the winners of the British round have gone on to claim the discipline’s world title.

After late-March’s Prologue appetiser, competitive WEC action will kick off with Sunday’s 6 Hours of Silverstone (April 12). Of the 35 cars entered for the championship, 31 are expected to attend the British race.

Toyota Racing, which came first and second at Silverstone in 2014, will have two 2015-spec TS040 Hybrids for its revised driver line-ups, namely Davidson/Buemi/Nakajima (N°1) and Wurz/Sarrazin/Conway (N°2).

There will be Audi Sport Team Joest-run R18 e-tron quattros for Fässler/Tréluyer/Lotterer (N°7) and Di Grassi/Duval/Jarvis (N°8). The last time the German cars sported these numbers was at Le Mans in 2010. It was at Silverstone that Audi probably squandered its 2014 title chances when neither of its cars reached the finish.

After 30,863km of winter testing, Porsche Team dominated the official test at Le Castellet with its new 919 Hybrids which will be in the hands of its 2014 crews Bernhard/Hartley/Webber (N°17) and Dumas/Jani/Lieb (N°18). The German team celebrated its return to prototype racing last year with a podium finish at Silverstone.

In LM GTE Pro, Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin will resume their three-way battle, although they will all be on their guards with regard to the ‘Balance of Performance’ question: in 2014, the Michelin-equipped Porsche 911 RSRs came first and second, a result which cost Team Manthey dearly for the remainder of the season. The driver line-ups are unchanged at AF Corse (Bruni/Vilander: N°51 / Rigon/Calado: N°71), while the Porsches will be in the hands of Lietz/Christensen (N°91) and Makowiecki/Pilet (N°92). Aston Martin Racing Vantages have been entered for Turner/Mücke (N°97), Nygaard/Sorensen/Thiim (N°95) and MacDowall/Rees/Stanaway (N°99).

The A10 LM P2 prototypes on the grid at Silverstone will represent seven different teams, five chassis makers, three engine suppliers and two tyre brands. Strakka Racing (Leventis/Kane/Watts, N°42 Dome S103-Nissan) will be on home soil and eager to kick off its WEC comeback with its partner Michelin in style.

With the class’s 2014 champion SMP Racing absent this year, the battle will oppose Russia’s G-Drive (N°26 and N°28 Ligier JS P2s), the USA’s Extreme Speed Motorsports (N°30 and N°31 HPD-ARX03Bs), Team Sard-Morand (N°39 and N°43 Morgan Evos), two-time ELMS champion Signatech-Alpine (N°36 Alpine A450b), Asia’s KCMG (N°47 Oreca05-Nissan) and OAK Racing (N°35 Ligier JS P2).

There are four makes this season in LM GTE Am, namely Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin, plus a long list of drivers of the calibre of Collard, Long, Bertolini and Lamy. Indeed, it was an ‘Am’ car that posted the fastest LM GTE lap at the pre-season Prologue.

Free practice is due to begin on Friday, followed by qualifying at midday Saturday (mid-session tyre changes now authorised) and the race itself at midday Sunday.

16e édition Enduro de la Val de Lorraine Classic 2015

Le Val de Lorraine Classic 2015 c'était ce samedi 28 et dimanche 29 mars 2015. Pour cette 16ème édition, 680 pilotes étaient engagés. Un record ! Au programme pour ces pilotes, un parcours de 320 kilomètres avec 2 boucles le samedi (une de 120 kilomètres et une de 40 kilomètres), et une boucle distincte de 160km le dimanche. 14 spéciales étaient également réparties tout du long du parcours.
En savoir plus : http://www.mylorraine.fr/article/reto...

Motorcycle Adventure - The Bridle Track

Motorcycle Adventure at it's best riding the iconic Bridle Track west of Sydney, Australia.

BMW R NINET BY MOTOKOUTURE

The BMW R nineT was released by BMW Motorrad in 2014 to target the rapidly expanding retro motorcycle market, the model is an interesting look back for BMW – a marque much more famous for its use of cutting edge technology in new models.

Although it resembles the boxer engines used in BMW motorcycle from the 80s, the power unit in the R nineT is a very modern air-cooled flat twin with twin camshafts and four radially aligned valves per cylinder, as well as a central balancer shaft.

The engine and main wiring looms are separate – a deliberate decision to make life easier for custom motorcycle builders.

Power is fed to the rear wheel via a constant mesh 6-speed gearbox with helical gear teeth and a maintenance free shaft drive, suspension is provided by modern upside-down forks up front and an adjustable monoshock in the rear. In order to make the bodywork as easy to customise as possible the rear subframe is bolt-on/bolt-off – with no angle grinder needed (although it seems a lot less fun this way).

The custom R nineT you’re looking at here is the work of MotoKouture, a Belgian motorcycle workshop know for their meticulously hand-fabricated bikes. This particular build is for a well-known artist (who requested to remain anonymous), he wanted an entirely unique bike based on the R nineT that would be almost impossible to copy, so the team at MotoKouture set about creating a mould from scratch.

The fuel tank and seat were initially created in clay, then sand cast in molten aluminium alloy. Once the metal had cooled, the mould was broken open and final finishing was completed. A matching fairing was then made from alloy using an English wheeling machine, and it was capped off with a tinted windshield.

In stock form the boxer twin fitted to the R nineT produces 110hp, in order to give this bike slightly longer legs for track use an open exhaust was made, a pair of K&N filters were added and the CDI was tweaked to boost the power to 142hp at the rear wheel.

The completed bike is almost certainly the quickest custom R nineT we’ve featured, it’s also a genuine one-off as the original mould was destroyed during the manufacturing process. If you’d like to see more from MotoKouture you can click here to visit their site (they have an English language version), and if you’d like to read more about the BMW R nineT you can click here to visit BMW Motorrad.

via SILODROME

10 more odd Ferraris we almost forgot

Be it show cars, factory prototypes or well-connected customers’ bespoke commissions, the Ferrari songbook is littered with interesting side notes that, sadly, failed to stand the test of time. Our previous 'Ferraris we almost forgot' story proved so popular that we’ve served up a second instalment…

Ferrari 330 GTS Targa by Harrah

The road-going 330 was clearly the Ferrari to make your own – this unique GTS Targa was built by Bill Harrah for an American distributor in 1969. That vast rear window must have been eye-wateringly expensive to produce then; we can't imagine sourcing one today...

Ferrari NART 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizione Spyder

Between 1974 and 1980, Luigi Chinetti commissioned Michelotti to create three one-off Ferraris based on the Daytona Spider, one of which was, bizarrely, intended to race at Le Mans in 1975. Though it never actually raced at La Sarthe (Chinetti had fallen out with the ACO and withdrawn all NART’s cars the night before the race), it was entered in the 1978 Daytona 24 Hours and enjoyed subsequent success in the 2003 Ferrari Historic Challenge.

Ferrari 330 GTC by Zagato

If your 330 GTC suffered an accident and you fancied doing something a bit left field, who better to send it to than the avant-garde coachbuilder Zagato? This was Luigi Chinetti’s thinking in 1973, and the new bespoke body would be to his exacting standards. Say what you will, the result is an archetypal Seventies Zagato design. We love it.

Ferrari 275 P by Luigi Chinetti Jr. and Robert Peak

“The creation of this 275 P represents an unprecedented collaboration of European and American philosophies,” read the sales card. ‘Coco’ Chinetti and commercial artist Bob Peak entrusted Michelotti to build their voluptuous co-designed body on a 275 P chassis, which had previously suffered fire damage at Le Mans. High-speed stability was a key consideration, apparently.

Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 ‘Croisette’ by Felber

Just because you can dream it, that’s not to say it’ll work. Take this kitsch shooting-brake version of the 365 GT4 2+2, designed by the Swiss coachbuilder Willy Felber, for example.

Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 Navarro Special

Allegedly, the Italian nightclub tycoon Norbert Navarro didn’t care for the Ferrari 330 GT’s styling, so he had Drogo build one to his own rather quirky design. When Chinetti caught wind of the ‘Golden Car’, he was smitten, quickly shipping it to the States to sell. It was painted red at one point, and trust us when we say... it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Ferrari Rossa by Pininfarina

Clearly inspired by the celestial 1950s 250 Testa Rossa, Pininfarina’s pretty Rossa concept was designed as a Ferrari of the future. In reality, about the only feature that was adopted were the teardrop rear tail-lights, which were subsequently seen on the Enzo.

Ferrari P6 Berlinette Speciale by Pininfarina

An engineless design study that inspired both the Berlinetta Boxer and the 308/328 series cars, Pininfarina’s P6 was revealed at the 1968 Turin Motor Show. Resplendent in white, its design was conservative and crisp; an elegant taste of things to come.

250 GT Lusso Speciale

As if this 250 GT Lusso weren’t speciale enough, its first owners had it re-bodied by Medardo Fantuzzi, who incorporated a longer, more aerodynamic nose, cowled headlights, and a more pronounced rear spoiler. A later owner had the GTO/LMB fairings installed. Pininfarina built a similar long-nose Lusso (sans GTO bits), which it displayed at the 1964 London Motor Show.

ASA 1000 GT ‘Ferrarina’

Okay, so it’s not strictly a Ferrari. But the ASA 1000 GT wouldn’t have come to be if it weren’t for Enzo Ferrari’s savvy idea to create a small-capacity sports car to boost the revenue stream. Ferrari built a prototype and, although the Modenese marque never took up the project, ASA was formed to build and sell it. It was even nicknamed the 'Ferrarina' – there was no way il Commendatore would allow such a car officially to bear his hallowed name. 

Photos: RM Auctions, Bonhams, Pininfarina, Gooding & Co., DK Engineering, Ferrari.

You can find more orthodox Ferraris for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

WHAT IF T.E. LAWRENCE RODE A BMW R100GS?

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

The last Das Traumwerk build we featured was controversial to say the least: aboardtracker with a bright yellow engine. Now Alex Ahrer and Herwig Prammer are at it again, with their mischievous Austrian sense of humour.

This time, they’ve taken inspiration from the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. They asked themselves the question: What if T.E. Lawrence roamed the desert on a motorcycle instead of a camel? They reckon it’d be something like this sandy BMW R100GS.

“We wanted to revitalize the atmosphere of the legendary and mystic Orient,” explains Herwig. “The appearance should suggest sand, desert, pyramids, nomad tents and bonfires under an endless sky. With the smell of incense and the taste of dates.”

Okay. Riiight. The illustrious history of the GS in the Paris-Dakar rally is perhaps a better connection to the desert, and prompted the duo to leave most of the R100GS chassis intact. The stock 21F/18R wheels were also retained, but wrapped in new Mitas offroad rubber. The suspension has been upgraded with Wilbers springs.

We love the period-correct accessories. Up on the handlebars is an early forerunner of today’s ubiquitous GoPro: a fully functioning screw-mount Leica camera. (“For historic action-shots,” according to Herwig.) Out back, there’s a Swiss army satchel and a NATO-style jerry can for longer rides.

The 1998-model engine was left untouched—save for the airbox, which was ditched in favour of cone filters. Das Traumwerk have also stripped the GS’ banana-shaped exhaust down, and rebuilt it into a simpler unit. As Herwig puts it, “All other folderol [triviality] was eliminated.”

The R100GS might be functional, but it doesn’t have the lines of a klassische motorräder. So the guys replaced the fuel tank with one from a late ’60s BMW /5, tweaking it to fit.

Then they shortened the subframe by almost eight inches, and installed a custom-made solo seat. It’s been upholstered in marble leather from an old chair.

The original rear fender was trimmed; the front fender’s from a 70s-model Japanese bike. The yellow headlight and speedo are from a BMW R65, and the turn signals and rear light were taken off a 1974 Honda CB450.

The matte sand finish dominating the BMW is offset by ‘Black Red’ powdercoat on the frame and assorted hard parts. Leather highlights soften the effect, and can be found on the tank and grips—and even a nifty cover over the shaft drive seal.

As much as we’re looking forward to the inevitable comments, we have to admit Das Traumwerk’s “Lawrence” made us smile.

It’s both practical and fun. What more could you want?

Das Traumwerk website | Facebook

via BIKEexif

EDC: UNRAVEL

Above the Fray Macbook Cord Organizer ($32). Ugmonk Leather Card Case ($46).Foursevens Mini Flashlight ($32). Tanner Goods Fob ($10). Gerber STL Fine Edge Knife ($10). Poppin White Signature Ballpoint Pen ($12). M & U Key Ring ($30).

Presented by Above the Fray.

Clyde .........