dimanche 26 avril 2015

In case you’ve ever wondered why hill-climb cars have massive rear wings, take a look at this video.

Shot at the Race to the Sky event in New Zealand, we’re treated to some awesome footage of Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima‘s custom Toyota flying up the hill at Highlands Motorsport Park. But then there’s a bodywork failure, which takes out the huge spoiler and instantly removes downforce from the back of the car. The result? A slightly scary loss of control.

Thankfully the car stays the right way up, and Monster emerges completely unscathed. Half an hour later, he’s joking and signing autographs. Phew!

Source: Highlands Motorsport Park

KTM1190 Adventure R Red Bull Athlete Chris Birch cuts loose

Red Bull athlete Chris Birch cuts loose on his KTM1190 Adventure R in the stunning South Island of New Zealand.

Race of Gentlemen Documentary

race of gentlemen drag racing on the beach

WRC, Argentine: Première victoire mondiale pour Kris Meeke / Meeke, at last!

Kris Meeke et Paul Nagle ont rejoint le club des vainqueurs en WRC après leur première victoire mondiale au Rallye d’Argentine. L’équipage Citroën/Michelin a pratiquement mené de bout en bout et Mads Ostberg a assuré le doublé pour l’équipe Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi. Le Gallois Elfyn Evans (Ford/Michelin) décroche son premier podium mondial.

Depuis sa prise de pouvoir à l’issue de l’ES2 – la première vraie spéciale de cette 35^e édition -, Kris Meeke semblait très relax, même si l’Irlandais du Nord avait sans doute encore en mémoire le Rallye Deutschland 2014 où il avait laissé échapper la victoire le dernier jour. Ce week-end, Kris Meeke est resté concentré jusqu’au bout d’un rallye particulièrement difficile pour les mécaniques.

Le champion IRC 2009 a remporté sa première victoire mondiale, offrant le premier succès à Citroën/Michelin depuis près de deux ans (Allemagne 2013). Mieux. Malgré une fièvre tenace, le Norvégien Mads Ostberg a terminé deuxième à 18s1, assurant le premier doublé Citroën depuis le Rallye de Finlande 2012 !

« Que puis-je dire ? », a répondu Kris Meeke à l’arrivée. « Que la route fut très longue jusqu’à cette première victoire que je dédie à Colin McRae. » Malgré ses 35 ans, Kris Meeke dispute seulement sa seconde saison complète en WRC.

Ce week-end, la fiabilité des Volkswagen n’était pas au rendez-vous. Les trois Polo R WRC ont connu des ennuis techniques. Jari-Matti Latvala filait vers la 3^e place avant d’abandonner dimanche matin (injecteurs).

Elfyn Evans (Ford, +3min27s4) a hérité de cette 3^e place, son tout premier podium mondial. Le Gallois a connu une course limpide jusqu’à la dernière spéciale où une transmission a cassé sur sa Ford Fiesta RS WRC, mais il a pu rallier le parc de Villa Carlos Paz. C’est la première fois depuis le Rallye de Nouvelle 2001 que deux pilotes Britanniques montent sur un podium WRC !

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), une des premières victimes de ce rallye (jante cassée ES2) était revenu à la 4^e place avant de percuter un rocher et d’abandonner dans la dernière spéciale. Ce même rocher avait éliminé quelques secondes plus tôt le Norvégien Andreas Mikkelsen (VW).

Martin Prokop (Ford) a signé son meilleur résultat en WRC avec une 4^e place, devant l’Espagnol Dani Sordo (Hyundai, 5^e), à la bagarre avec Latvala pour la 3^e place avant un problème électrique.

Le Rallye d’Argentine s’est encore refusé au champion du monde Sébastien Ogier. Le Français s’est arrêté dans l’ES2 (injecteurs) avant de repartir en Rally2 et de connaître des ennuis de direction assistée. Le leader du championnat a sauvé son week-end avec les trois points de la Power Stage.

Les concurrents WRC-2 ont également connu un rallye difficile, hormis le vainqueur Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (Ford Fiesta RRC). Yuri Protasov (Ford) était le plus rapide en spéciale, mais il a cassé une suspension et reçu une lourde pénalité. Nicolas Fuchs a connu des ennuis de direction, alors que Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën R5, moteur) a dû abandonner. Le Paraguayen Diego Dominguez (Ford) a terminé deuxième à plus de 3 minutes, devant le Finlandais Jari Ketomaa (Ford).

Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle are the latest additions to the prestigious list of world rally winners thanks to a mature performance in Argentina. The Citroën/Michelin pair led practically from flag-to-flag to head a one-two finish for the French carmaker, with Mads Ostberg coming second. Elfyn Evans (Ford) shared the podium celebrations after the last-morning elimination of Jari-Matti Latvala (VW).

From the moment he emerged ahead on SS2 (the first ‘real’ stage of the 2015 Rally Argentina), Meeke seemed surprisingly relaxed as the red carpet to his maiden WRC victory unrolled before him.

If the Ulsterman had recollections in mind of last year’s Rallye Deutschland, when he threw away a gift victory on the final morning, he showed no exterior signs of doubt as he concentrated on keeping his chasers at bay and surviving the weekend’s punishing conditions.

As his chief rivals fell back one by one, the 2009 IRC champion kept his head to collect Sunday’s win, the first of his WRC career and Citroën/Michelin’s first since Dani Sordo’s success in Germany in 2013.

Better still: the equally consistent Ostberg (+18.1s) overcame a bout of flu to seal Citroën’s first one-two triumph since Finland 2012!

“What can I say? It’s been an exceptionally long route to get to this result today,” said Meeke after the final stage, in tears as he dedicated his victory to his late mentor Colin McRae. It is worth remembering that this is only the Ulsterman’s second full season with a factory team…

Meanwhile, Argentina was an event that saw Volkswagen’s reliability record take a dent. None of its cars escaped issues, although Jari-Matti Latvala appeared to be heading for third when he was eliminated by a fuel-related problem on the penultimate stage.

As a result, Elfyn Evans (+3m27.4s) inherited an unexpected top-three finish, the first of the M-Sport WRT driver’s career. The Welshman showed few flashes of outright speed but was one of the rare drivers to stay out of trouble, except for a little rear suspension damage at the very end. His home media will revel in the fact that this the first time we have seen two Britons on a WRC podium since New Zealand 2001!

Thierry Neuville, who had been one of the first front-runners to suffer a delay (broken rim on SS2), fought back to appear in fourth for Hyundai before the final test (‘El Condor 2’). The Belgian failed to complete the Power Stage, however, after clouting a solid rock, and Ford privateer Martin Prokop finally claimed the position (+6m26.1s).

All the other WRC stars reported woes in Argentina, including 17^th-placed Sébastien Ogier (engine electronics, power-steering), yet he actually extended his championship lead thanks to the three Power Stage bonus points.

Other victims were Andreas Mikkelsen (power steering, accident), Hayden Paddon (16^th, accidents) and Dani Sordo (5^th) who had been challenging for third before being halted by an electrical gremlin.

The WRC2 favourites had an equally difficult time and pre-start favourites Yurii Protasov (suspension) and Nicolas Fuchs (steering) both fell back after early problems. The delighted Qatari Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (Fiesta RRC) finished practically three minutes clear of Diego Dominguez (Ford Fiesta R5) to secure the class win.

Teams will now travel back to Europe for round five of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship in Portugal on May 21-24.

DIRT MAGAZINE

The DTRA have worked with photographer Ian Roxburgh and journalist Ian Osborne the create a neat, free digital magazine you see here.

WRC, Argentin : Qui va planer sur El Condor ?

La célèbre spéciale d’El Condor est à parcourir deux fois en conclusion du Rallye d’Argentine 2015. Le second passage - Power Stage – sera convoité par les plus infortunés du rallye pour marquer des points de bonus. Les condors vont voir du beau spectacle.

El Condor. Rien que le nom est magique. La spéciale l’est tout autant. Elle démarre à La Posta, au bord de la route principale reliant Cordoba à Mina Clavero, à 2140 mètres d’altitude, dans un décor sauvage et minéral, battu par les vents et hélas souvent noyé dans le brouillard.

Le chemin en terre, étroit et bosselé, s’enfonce en lacets entre les rochers, lesquels laissent peu à peu place à une végétation plus dense. A mi-spéciale, la piste serpente au fond d’une vallée encaissée et enjambe quelques rios turbulents en des ponts suspendus, peut-être construits par les conquistadors. Après 16,32 km d’une descente ininterrompue, les concurrents arrivent à El Copina, à 1390 mètres d’altitude.

Cette année, El Condor est à parcourir deux fois d’affilée, pour le plus grand plaisir des photographes, sevrés de quelques célèbresspotsargentins par le parcours 2015, celui des spectateurs (les organisateurs ont fermé les accès samedi soir à 18h00 !), mais pas forcément pour celui des pilotes qui jugent souvent cette spéciale trop lente et cassante. Et elle le sera encore plus cette année, car les pistes ont beaucoup souffert des intempéries.

Cette spéciale fut au programme du Rallye d’Argentine dès que l’épreuve s’est établie dans la province de Cordoba, en 1984. Elle s’appelait alors La Posta-Bifurc Ruta et mesurait 43,66 km ! Elle a pris le nom d’El Condor pour la première fois en 1986.

Dans sa version 16,32 km, le record d’El Condor-Copina appartient à Jari-Matti Latvala depuis 2013 (12min57s2, 75,6 km/h de moyenne). Il pourrait bien être battu cette année si les conditions météo sont favorables, car les candidats sont nombreux pour marquer des points de bonus, notamment Sébastien Ogier, Andreas Mikkelsen, Thierry Neuville ou encore Ott Tanak.

A dedicated auction to celebrate 60 years of the Rolex Day-Date

With 2015 marking the 60th year of the Rolex Day-Date – and a forthcoming auction dedicated solely to the timeless timepiece – our author Simon de Burton looks at the model’s evolution, and picks some of the choicest examples soon to go under the hammer...

There are several horological milestones being celebrated in 2015 – 40 years of the ‘Bulgari Bulgari’ watch, for example, and a decade since the launch of the original, square-cased Bell & Ross BR-01. But perhaps more significant is that this is the 60th year of production of the flagship Rolex, the Day-Date.

At last month’s Baselworld show, Rolex unveiled a 'refreshed' version of the legendary model it launched in 1956, upping the case size from the traditional 36mm to 40 and fitting the new Calibre 3255 movement with 70 hours of power reserve behind laser-etched, sunray dials with a choice of Roman numerals or plain markers. Even the bracelet has had an upgrade, and now comes with ceramic ‘sleeves’ for added suppleness and longevity.

The heart of the matter, quite literally

But at the heart of the matter remains the still-impressive function from which the Day-Date derives its name: the ability to show the date together with the day of the week in its entirety, the two perfectly synchronised displays simultaneously adjusting on the stroke of midnight – and in any one of 26 languages, too.

It still appears magical today, so imagine how extraordinary the function must have seemed when Rolex introduced it in 1956. Until then, no other watch manufacturer had attempted to design the complex mechanism that would not only enable the day and date to be displayed in independent windows, but which would also enable the day to be written in full.

And the Day-Date’s status is now set to be further elevated in May, when it becomes the subject of a ‘theme’ auction held by the newly formed Phillips watch department, led by former Christie’s star Aurel Bacs.

A dedicated auction

Dubbed ‘The Glamorous Day-Date’, the Geneva sale will feature an age-appropriate 60 examples of the model, among them rare and early versions and others with royal provenance that have been selected from across four continents.

Highlights include a platinum-cased Reference 1831 that is believed to have been commissioned for the Shah of Iran during the mid-1970s. One of eight known to have been made, it is tipped to fetch up to 240,000 CHF and features a diamond-set bezel and a burgundy ‘Stella’ dial with diamond hour-markers.

The left-field choice

The only known ‘left-handed’ Day-Date is also up for grabs (50,000 - 100,000 CHF), as well as a selection of watches made for the Omani royal family with dials decorated with the national emblem, the khanjar.

One of the most sought-after lots, however, is likely to be a launch-year model in yellow gold made for the German market, with a rare dial marked ‘Superlative Chronometer Amtlich Geprüft’. It is conservatively estimated at 10,000 - 20,000 CHF.

Photos: Rolex

1965 SHELBY GT350 R

The Shelby GT350 R is the slightly more blood-thirsty version of the already fast Shelby GT350, all of the cars started life as stock Mustangs before being sent off to Carroll Shelby’s workshop for some performance oriented modifications.

The first order of business when building a GT350 was an axle replacement, the stock unit was deemed unfit for serious performance use so it was replaced with a Ford Falcon axle, and modified leaf spring suspension. In the engine bay, a set of high-riser manifolds were added which helped to boost power from 271hp to 306hp.

To create the Shelby GT350 R, all considerations for driver comfort were discarded and a tractor beam focus was established on all-out speed. The Ford Falcon axle wasn’t quite up to the task so instead, Shelby added a heavy-duty Ford Galaxie unit with more track-focussed suspension front and back. Brakes were replaced with Kelsey-Hayes discs up front and a set of larger drums in the rear, a roll cage was fitted and the interior was stripped of anything not directly required for racing.

Just 36 1965 G350 Rs were built, 34 production units and 2 prototypes, and they’re now amongst the most collectible of the early Shelbys. Carroll designed them specifically to win races under SCCA rules and he did a remarkable job – the GT350 R was the B-Production champion for 3 consecutive years.

The car you see here has an extraordinary race history, it was campaigned by Pedro Rodriguez and Freddy van Buren – the latter of whom drove the car to the SCCA Southwest Division title in 1966. In ’67 it was raced at the 24 Hours of Daytona and at the 12 Hours of Sebring where it won in its class.

Its racing history carried on through till the early 1970s, its been restored by a marque specialist in the meantime and its now being offered for sale by RM Sotheby’s on the 2nd of May 2015 – click here for more information.

via SILODROME

sidecar 1956 Lambretta LD 150

This Innocenti Lambretta LD 150 Sidecar 1956, has been fully restored in the bodywork and into the engine by the technicians of DBM Garage, accompanied by photographic documentation of the restoration.

Original logo Innocenti on the shield, odometer original Veglia/Innocenti scale with 100 Km/h, accessory chrome fender. Number chassis and engine original, registered ASI (Automotoclub Storico Italiano), Italian plate but canceled the registration of the vehicle.The sidecar was probably manufactured by Longhi.
Two-stroke single cylinder engine with a displacement of 150 cc and power of 6 hp, speed 70-80 Km/h, which kick started. The kick lever is a work of mechanical art for its shape, beautiful to behold.
Three-speed gearbox and wheels 4.00x8 tires with white band.

Each vehicle proposed by DBM GARAGE, can be sent to Italy or abroad with door to door service.
The price of transport is to be added to the sale price.
We receive customers by appointment.

PRICE : 16.000 €

Hear the animalistic howl of the Aston Martin Vantage GT12

We’ve seen the pictures – and now you can hear the bellow of the 600HP Aston Martin Vantage GT12 as it’s released from captivity, and let loose into the wilderness of Silverstone circuit…

Oh, and in case you were wondering what a GT12 is, it’s what the Vantage GT3 has become since Porsche threw its toys out of its Panamera. The newly renamed model sits at the top of the Vantage tree, and is limited to 100 examples worldwide.

Photos/Video: Aston Martin

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