ACE CAFE RADIO

    vendredi 22 mai 2015

    Sofuoglu signe le meilleur temps de la première journée en Angleterre / Championship leader Sofuoglu dominates Donington WSS opening day


    Cluzel maintient cependant la pression sur le leader du classement Supersport.

    Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) a conclu la première journée de la sixième manche du Championnat du Monde Supersport avec le meilleur temps vendredi à Donington Park, en ayant battu le record du circuit, établi par Sam Lowes en 2013, de 0.112s.
    Après une matinée difficile, Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) a fini deuxième, avec à peine plus d’un dixième de seconde de retard sur le pilote turc, tandis que les Britannique Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing) et Kyle Ryde (Pacedayz European Trackdays) ont impressionné en s’emparant des 3e et 4e positions sur la feuille de temps.
    WSS Donington FP2
    L’Américain PJ Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) a fini en cinquième position devant le troisième wildcard, le Nord-Irlandais Andrew Reid, qui a pris la place de Ratthapark Wilairot chez CORE Motorsport Thailand.
    Figuraient aussi dans le Top 10 Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres), Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda), Sam Hornsey (Profile Racing) et Kevin Wahr (SMS Honda).
    Les pilotes Supersport auront une dernière séance d’essais avant les qualifications qui auront lieu samedi après-midi à 15h30.

    Cluzel regroups to keep pressure on WSS points leader ahead of qualifying tomorrow.

    Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) dominated the opening day of World Supersport action, dipping below the 2013 lap record of Sam Lowes in FP1 to head the field after FP2 by 0.112s.
    Behind the Turkish rider who is currently leading this year’s world championship was Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who overcame a difficult morning to move into 2nd. The Frenchman finished ahead of the British pairing of Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing) and Kyle Ryde (Pacedayz European Trackdays) who showed incredible pace in both 45 minute sessions to finish 3rd and 4threspectively. For Ryde the result is even more impressive given his age – at 17 he is the youngest ever British WSS wildcard.
    American PJ Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) kept himself in contention in 5th ahead of the 3rd British wildcard entered at Donington Park, Andrew Reid. The youngster from Northern Ireland is replacing Ratthapark Wilairot in the CORE Motorsport Thailand team finishing a credible 6th at the end of the opening day.
    In a session that saw most riders improve. Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres), Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda), Sam Hornsey (Profile Racing), and Kevin Wahr (SMS Honda) rounded out the top ten.
    The WSS riders have one final Free Practice session tomorrow morning before their sole qualifying session which is scheduled to take place at 1530 local time.
    WSS Donington FP2


    Sykes domine les débats à Donington Park / Sykes in control as WorldSBK at Donington heads into Tissot-Superpole


    Le Britannique est en tête à l’issue des trois séances d’essais.

    Suite à une première journée qui comptait exceptionnellement trois séances d’essais libres, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) est installé au sommet de la feuille de temps du WorldSBK à Donington Park, où il avait réalisé le doublé ces deux dernières années. Le Britannique a tourné en 1’28.172 et était à un rien du record du circuit, dont il est l’auteur.
    Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing Ducati SBK Team) est tombé juste après être passé en seconde position, à trois minutes du drapeau à damier, et terminait devant Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), qui était lui aussi parmi les pilotes à améliorer leurs chronos lors de la troisième séance.
    Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Team, Donington FP3
    Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) ne semblait pas gêné par ses côtes cassées et a fini quatrième devant ses compatriotes Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) et Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki).
    Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) a perdu un peu de terrain mais était tout de même septième, devant Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) et Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing).
    Ayrton Badovini, BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team, Donington FP1
    Le rookie espagnol Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) a manqué le Top 10 de justesse et devra donc participer à la Superpole 1, à l’instar de Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), David Salom (Team Pedercini), Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) et Christophe Ponsson (Team Pedercini), qui complétaient le Top 15.

    FP3 decides top 20 riders that will progress into Superpole sessions.

    On a day that saw three 45 minute Free Practice sessions for the WorldSBK riders, the final one deciding the 20 riders that will make it through to tomorrow’s Tissot-Superpole sessions it was FP3 that saw the most activity as well as the fastest time as Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) ended day one on combined times as the fastest rider to lap the 4.023km Donington Park circuit, the top 13 covered by 0.953s
    The Kawasaki rider’s time of 1.28.172 was less than a tenth of a second from his own race lap record set in 2013 and kept the former champion 0.111s ahead of the opposition.
    Davide Giugliano crashed his Aruba.it Racing Ducati SBK Team entry after moving into 2nd with 3 minutes to go, the Italian was able to stay ahead of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) who finished 3rd after also improving in the final session of the day.
    Davide Giugliano, Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team, Donington FP1
    Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) showed no ill effects of the rib injury from Imola, moving closer to the fastest time in 4th ahead of compatriots Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) and Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) who were 5th and 6th.
    Ayrton Badovini kept BMW Motorrad Italia in contention in 7th ahead of Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) and Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing).
    Alex Lowes, Voltcom Crescent Suzuki, Donington FP3
    WorldSBK rookie Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) just missed out on the top ten finishing 11th on his Donington debut, ahead of Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), David Salom (Team Pedercini), Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) and the youngest rider on the grid Christophe Ponsson (Team Pedercini) who were the final riders in the top 15.
    The final rider to make it into Tissot-Superpole was Santiago Barragan (Grillini SBK Team) who edged Imre Toth (BMW Team Toth) in the final half of FP3 to secure 20th.
    To read about FP2 please click here.

    WRC, Portugal, étape 1 : Sept pilotes en 30 secondes ! / seven drivers covered by 30 seconds!


    Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin) est sorti en tête d’une première étape portugaise mouvementée et âprement disputée. Il devance Kris Meeke (Citroën) de 11.1 secondes et son équipier Andreas Mikkelsen de 16 secondes. Derrière, Tanak, Sordo et Ogier sont groupés en 8 secondes. Le top-7 se tient en pratiquement 30 secondes…
    Cette première étape tracée tout au nord du Portugal, fut effectivement très agitée. Des feux de forêt la nuit précédente ont laissé planer la menace de l’annulation de Ponte de Lima (ES2/5). Les premiers concurrents l’ont finalement parcourue, malgré une voiture 00 qui brûlait en bord de piste et qui a embrasé la forêt ! La spéciale fut interrompue, puis annulée au second passage…
    Sportivement, ce fut également très mouvementé, en particulier au niveau des choix de pneumatiques. Le terrain très soft a incité la plupart des pilotes Michelin à choisir le pneu LTX Force S4 (soft) ce matin, hormis Thierry Neuville qui a fait le choix inverse. Classé à près d’une minute après quatre spéciales, le Belge a perdu gros…
    Ce terrain soft s’est ensuite beaucoup dégradé pour le second passage. Avec l’annulation de l’ES5 (27,65 km) et seulement deux ES à disputer, certains pilotes ont poursuivi avec des pneus soft, d’autres ont opté pour des gommes hard et la plupart ont mixé leurs montes. Ce fut le cas de Jari-Matti Latvala (3 hard + 2 soft) qui a conforté sa première place après un meilleur temps dans l’ES6.
    Le Finlandais, avantagé par sa 9e position sur la route ce matin, a conclu cette première étape avec 11.1 secondes d’avance sur Kris Meeke (Citroën DS3 WRC) régulièrement dans le top-5 aujourd’hui. Le Britannique devance Andreas Mikkelsen (3e, VW) de 4s9. Grâce à choix de pneus agressif cet après-midi (5 soft), Ott Tanak (Ford) est revenu à la 4e place, à seulement 1s3 du podium.
    Dani Sordo (Hyundai), vainqueur de l’ES2 ce matin, est 5e à 4s de Tanak et devance Sébastien Ogier (VW) de… 4s1 ! Le leader du championnat avait le désavantage d’ouvrir la piste aujourd’hui et a aussi connu une crevaison lente dans l’ES2 qui a ruiné sa stratégie de pneus matinale. Mads Ostberg (Citroën) a remporté une spéciale et pointe à la 7e place, à seulement 31s3 du leader, malgré sa 2e position sur la piste.
    Rien n’est fait dans ce groupe des « 7 », et, peut-être grâce à un parcours nouveau pour tout le monde, ce Rallye du Portugal est très, très disputé. Demain, l’étape compte 165 km chronométrés. C’est Elfyn Evans qui devrait ouvrir et balayer les pistes car le Gallois, qui repartira en Rally2, a dû se retirer dans l’ES2 (capteur électronique).
    En WRC-2, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Ford) a bouclé l’étape en tête malgré une crevaison dans l’ES6. Il possède 13s5 d’avance sur Al-Rajhi (Ford). Pontus Tidemand est 3e (+43s4) avec la nouvelle Skoda Fabia R5 devant Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën). Chez les Juniors, le leader du championnat Quentin Gilbert a pris la tête à l’issue de l’ES6 devant Terry Folb et Ole Christian Veiby.
    Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin) has concluded the fiercely-fought opening day in Portugal on top. Kris Meeke (Citroën, +11.1s) and the Finn’s team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen (+16s) are second and third. Tanak, Sordo and Ogier are covered by eight seconds and the top seven are all within half-a-minute.
    The first day of the Rally de Portugal at the very north of the country delivered its fair share of drama, including a forest fire that broke out overnight, threatening the cancellation of ‘Ponte de Lima’ (SS2/5).
    The first pass finally remained on the menu, despite the fact that the double-zero car caught fire and set alight to the trees. After that, the stage was interrupted and the second visit was dropped.
    The soft ground prompted most Michelin drivers to choose the soft-compound LTX Force S4 for the morning’s run, except Thierry Neuville who opted for ‘hard’ rubber. By the end of SS4, the Belgian was almost a minute adrift…
    The soft conditions meant that the stages cut up quite badly for the afternoon’s loop. Following the cancellation of SS5 (27.65km), only two tests remained, so some drivers remained on soft tyres, but others switched to the hard compound, while most of them ran a combination of both. Their numbers included Latvala who left lunchtime service with three ‘hards’ and two ‘softs’. SS6 saw him extend his lead at the top of the order.
    The Finn, who had the benefit of running ninth on the road, completed the day with an 11.1s cushion over Meeke (Citroën DS3 WRC) who posted several top-five times today. The Briton is 4.9s clear of third-placed Mikkelsen (VW). Ott Tanak, who chose five soft tyres, has closed to fourth place, just 1.3s shy of the podium.
    SS2 winner Dani Sordo (Hyundai) is fifth, four seconds behind the Estonian and 4.1s clear of Sébastien Ogier (VW). The championship leader has suffered from being first on the road all day, and his woes were compounded by a slow puncture on SS2 which ruined his morning’s tyre strategy. Mads Ostberg (Citroën) won a stage and is seventh, just 31.3s behind Latvala, despite running second in the start order.
    This is turning out to be a close contest, possibly because the stages are new to everyone, and Saturday’s programme features 165km more competitive action. It will be the turn of Elfyn Evans to go first on the road after he was forced to make use of the Rally2 ruling following his ‘retirement’ on SS2 with an electronic sensor problem.
    In WRC2, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Ford) overcame a puncture on SS6 to finish the day 13.5s better than Al-Rajhi (Ford). Pontus Tidemand is third (+43.4s) in the new Skoda Fabia R5, ahead of Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën).
    The Junior battle is topped by the championship’s provisional leader Quentin Gilbert who appeared in front after SS6, pursued by Terry Folb and Ole Christian Veiby.

    The Story of an Italian Sports Car Jewel

    Fourteen Past Five: The Story of Jewel-Like Italian Sports Car
    By Petrolicious Productions
    Inspired by the Parma-Poggio di Berceto, a road race that went past his family home, Fabrizio Lorenzoni desired from an early age to experience the same rush of speed that a racing driver does. With a Fiat 1100 by Stanguellini in the garage, few classics can give the same open air excitement as Lorenzoni’s unique machine.

    Starting life as a race car in 1948, when Lorenzoni’s father bought the car in 1955 its history changed completely, Lorenzoni says. “We've kept this car at home since 1955 when my father bought it, but he never raced it,” he says. “He bought it exclusively for the pleasure of having a sports car at home, and it was kept in the garage for a long time.”

    From 1977, however, a chance to commemorate the Parma-Poggio di Berceto race led the family to participate with the car in competition once again; this former racer had been used in several events in period, including the Targa Florio, Grand Prix of Naples, Grand Prix of Rome, and the Giro di Toscana.

    Automobile Stanguellini began life as a Fiat tuner, eventually moving to produce its own coachbuilt models for racing purposes. The first owner of this special car named it “Micia”, after his wife allowed him to compete in the Mille Miglia.

    After Lorenzoni’s first race outing with the car in 1977, he’s tried to research and piece together his car’s history from those early days of racing…when he’s not driving it, of course.

    “Once the driver is inside the cockpit he finds himself inside a little jewel,” Lorenzoni says, “…by which I mean that it's very comfortable and you can experience the same thrill the drivers experienced in the ‘50s and ‘60s.”

    “When I race, dressing the way drivers did in those days, I feel like I'm one of them, he says, “…although they were crazy and I'm a bit more calm.”




    Drive Tastefully®

    2015 WORCS Lake Havasu


    2015-worcs-round-4-lake-havasu-utvunderground-video
    One of the coolest races of the year for UTVs is the Lake Havasu round at the WORCS Racing Series. Its spring break meets off-road racing and what takes place is one of the coolest races in the sport! Where else can you race along the banks of Lake Havasu while spectators line the shore in their boats, lawn chairs and float tubes!
    Take the ride as we follow the UTVUnderground.com / Walker Evans Racing team of RJ Anderson, Mike Gardner, Ronnie Anderson, Randy Anderson, Shelby Anderson, Danielle Weatherly, Savannah Brooks and Mitch Guthrie Jr. through the funnest round of the 2015 season!


    The Alfa Romeo Sprint Zagato Coupé has us firing on all six cylinders


    Trust us when we say that falling in love with an Alfa Romeo is very easily done. When we spotted this Zagato-bodied Sprint, powered by a smooth twin-cam six, we were instantly smitten…

    Show star

    The Turin Motor Show of 1963, the 45th Salone dell’Automobile, was an event of considerable note. For many, it is most memorable for the unveiling of the Scaglione-designed Lamborghini 350 GTV, a prototype grand tourer that led to the first production Lamborghini, the 350 GT. But in another, quieter corner of the show floor, Alfa Romeo was unveiling its latest prototype, the 2600 Sprint Zagato Coupé.

    Zagato body

    Featuring an uprated, 145bhp version of the the six-cylinder, twin-cam engine found in the Giulietta, the ‘SZ’, with its Zagato body, was nearly 140kg lighter than the standard 2600 Sprint. These changes provided both improved handling and better acceleration – precisely those areas where the standard 2600 was deemed to be somewhat lacking. Drivers’ cars and indeed sought-after luxury items, just 105 examples left the factory priced at 3,970,000 lire. Such a price was out of reach for most in 1965, but the car's rarity and timeless styling have undoubtedly played leading roles in securing ‘future classic’ status.
    In 2015, Turin will once again host a motor show – its first for 15 years. It's a free event, open to the public and located in the Parco del Valentino. A month prior to this event, the Bonhams Spa Classic Sale on 24 May includes this white 1965 Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint Zagato Coupé. Offered in ‘very good’ unrestored condition, with black leather interior, it comes with a pre-sale estimate of £110,000 - £160,000. We feel this is a relatively modest amount for a car that, arriving at Turin’s comeback event, would turn more heads than most.
    View all the lots from the Bonhams Spa Classic Sale on 24 May.

    Vintage Off-Road Rampage: The Trucks of the 2015 Mexican 1000


    Vintage Off-Road Rampage: The Trucks of the 2015 Mexican 1000
    by Elana Scherr
    That headline pretty much covers it. We were down in Baja, California, Mexico for the 2015 running of the Mexican 1000. This is not the SCORE Baja 1000. This is the Baja 1000’s drunk cousin, who makes the party so much more fun. This is what the Baja 1000 was like in 1968, when it was still the Mexican 1000, and this new Mexican 1000 (running since around 2010, when Mike Perlman, son of the original founder, Ed Perlman, decided to start a vintage off-road rally on the Baja Peninsula) features a ton of vintage buggies, trucks, cars, and bikes, tearing through 1,300 miles of desert and Mexican highway from Ensenada to San Jose Del Cabo.
    Baja is a truck-lover’s paradise, every small town is home to Chevy C-10s of all eras, Frankensteined Fords and Dodge D-series, not to mention all the Ramchargers, since they were produced here until, like, yesterday [Editor’s note, Dodge produced the Ramcharger in Mexico until 1996]. There are old pick-ups behind shacks and toppling fences, and even better, there are old pick-ups still in action, hauling livestock and cactus and race fans, the latter eager for stickers and signatures from the off-roaders at the rally stage exits.
    Every truck on the street told a story in its dings and dents, and every truck in the race was rapidly making its own story (and dings and dents). One of our favorites included the 1983 Bronco with famous off-road racer Walker Evans’ signature on the tailgate. Apparently Mr. Evans was a little impatient to get by the Bronco in the previous year’s race. Oh yeah, did we mention the Bronco wasn’t racing? It was just the pace truck that year! Walker signed the damaged rear, and offered to pay for repairs.


    Getting a love tap from a legend is small potatoes in the Mexican 1000. Augie and Nathan lost the whole front end of their ride, towed it out of the dirt, found a mechanic and were back in action to cross the finish line. Bruce Galien didn’t get his 351 Cleveland powered 19’68 Ford to the end after it blew a head gasket, but he did keep all the body panels straight, which is more than we can say for the “Big Oly” Bronco, which did a bit of summersaulting on the second day, and lost the front diff cover on the third, but still made it to the end, and even pulled some other competitors out of the silt. Maybe all the racers should have taken notes from Sue Mead and Shelby Hall, who took the 19’69 Motor Trend Bronco through the desert in the same pristine condition as it started the race in. They weren’t alone of course, Chris Collard and Shelby’s grandfather, a fellow named Rod Hall (you might notice his name on the fender…from back in 1969) also took good care of the museum piece on its journey.


    Between the racers, the locals, and the school busses-turned-car haulers, the Mexican 1000 is truly trucker’s heaven, even if it is a little hard on the trucks themselves. Scroll on through and see for yourself.






    From: http://www.hotrod.com

    THROTTLE ROLL 2015



    Last weekend it was Australia’s turn to run with custom bike baton as Throttle Roll took over the Vic Hotel in Enmore, Sydney. The event was started by ‘Shed mate Mark Hawa, founder of the global phenomena The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, and this year, the 3rd edition, boasted more bikes, bands and stalls than ever before, celebrating all that is great in the new-wave scene. A weekend extravaganza of custom motorcycles and live music for all the family to enjoy.
    JAKE.TR.2015-82
    The party atmosphere, helped along by the Aussie sunshine, attracted 9000 visitors across and weekend and over a 1000 bikes packed the local streets.
    NJF_7453
    NJF_8683
    NJF_7258
    A 500 bike ride-out headed for the stunning coastal route south of the city to Seacliff Bridge on Saturday before the partying kicked-off back at the Vic.
    IMG_0126
    NJF_7563
    JAKE.TR.2015-109
    NJF_7522
    50 custom bikes were forklifted into the Vic carpark and no doubt had the health & safety dude quivering in his riggers.
    JAKE.TR.2015-18
    Mark is a busy guy, running Throttle Roll, Sydney Café Racers and The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride.
    NJF_8780
    JAKE.TR.2015-112
    JAKE.TR.2015-33
    NJF_9074JAKE.TR.2015-4
    NJF_9038
    NJF_8986
    NJF_8474
    NJF_8348
    JAKE.TR.2015-78
    NJF_8963