Sofuoglu enchaîne et gagne à Donington / Donington Park WSS win goes to Sofouglu

Quatrième victoire consécutive pour le pilote turc.

En pole position pour la sixième manche du Championnat du Monde Supersport 2015 à Donington Park, Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) s’est imposé au bout d’une course de vingt tours en ayant réussi à prendre un peu d’avance en tête sur les derniers tours.

Au départ, le Turc avait été devancé par Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), qui a au final de nouveau fini deuxième derrière le leader du classement Supersport, qui compte désormais 45 points d’avance sur le Français à la mi-saison.

Âgé de 17 ans, le wildcard Kyle Ryde (Pacedayz European Trackdays) a ravi le public local en se battant aux côtés de Sofuoglu et de Cluzel en début d’épreuve, avant de perdre du terrain et d’être rattrapé par Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse). Le jeune Britannique a cependant réussi à prendre le dessus sur l’Italien pour s’offrir un sensationnel podium.

PJ Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) a terminé isolé en cinquième position devant un autre wildcard en réussite, Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing).

Sam Hornsey (Profile Racing), Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda), Niki Tuuli (Kallio Racing) et Andy Reid (CORE Motorsport Thailand) complétaient le Top 10 à l’arrivée tandis que Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) a abandonné.

La prochaine épreuve du Championnat du Monde Supersport aura lieu à Portimao le 7 juin prochain.

Kyle Ryde secures podium on WSS debut.

The 6^th round of the World Supersport championship has been won after 20 hard fought laps by Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), as cooler temperatures descended at Donington Park.

Starting from Pole, the Turk was initially overhauled by rival Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) before regrouping and retaking the lead to win for the 4^th time in 2015, extending his championship lead in the process.

Despite piling on the pressure Cluzel would eventually finish 2^nd, taking the lap record in his efforts to chase down the Kawasaki mounted Sofuoglu.

17 year old British wildcard Kyle Ryde (Pacedayz European Trackdays) had the huge crowd on their fight with his aggressive riding, the youngster climbing onto the last step of the podium in 3^rd ahead of Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse). Ryde fighting until the end with the hard charging Italian.

PJ Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) finished a lonely 5^th ahead of the second British wildcard Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing) who was 6^th.

Sam Hornsey (Profile Racing), Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda), Niki Tuuli (Kallio Racing) and Andy Reid (CORE Motorsport Thailand) completed the top ten.

The next round of the World Supersport championship takes place at Portimao in a fortnight.

Sykes double la mise et égale Fogarty à Donington Park / Sykes does the Donington double as he takes race 2 win

Le Champion WorldSBK 2013 est sur une série de six victoires consécutives à Donington.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) a renoué avec la victoire dimanche à Donington Park et l’a fait avec la manière puisqu’il s’est d’abord imposé sur son coéquipier Jonathan Rea, le leader du classement général, dans la première course, avant de totalement survoler la deuxième.

Qualifié en pole position, le Britannique a très vite distancé ses concurrents au début de la seconde épreuve et a fini avec près de dix secondes d’avance sur Rea, son coéquipier, pour obtenir une sixième victoire de rang sur la piste de Donington. Seul le légendaire Carl Fogarty compte autant de victoires sur la piste des East Midlands. 

Malmené en début d’épreuve, Rea n’a pas pu suivre Sykes mais n’a cependant pas eu de mal à s’assurer la seconde position sur la deuxième moitié de l’épreuve, distançant Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team), qui complétait un podium identique à celui de la première course. 

Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team-Red Devils) a remporté son duel face à Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) pour finir quatrième tandis que Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils), Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) et Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing) finissaient eux aussi dans le Top 10.

Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) a de nouveau pris la quatorzième place, comme dans la première course, tandis que Christophe Ponsson (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) a terminé sa course sur une chute. Ont également abandonné Nico Terol (Althea Racing), Niccolò Canepa (Team Grillini), Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) et Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse).

Grâce à ses deux secondes places, Rea repart de la sixième des treize manches de la saison 2015 avec encore un peu plus d’avance en tête du classement général et 101 points de plus que Haslam, qui n’a plus qu’une petite longueur d’avance sur Sykes. 

Suite du Championnat du Monde eni FIM Superbike le week-end du 7 juin à Portimao.

Lap Records tumble as Sykes dominates race 2, to take 24^th career win.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) made it two wins from two starts as he dominated WorldSBK race 2 to equal Carl Fogarty’s six race wins. The former champion has now won every race at the 2.5 mile circuit for the last 3 years. He made it a clean sweep, adding the fastest lap in race 2 to the Tissot-Superpole that he secured yesterday, winning by over 9 seconds.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) saved what could have been a huge crash as rounded Coppice Corner on lap 2, the championship leader lucky not to fall. He regrouped with some great overtaking moves to salvage 2^nd ahead of Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) who finished 3^rd for the second time today.

Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) was 5^th after being passed by Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) on the penultimate lap. The British rider overcoming the pain and discomfort of cracked ribs to finish 4^th.

Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) claimed another strong 6^th after running 3^rd in the early stages.

The top ten riders were rounded out by Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) and Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) who battled race long, as they had in the opening encounter. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) was in the top ten again in 9^th with Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing) 10^th.

Roman Ramos (Team GO Eleven), David Salom (Team Pedercini), Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing), Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) and Santiago Barragan (Grillini SBK Team) were 11^th to 15^th respectively.

Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) crashed out of 6^th at the Esses, while Nico Terol (Althea Racing) crashed out a potential 11^th at the half way point. Both riders were unhurt.

Round 7 of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship will take place in Portugal at the Portimao circuit in two weeks

WRC : les meilleurs moments du Rallye du Portugal

Rhys Millen Racing Polaris XP1000 Rzr Raptor

At Camp RZR Glamis in 2014, Rhys Millen of RMR Products unveiled his latest creation. Rhys took a brand new 2014 Polaris RZR XP1000 and designed a custom, to-scale body kit based off of the current Ford Raptor. The body and chassis / cage design changed the RZR into what appears to be a mini version of the Raptor. The Raptor-RZR stole the show at the 2014 UTVUnderground Camp RZR Show & Shine competition and has since become a hot topic of discussion amongst the UTV community.
  

Finally we get to see the Raptor-RZR in action as Rhys and his crew take this cool looking UTV into the high-desert of California and spend the day playing with the new off-road machine. We hope you enjoy watching this clip as much as we did, we want one now!!

Learn more about Rhys and his product abilities at www.RMRProducts.com

BROTHERS GONNA WORK IT OUT: WILKINSON HONDA CL360

The Honda CL360 gets easier on the eye as the years go by. It’s perhaps the most elegant of the original scramblers—but it’s also four decades old, and a long way off the pace of a modern bike.

Steve Healey is a fan of the CL360, but he wanted something a little less pedestrian. Fortunately, he’s a long-time friend of Casey and Corey Wilkinson—the multi-talented brothers from Indiana who build classy café racers when they’re not running their design studio.

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The brothers first met Steve during a charity motorcycle ride. Steve’s young daughter Anna had succumbed to neuroblastoma, and the ride was raising funds for research into this rare form of childhood cancer.

So when Steve wanted a makeover for his 1975 Honda CL360, he knew where to go. “He said, ‘Do what you’d do if it were your own bike,'” says Corey.



The brothers decided to stay close to the original ergonomics and the CL360’s appealing, ready-for-anything stance. They’d put a new spin on the classic high-pipe scrambler look, without losing the dual-purpose functionality. “We’re products of the 1970s ourselves, so we dig this bike’s roots,” says Corey.

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It helped that the Honda was in decent shape. And it’s good to see the signature chrome heat shield still in place—now subtly modified to accommodate new mufflers from Dime City Cycles. 



There’s a new swingarm too, similar to the setup on the Wilkinson Brothers’ BMW R75/6 café and 1.75 inches longer than stock. (It’s hooked up to a Ducati Monster shock.) A few more clean bends resulted in a new subframe, which is now home to a sheet-metal seat pan and new battery box.

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Elbow grease and buffing has revived the wheels, hubs and engine cases. Casey’s father-in-law laid down the paint for the tank, and the engine is now resplendent in a matching coat of high-heat black satin.

The original front fender has been split in half, creating two new bobbed fenders, while making the most of the original chrome.

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A proper scrambler needs decent seat cushioning. So here we’ve got dense marine foam shaped with an electric carving knife, then covered by the local artisans at Kent Upholstery. 



Tires are Shinko SR241 dual sport rubber—narrow knobbies with a classic look but enough grip to work well off road. Other neat details include dirtbike footpegs, vintage MX style Fly Racing handlebars, and a rock guard over the new headlight.

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“The lighter weight and added pep make the CL360 feel more nimble and sure-footed,” says Corey. “It’s meant to be ridden, and will tempt Steve to jump off the beaten path and take roads less traveled.” 



Eagle-eyed readers may notice the letters “AH” just above the headlight. They’re the initials of Steve’s daughter Anna, and there’s a strange twist of fate to conclude the build. The day the Wilkinson Brothers invited Steve to the shop to pick up his bike would have been Anna’s birthday.

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It’s a strangely appropriate bookend to the build. Here’s hoping that this stylish machine provides many happy memories for Steve in the years to come.

Wilkinson Brothers | Instagram | Good Spark Garage

via BIKEexif

WSBK ; Première victoire de l’année pour Tom Sykes / Sykes takes maiden 2015 win in Donington opening race

Le Britannique s’est imposé devant son coéquipier Jonathan Rea dans la première des deux courses de Donington.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) a enfin renoué avec la victoire dimanche midi à Donington Park, où il avait réalisé le doublé en 2013 et 2014. Le Champion WorldSBK 2013, qui n’avait plus gagné depuis juillet 2014 (Laguna Seca), est parvenu à faire le break devant son coéquipier Jonathan Rea à quelques tours de l’arrivée et confirmait son excellente forme après avoir décroché la Tissot-Superpole.

Derrière les deux pilotes Kawasaki, trois autres duels opposaient Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team) et Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils) pour la troisième place, Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) et Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) pour la cinquième puis Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) et Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils) pour la septième.

Davies a fini par s’emparer de la troisième place devant Haslam, qui était brièvement passé en tête dans le premier tour de la course et qui avait pendant un temps suivi Sykes et Rea en compagnie de Davies. 

Badovini s’est quant à lui imposé sur Lowes pour prendre la cinquième place tandis que Torres est venu à bout de Guintoli en fin d’épreuve pour finir septième devant le Champion en titre. Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) et David Salom (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) complétaient le Top 10.

Après trois abandons consécutifs, Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) marquait les deux points de la quinzième place, devant Niccolò Canepa (Team Grillini) et Christophe Ponsson (Team Pedercini).

Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) a chuté et a fini par être disqualifié suite à un arrêt au stand non-règlementaire tandis que Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) a terminé en dix-septième position après être lui aussi passé par la pit-lane pour changer de pneu arrière.

La seconde course de la journée aura lieu à 15h, heure locale. Suite à sa cinquième victoire consécutive à Donington, Sykes aura l’occasion d’égaler Carl Fogarty, qui compte six victoires sur le circuit des East Midlands. 

Kawasaki rider wins at the UK track for the 5^th consecutive time.

Sykes has won the opening 23 lap WorldSBK race at Donington Park in dry but cold and overcast conditions after a race long fight with his KRT team mate Jonathan Rea. The pair swapped positions for virtually the whole race after getting the better of early leader Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils).

Sykes has now won the last 5 WorldSBK races at the Leicestershire circuit and is one win short of 6 Donington wins, an accolade held by countryman Carl Fogarty.

The final podium place went to Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) who also passed Haslam, who finished 4^th, with 6 laps to go.

Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) showed incredible pace in the closing stages to snatch 5^th at the flag from Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) who was a solid 6^th.

Jordi Torres (Apriilia Racing Team – Red Devils) finished 7^th on his Donington race debut ahead of reigning champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and David Salom (Team Pedercini) who were 8^th, 9^th and 10^th respectively.

The final point scorers were Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing), Nico Terol (Althea Racing), Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven), Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), and Niccolo Canepa (Grillini SBK Team).

Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) crashed out early on while Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) made an unscheduled pit stop to change tyres, the Italian, who started on the front row finished 17^th and out of the points.

WRC, Portugal : Victoire de Latvala (VW/Michelin) / Latvala wins for VW/Michelin

Le Finlandais Jari-Matti Latvala a remporté le Rallye du Portugal, cinquième manche du Championnat du monde des Rallyes FIA 2015, et Volkswagen Motorsport a signé un nouveau triplé avec Sébastien Ogier (2e, + 8s2) et Andreas Mikkelsen (3e, +28s6).

Classé 9^e du championnat Pilotes avec seulement 19 points après quatre rallyes, Jari-Matti Latvala a pratiquement perdu tout espoir d’un premier sacre mondial. Mais il n’a pas perdu l’envie de gagner des courses…

Avantagé par sa position sur la route, le Finlandais a pris les commandes de l’épreuve à l’issue de l’ES4 et résisté au retour fulgurant de son équipier Sébastien Ogier. C’est sans doute grâce à une parfaite gestion de son paquetage de pneumatiques soft que Jari-Matti a signé le meilleur temps dans l’avant-dernière spéciale, ce qui lui assuré une 13^e victoire mondiale.

Meilleur performer du rallye, Sébastien Ogier n’a pu remporter son 5^e Rallye du Portugal et égaler le record de Markku Alén. Mais le Français a été très lourdement handicapé par sa première position sur des pistes du nord du Portugal très soft et recouvertes de gravette.

Il est néanmoins parvenu à remonter de la 6^e à la 2^e place, alors que son équipier Andreas Mikkelsen a pris l’ascendant sur Kris Meeke en fin d’épreuve pour offrir un triplé à l’équipe Volkswagen Motorsport avec trois Polo R WRC/Michelin spec. 2015.

Le Rallye du Portugal était de retour dans le Nord du pays après sept éditions organisées en Algarve. Le parcours, qui reprenait certaines pistes utilisées jadis comme Ponte de Lima et Fafe, était magnifique et les spectateurs sont venus en masse. Le terrain très souple, qui s’est dégradé au fil des passages, a compliqué les stratégies de pneumatiques. Les pilotes ont souvent du mixer les pneus hard et soft.

La nouvelle Ford Fiesta RS WRC a été conduite à la 5^e place finale par l’Estonien Ott Tanak, alors que son équipier Elfyn Evans a dû se retirer à deux reprises. Derrière, la bataille pour la 6^eplace entre Ostberg, Sordo et Paddon a tourné à l’avantage de l’Espagnol.

Nasser Al-Attiyah (Ford) a remporté une nouvelle victoire en catégorie WRC-2 devant les deux nouvelles Skoda Fabia R5/Michelin d’Esapekka Lappi et de Pontus Tidemand. Julien Maurin (4^e, Ford) a finalement remporté son duel face à Stéphane Lefebvre (5^e, Citroën). Avec 29 concurrents au départ, cette catégorie fut très disputée. Parmi les favoris, Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Karl Kruuda et Jari Ketomaa ont abandonné.

Seconde victoire de Quentin Gilbert (Citroën/Michelin) chez les Juniors qui conforte sa première place au championnat. Pierre-Louis Loubet et Henri Haapamaki complètent le podium. Le Finlandais Max Vatanen a remporté la première manche du Fiesta Trophy 2015.

Victory in Portugal, home of round five of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship, went to Jari-Matti Latvala who headed another one-two-three finish for Volkswagen Motorsport. Second and third were Sébastien Ogier (+8.2s) and Andreas Mikkelsen (+28.6s).

The Finn was ninth in the championship points table before Portugal and has precious little chance of winning this year’s crown, but that hasn’t dented his hunger for victory.

Helped by his running order, he took command after SS4 and kept it to the chequered flag, despite pressure from his charging team-mate, Ogier. Jari-Matti was also helped by judicious management of his tyre stock which left him with sufficient ‘soft’ Michelins to win the final stage and seal his 13^th world class win.

Ogier collected the highest number of stage victories but that wasn’t enough for him to equal Markku Alen’s record of five Rally de Portugal successes. In his defence, the Frenchman was badly handicapped by two days’ running first on the soft, gravel-carpeted stages.

Even so, he still managed to fight his way back from sixth to second place, while his team-mate Mikkelsen picked off Kris Meeke towards the end to earn the first one-two-three result for Volkswagen Motorsport’s 2015-specification, Michelin-equipped Polo R WRCs.

The 2015 Rally de Portugal marked the event’s return to the north of the country after seven years in the Algarve. The route featured several big-name stages from the past like ‘Ponte de Lima’ and ‘Fafe’ which drew spectators like magnets. However, the soft ground had a tendency to cut up during the first passes which complicated tyre choice, compelling drivers to run combinations of ‘hard-‘ and ‘soft’-compound rubber.

The new Ford Fiesta RS WRC finished fifth in the hands of Ott Tanak, although the Estonian’s team-mate Elfyn Evans ‘retired’ twice. The scarp for sixth place between Ostberg, Sordo and Paddon ended in the Spaniard’s favour.

Nasser Al-Attiyah (Ford) secured another WRC2 victory, ahead of the new Michelin-shod Skoda Fabia R5s of Esapekka Lappi and Pontus Tidemand. Julien Maurin (4^th, Ford) finally won his big duel with Stéphane Lefebvre (5^th, Citroën). The class boasted a field of 29 starters but expected front-runners Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Karl Kruuda and Jari Ketomaa were all eliminated.

Quentin Gilbert (Citroën/Michelin) notched up his second Junior win of the year to strengthen his lead in the provisional standings. Pierre-Louis Loubet and Henri Haapamaki were first and second.

Finn Max Vatanen came first in the opening round of the 2015 Fiesta Trophy.

Yamaha XS650 by Holiday Customs

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Words by Ian Lee.

If it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would get done. Whether a Pipeburn post, or project bike, there is nothing like the rush of racing that deadline for completion. Just ask Jared Johnson of Holiday Customs. The bike featured here today had the final touches put on it at 10pm on the night before The One Motorcycle Show. Utilising a UJM for his entry into the legendary Portland bike show, Jared gave the 1975 XS650 the Schwinn styled frame that the Holiday workshop is famous for.

Jared decided upon the the build after assessing the various spares taking up real estate in his workshop. A frame, wheels, miscellaneous bike bits were set aside, luckily with a few bikes of this style already behind him Jared knew exactly what was required of the build, but this bike needed highlights that stood out from the previous builds.

At the front end sits a 21″ Honda rim, chosen because it has a “decent size drum brake”. At the rear sits a standard 18″ XS rim, with these two the bike was a roller, and the project could get underway. Mounting the fuel tank, seat, headlight was a breeze, then while out and about, Jared noticed a bicycle with wooden fenders and wondered how he would go with fashioning up a set of wooden fenders for the project.

Being a “metal guy”, it took a bit of time and effort for Jared to come up with the right wood for the job. After a making his own jig, he steamed and curved some birch wood to the right dimensions. Rubbing them back, sanding and staining (hardly a regular part of building a custom bike) the final result, within a week the XS had a set of custom guards unlike any other.

One the new guards had been fitted, the frame was cleaned up of electrical wiring. The starter motor was removed, in it’s place under the engine sits the battery and rectifier. After a dry run ensuring the parts fitted as they should, the frame and wheels were sent off for powder coating. The seat was sent off to Ginger at New Church for a freshen up, the cylinder head and barrel were sent to a machine shop for some “help and cleaning”.

Picking up the engine parts 24 hours later, Jared started building the engine while waiting for the powder coated parts to return. On reassembly of the Yamaha, a set of pod filters have been fitted, and a sweet block-hugging set of exhaust pipes fashioned up and mounted.

There’s nothing like seeing the final result of all your effort. It’s even better when you beat the deadline you are set even though it looked like you wouldn’t. From pile of parts, to awesome low slung cruiser, this XS650 is proof that even if rushed, quality can still be produced.

This unique XS650 is now up for sale, so if you like what you see and want to own a one of a kind Holiday Custom, get in contact with Jared through his website.

[Photos by Pierre Robichaud]

via PIPEBURN