MAZDA MAGIC EXPECTED AT CROFT

The MX-5 SuperCup will see the title fight intensify further - Photo: Jon Elsey

It may only be our one and only visit to North Yorkshire this season, but that doesn’t take away from the mouth-watering prospect this weekend is sure to bring. The Croft circuit in Darlington will play host to a sensational display of motorsport as an array of our championships roll into town.


Another strong Mazda contingent tops the bill once again, with both the MX-5 Championship (Mk1s) and MX-5 SuperCup (Mk3s) in action. Simon Baldwin will be looking to fend off the attentions of championship rivals Darron Lewis, Sam Smith and Ben Tuck in Mk1s, with Lewis and Tuck claiming wins last time out at Oulton Park. One man also looking to bounce back from a trying weekend is Brian Chandler, who lost valuable points his rivals and slipped 3 places in the standings as a result. He will be one to watch as he strives for redemption this weekend.


In the SuperCup, local hero Alan Henderson will continue his charge towards the title after another pair of victories at Oulton. The County Durham man may not have everything his own way, however, as this weekend also marks a one-off appearance from the reigning SuperCup champion Abbie Eaton. Expect to find her #44 machine hovering around the front of the field and becoming the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons for the championship contenders. Speaking of which, Jonathan ‘JJ’ Clements, Liam Murphy and Simon Goddard will hope to build on solid weekends in the top 6 at Oulton, as the race for 2^nd in the standings has tightened up to separate the trio by just 5 points.

Alongside the Mazda’s, there’s plenty more track action to entertain the spectators. The Toyo Tires Porsche Championship will feature former double champion Rick Styrin hoping to continue his successful return, unless points leader Ed Hayes has anything to say about it. The pair of them took a win apiece at Brands Hatch and Rick has been complimentary about the quality of the grid on his comeback, making success that little bit harder. Adam Southgate, Garry Lawrence and Richard Avery will also be in the mix in the Boxster class, while the 924 class see Adam Hayes strive to defend his lead against Karl Rossin, with second placed Alistair Kirkham a no-show this weekend. Niz El-Chamaa will also want to capitalize on securing his first class win in 924s at Brands too.

Also on the programme will be the Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship which sees a few drivers make the journey north which didn’t feature at Brands. In the Modified class, Graham Seager is the only one present from Brands as he is locked in the overall title fight. This time, however, he’ll have a larger contingent to deal with as Andy Robinson, Bryan Shrubb and Roger McMahon. Keith Waite and Ron Davidson make up the Power Trophy class, while the Twin Spark Cup will see the biggest class entry. James Bishop maintains his hold on the competition, nonetheless also occupied by his overall championship scrap with Seager, the pair just 2 points apart at the top. Veteran Dave Messenger and Tom Hill, first time winner at Brands, will look to be his main competition with Paul Plant and Andy Hancock also expected to be in the mix.

Giving support to our championships will be our good friends from the Darlington and District Motor Club. Their vastly popular Northern Sports and Saloons. A stacked grid is expected across 9 classes with machines of all shapes and sizes set to take part. The variety of the field features anything from Caterhams, BMW M3s, ex-V8 Supercars and Lotus Elises to Ford Fiestas, Peugeot 205s and even a pair of modified Suzuki SC100s! There are also a selection of drivers from Darlington competing, which should definitely give the local fans some cause to cheer them on.

Last, but certainly not least, we also have the Irish Global Lights on the bill with us once again. This championship features small sports prototypes, producing large amounts of downforce and power from a potent yet lightweight 600cc Yamaha bike engine.

Weather wise, it doesn't look too amazing, we're afraid to say. Forecasts from the Met Office tell us that heavy rain is expected on Saturday, which could mean some potentially mixed up grids come qualifying. Sunday promises to be an improvement, but still overcast with the chance of light showers. Temperatures aren't predicted to exceed 16 degrees, so you might want to bring an extra layer with you just in case. You can find the more detailed forecast atCROFT WEATHER.


Also, the provisional timetable, entry list and final instructions can all be found at CROFT RACEDAY.

Scott Woodwiss

WRC Ogier : « Ma saison la plus aboutie »/ “My most polished season yet”

Après le Rallye de France-Alsace 2013, le Rally RACC-Catalunya 2014, Sébastien Ogier et Julien Ingrassia ont remporté leur troisième titre mondial consécutif au Rallye d’Australie, à trois manches de la fin de saison. Du jamais vu...

Avant de quitter l’Australie pour le Salon de Francfort où Volkswagen va également fêter son 3^etitre, Sébastien Ogier nous a livré ses premières impressions sur cette victoire et ce nouveau titre mondial.

« On remporte trois titres de suite avec la manière, en gagnant à chaque fois le rallye », a commenté le triple champion. « Ce week-end, ça a été un rallye fantastique qui a conclu une saison fantastique. Etre titré si tôt, je crois que ce n’était jamais arrivé en WRC. »

« Sur le papier, on n’avait aucune chance de gagner ici en Australie. Le balayage était vraiment important, peut-être le plus important de la saison. On a roulé fort pour rester au contact les deux premiers jours et puis dimanche, on est allé chercher cette victoire. Les écarts étaient si infimes avec Kris et Jari-Matti que dans la bataille, je n’ai pas pensé au titre. Certains succès touchent plus le moral de nos adversaires que d’autres, je pense que celui-ci en fait partie. »

« Il ne faut pas croire que j’ai remporté des victoires faciles cette année. Ma position sur la route était pénalisante et j’ai eu des adversaires valeureux et déterminés, comme Seb au Monte-Carlo ou encore Jari-Matti sur de nombreuses épreuves. Bien sûr qu’il m’arrive de douter, mais je ne le montre jamais à mes concurrents. Je me remets souvent en question. »

« Je pense que c’est ma saison de WRC la plus aboutie avec sept victoires en dix courses. Il n’y a eu qu’un accroc mécanique en Argentine, mais on ne peut pas en vouloir à l’équipe qui nous donne des voitures parfaites. D’ailleurs, j’en ai une qui m’appartient désormais. »

« Ce sera compliqué de faire mieux l’année prochaine. Où je m’arrêterai ? Pour l’instant, je n’ai pas prévu d’arrêter. On verra bien. On va déjà fêter ce titre et cette 31^e victoire avant d’aborder les trois derniers rallyes de la saison plus détendus. »

In 2013, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia clinched their first world title at the end of Rallye de France-Alsace. In 2014, the championship was wrapped up after the Rally RACC-Catalunya. This season, they secured their third crown after Rally Australia, with three rounds still to come. Exceptional! 

Before flying back from Australia to the Frankfurt Motor Show where Volkswagen plans to celebrate its third Manufacturers’ title, Ogier talked us through Sunday’s win and his third world title.

“Each time we’ve made sure of the championship we’ve won the decisive rally, too,” says the 2015 champion. “Rally Australia was fantastic and it rounded off a fantastic season. I don’t think anyone has wrapped up the title so soon in the WRC.

“On paper, we didn’t stand much chance of winning in Australia. It’s a rally where road sweeping plays a big role, perhaps the biggest of the season. Because of that, we pushed extremely hard on the first two days to keep up with the leaders. We wanted the win and the gaps with Kris and Jari-Matti were very small. We didn’t think about the title. Some successes affect the morale of your rivals more than others and I think Sunday’s was a good example.

“It would be wrong to think winning has been easy this year. My start order has been a handicap and my opponents have been strong and determined, like Seb Loeb on the Monte Carlo, and Jari-Matti on numerous events. Sometimes I doubt myself, but I never let it show.

“I think this has been my most polished season yet, with seven wins so far from 10 rounds. We had a mechanical issue in Argentina but there’s no way I would hold a grudge against the team for that. Everywhere else they have provided us with a perfect car. I actually own one of them now…

“It won’t be easy to do better next season. When will I retire? I haven’t given it a thought. We’ll see. Now’s the time to savour our 31st win and then start thinking about the last three rounds of the year, but in a more relaxed frame of mind.”

virée en ural

Un look de DBR9 GT1 pour l’Aston Martin Vantage GTE 2016

par Laurent Mercier (Endurance-Info.com)

Aston Martin Racing fait évoluer sa gamme de Vantage en vue de la saison à venir. Les modèles GTE, GT3 et GT4 reçoivent quelques évolutions à un moment où une partie de la concurrence sort de nouvelles autos. Les V12 Vantage GT3 et Vantage GT4 ont été améliorées au niveau de la performance et de la fiabilité.

Quant à la Vantage GTE qui est actuellement à Ladoux pour l’établissement de la Balance de Performance 2016, elle a reçu quelques modifications pour faire suite à la nouvelle réglementation GTE qui autorise des changements importants au niveau de l’aérodynamique. Le plus visible est le diffuseur arrière qui peut désormais dépasser de 100 mm au-delà de l’arrière de la voiture. L’aileron peut lui aussi être étendu à la même distance. A l’avant, le splitter a été repensé pour améliorer le flux d’air sous la voiture afin d’optimiser le nouveau diffuseur. On se rapproche du look d’une DBR9 GT1 de feu le World GT1.

Pour ce qui est de la V12 Vantage GT3, les modifications sont nombreuses : transmission, amortisseurs, radiateurs d’huile, différentiel, siège, optimisation du moteur, etc… La Vantage GT4 reçoit pour sa part la dernière boîte de vitesses semi-automatique à 7 rapports, un capot offrant un meilleur refroidissement.

SINROJA MOTORCYCLES R1

Words by Ross Sharp · 

Learning is one of life’s greatest gifts. There’s no end learning, but there is always a beginning. Brothers Rahul & Birju Sinroja were born in a small Indian town and were exposed the wonders of mechanical objects from an extremely early age. The family manufacturing business produced moulds for shoe soles and plastic toys so factory visits were a way of life for the boys. Spending their formative years surrounded by fascinating equipment and encouraged by their father, it’s no surprise that we’re talking about the Sinrojas on these pages.

When it became time to impress the ladies Rahul & Birju decided they needed to buy a set of weights to bulk-up but their father suggested; “we own a factory in which you can let your brains go wild with imagination and even better we have machines to make anything you want, so why not make those weights.” Thankfully the guys pursued bike rather than body building.

A few years later and the Sinroja family were in the U.K. and the brothers were studying, engineering of course. Rahul became obsessed with all things mechanical and during his time at university became inspired by the New Wave Custom Scene. The two stroke RXS100s and Royal Enfields that were a backing soundtrack to his formative years became aural fuel to stoke the fires of motivation and after a trip to Bike Shed London Rahul’s mind was made up. Despite family pressure to stick to four wheels he worked every spare hour available selling mobile phones, saved-up and bought a BMW R80, despite not even having a licence.

On the 3rd of January 2015 Rahul celebrated his 24th birthday, not with a Jagerbomb drenched blowout, but with a decision to get go big and follow his dream. He took out a loan, cleaned out the shed, built a wooden bench and rolled in the R80. With the Kickback festival circled in red Sharpie just 2 pages away on the calendar, Rahul had his work cut out.

Luckily the donor was a 1989 Monolever that had been fastidiously cared for by enthusiast owners and the overall condition was a testament to their old school regard for proper maintenance. Despite this Rahul completely stripped the R80 down to its component parts, with the aim of concentrating on detail and finish. After de-tabbing the frame, fork legs, wheels and triple trees were blasted and painted. Yup, not powder coated. Despite advances in the latter, paint still gives a superior finish and is easier to touch-up, especially when the bike is delivered with a paint pen so customers can take care of chips as they happen.

Being build number 1 Rahul’s welding skills were still in their infancy so Vonzetti were enlisted for the subframe and seat, which looks great. In a bid to get his family involved, perhaps a ploy to avert them from the reality of him actually having a licence, Rahul’s mum was enlisted to stitch the leather fork covers. (Good mother management skills, this boy will go far).

Whilst the tank was being treated to a retro inspired, two-tone paint job by GD Design attention turned to the mechanicals. The word rebuild simply doesn’t do this bike justice. Every single bearing, piston ring, seal and gasket has been replaced on the inside whilst the cases have been vapour blasted and painted. The finish is stunning (we’ve seen the bike in the metal) with the cooling fin edges and raised lettering returned to bare aluminium. They guys at Scriminger Engine Developments returned with a zero-hour, better-than-new engine.

With so much attention given over to the aesthetics and mechanicals it would have been a shame to mess things up with errant wires and cables so Towzatronics put in a fresh loom to run the Motogadget keyless RFID ignition system and all-in-one Speedster Tiny gauge. A small battery is hidden under the seat leaving the rear triangle open. Personally I prefer the look of the Monolever set up, which now has a bespoke Hagon shock keeping the rear under control.

Dunlop Streetsmart tyres are a pleasant change from aggressive knobblies from a visual standpoint and with the forks properly lowered by 10mm and stiffened with Progressive Springs, the ride is apparently excellent compared to stock.

An awful lot has been done with BMW’s R Series over the years and neither Rahul or the Bike Shed would try to suggest to readers that this bike is groundbreaking in its deign but that’s not the point here. This is a fine example of a young, intelligent guy having the guts to chase his dream and make damn sure that he does everything within his own powers and skill-set to deliver on a promise. After all, customer satisfaction is what makes a business thrive, not cutting corners. As a result, this bike, the R1, wasn’t just ready in time for the Kickback show, it won 2nd place in the Young Builder Competition.

Bike Shed don’t do show awards, we are 8-time World Procrastinating Champions so nobody would ever make it home on time, but if we did the Sinroja brothers would definitely win the Polite Young Gentlemen Award for being thoroughly charming and pleasant to deal with at Bike Shed London 2015. Not just our opinion either, one show visitor decided he liked the R1 so much and the cut of the Rahul’s jib that on the Sunday night an order was placed for 2 commission builds. R2 and R3 were in the making.

Since then another three customers have placed orders and Sinroja motorcycles have planted their exquisitely finished flag, neatly on the map. Sadly though, business is a cruel mistress and demands her pound of flesh,so the R1 needs to find a new home to help fun the dream. With 1 years mechanical and electrical guarantee and 3 years free servicing, it won’t hang around for long. And if the bike submission we received is anything to go by, expect excellent levels of professionalism. In fact, note to builders with iffy photos, please make them like this, thanks.

We’ve left a load of detail out as we’re beginning to sound like the Sinroja press officer, so do get in touch for more details or meet the guys at the DGR in a couple of weeks.

via The Bike Shed

The Glemseck 101 bike festival in 101 stunning images

Last weekend, the European motorcycle community hit the major bike festival Glemseck 101, at the former Solitude racetrack near Stuttgart. Photographer Frederic Seemann was there for Classic Driver – to capture the hottest equipment on camera...

The spirit of Solitude

“Biarritz has ‘Wheels and Waves’ on the shores of the Atlantic, and we have the spirit of the former Solitude racetrack,” declared Jörg Litzenburger four years ago, when the motorcycle festival was launched in France. The organiser of Glemseck 101 was right. But he could never have imagined that this spirit would attract so much attention on the event’s 10^th anniversary, from 4 to 6 September 2015, that on Saturday it had to close to new arrivals because of too long a queue on the highway exit. Motorcycling is back, with an all-new motorcycle culture – and the café racer scene inspires a whole new generation. 

The essence of the motorcycle

Best of all, there is a new spirit of tolerance among the participants: café racers, scramblers, bobbers, tourers and choppers, all sit happily side by side. And you can dress how you want, whether old-school or casual – it’s the essence of the motorcycle that’s important, not the value. There is no brand envy, and young women are plentiful in the previously male-dominated domain. 

Individuality and creativity rewarded

Compared with Glemseck 101, some say that Wheels and Waves has lost its charm. The familiar French laissez-faire couldn’t stand up to the onslaught, with hours spent waiting for accreditation and a chaotic field for the famous hillclimb, the Punk’s Peak Race, the heart of the event, proving rather disappointing. In Stuttgart, everything went smoothly, despite the crowds – and Jörg Litzenburger and his team are working hard to ensure that Glemseck remains just as smoothly run in future. Every sprint participant is carefully selected to give the audience an exciting variety, and also to give new entrants a chance. Individuality and creativity are prized above the mere name of the manufacturer, so there was, for example, a special run for the new cult vehicle, the R nine T. Every year, Deus, Blitz, Urban Motor, El Solitario, Jens vom Brauck and Wrenchmonkees present their latest creations, and classic dealer Premiummotorrad was also allowed to join this select company – this year with a 1981 Egli-Honda. 

Prominent privateers

While it’s important to include motorcycle stars at such an event, it’s easy to allow them to dominate. Fortunately, at the Glemseck 101, the privateer entrants were very much at the fore, and where there were professionals taking part, they were mostly in dedicated classes. One such event was the showdown between Kawasaki test-rider Francesca Gasperi on the new Ninja H2R versus Troy Corser astride the new Lotus C-01, the latter’s first public appearance. 

One weak point...

In all, there was only one weak point – the voice of Jörg Litzenburger, or lack of, on the Sunday. After his seven-hour commentary stint on the Saturday, Sunday was simply too quiet without him. His encyclopaedic knowledge and enthusiastic tone were the perfect accompaniments to the event, which, in any case, brilliantly revives the spirit of the former Solitude racetrack.

Photos: Frederic Seemann for Classic Driver © 2015

 Not only is Tobias Aichele known for being one of the major experts in the European motorcycle scene, but also for his company, Premiummotorrad at Motorworld in Stuttgart, where he has many interesting classic motorcycles for sale. 

The Concours of Elegance brought sunshine and £100m+ of cars to Scotland

Uncharacteristically bathed in glorious sunshine for the entire weekend, the lawns of Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh hosted 60 upper-echelon automobiles for the fourth Royal Concours of Elegance…

The event’s organisers once again went with the unique ‘all cars are winners’ formula, so none of the cars was singled out by the steering committee for individual prizes – although the owners’ choice ‘Best in Show’ award went to the earliest machine at the event, the 1903 Mercedes 60HP Simplex. In the end, it was the car’s complex engineering combined with the female crew’s tenacity (and surprising speed) on the pre-Concours tour that earned the votes of their driving peers. By claiming the title, the German-owned car will automatically be invited to The Quail in 2016, as part of a new ‘Best of the Best’ initiative that will gather the overall winners from the six most prestigious concours events in the calendar.

112 years of automotive highpoints

At the other end of the 2015 event’s impressive chronological span were two of the latest Ferraris: a rather intimidating ‘LaF’, and an F12 that had come to Scotland via Carrozzeria Touring’s workshops in order to be transformed into a one-of-five Berlinetta Lusso. Chaperoning the elegant masterpiece was its designer, Louis de Fabribeckers, who also sketched us a theoretical ‘Quattroporte’ (four-door) version for a bit of fun, and was clearly soaking up inspiration for future projects from the magnificent machinery around him. His personal favourite from the field was the unique, Irish-owned Aston Martin DB4GT Jet by Bertone, and we doubt he was alone…

Best of British

Another Newport Pagnell-sired beauty was the American-owned short-chassis DB6 Volante – but it was Jaguar and Bentley that had the largest presence of the British stalwarts, each with a full day to promote their heritage. In partnership with Classic Driver, Jaguar held its own concours for private entries on the Saturday (more on that later), while Bentley used the Sunday for a number of historic vehicles, including the legendary 'Blue Train'. On the subject of patriotic provenance, a full quota of Royal vehicles was displayed, including impressive state limousines and two ‘Queensmobile’ Land Rovers.

From the track to the concours lawn

Other themed displays included the largest-ever gathering of Ecurie Ecosse cars – with privately owned C- and D-types watching over the other members of their racing brotherhood from the roof of their matching Commer transporter. More track-born machines came in the form of the ex-Innes Ireland 250 GTO (the most expensive car in the world when bought by Craig McCaw in 2012), Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato ‘2 VEV’, and one of the ten 275 GTS/4 Spyders commissioned by the North American Racing Team. The latter, one of the two aluminium-bodied examples, won the RAC Spirit of Motoring award and was driven enthusiastically throughout the pre-Concours tour by its owner Jon Shirley.

A Royal treat

Other notable cars included an F40 LM, a unique Ghia Spyder prototype on Fiat underpinnings, and an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 that proudly bore the Scuderia Ferrari crest from its days as one of Enzo’s team cars. The organisers must be duly commended, such was the quality of cars spanning all eras, backgrounds and continents; and they announced on Sunday that the event will return to Windsor Castle next year with the Queen’s blessing. To return the favour, the field will be expanded from 60 to 90 cars to celebrate Her Majesty’s 90th birthday – and if the quality of entries at this year’s Concours can be upheld, we’re in for a Royal treat… quite literally.

Photos: Tom Shaxson for Classic Driver © 2015