Renault Sport Trophy : Capitanio et Fumanelli célèbrent leur titre avec style au Mans

Après avoir obtenu le titre en Endurance samedi, Dario Capitanio et David Fumanelli (Oregon Team) ont continué à porter haut les couleurs de l’Oregon Team lors des courses Sprint du Renault Sport Trophy. Comme un symbole, le premier s’est imposé chez les pilotes Prestige pour sceller son sacre dans la catégorie et s’offrir un baquet aux 24 Heures du Mans 2016 en LMP2. Son partenaire David Fumanelli s’est ensuite imposé en Sprint Élite face à Nicky Pastorelli (V8 Racing) et Pieter Schothorst (Equipe Verschuur). Quatrième, Andrea Pizzitola (ART Junior Team) s’empare de la tête du classement général avant la finale de Jerez.

Prestige : Deuxième titre en deux jours pour Capitanio

Le poleman Richard Gonda (ART Junior Team) était débordé par Dario Capitanio qui s’emparait des commandes au départ de la course Prestige. Derrière les deux hommes, Diederik Sijthoff (V8 Racing) bondissait du sixième rang pour devancer Max Braams (V8 Racing) et Max van Splunteren (Equipe Verschuur). Ce dernier tirait tout droit au deuxième tour alors que Max Braams dépassait Diederik Sijthoff.

Malgré la pression imposée par Richard Gonda, Dario Capitanio résistait jusqu’au bout pour s’imposer et obtenir le titre en Prestige. Max Braams prenait la troisième place et le meilleur tour en course devant Diederik Sijthoff, qui distançait dans les derniers tours le groupe composé de Niccolò Nalio (Oregon Team), Max van Splunteren et Jelle Beelen (V8 Racing). Antoine Boulay (Monlau Competicion) se classait huitième devant Andrés Mendez (Zele Racing) et Jeroen Schothorst (Equipe Verschuur), qui reprenait la dixième place à Adalberto Baptista (Oregon Team) dans le dernier tour.

Elite : Fumanelli parachève le triomphe d’Oregon

Au départ, David Fumanelli conservait la tête devant Nicky Pastorelli, qui prenait l’avantage sur Steijn Schothorst (Equipe Verschuur). Pieter Schothorst et Bas Schothorst (Zele Racing) suivaient le trio au terme d’un premier tour où la voiture de sécurité intervenait après l’accident de Roy Geerts (V8 Racing). Les positions restaient identiques et le peloton groupé à la relance.

David Fumanelli s’échappait progressivement et s’imposait devant Nicky Pastorelli et Pieter Schothorst, promu au troisième rang après le problème rencontré par Steijn Schothorst au onzième tour. Andrea Pizzitola (ART Junior Team) se montrait opportuniste pour prendre la quatrième face à Luciano Bacheta (Oregon Team) et Christian Klien (Zele Racing). Bas Schothorst, Alan Hellmeister (Oregon Team), Vincent Capillaire (Monlau Competicion) et Duncan Huisman (V8 Racing) complétaient le top dix.

Ils ont dit

Dario Capitanio : « Richard était vraiment rapide. Il a été un excellent adversaire, toujours propre, parfois plus rapide que moi, mais il a joué de malchance durant la saison. Hier, le titre est arrivé tard dans la soirée, mais David et moi étions heureux. Aujourd’hui, malgré les attaques de Richard, j’ai réussi à gérer ma course. Être sacré alors qu’il reste une course à disputer est génial. Je suis au septième ciel. Avec la victoire et le titre au Mans, je serais au départ des 24 Heures du Mans en juin prochain grâce à Renault ! »

David Fumanelli : « C’est un sentiment génial de l’emporter après notre titre hier avec Dario. Cela a été un week-end plein d’émotions et une journée parfaite pour l’équipe. Il a fallu travailler dur pour arriver à un tel résultat car je ne connaissais pas Le Mans avant ce week-end. La voiture était fantastique, et j’ai même eu un peu de chance puisque l’abandon de Steijn me permet de reprendre des points au général. Ce sera difficile, mais je vais tout donner. »

Classement général Endurance provisoire* : 1. Fumanelli/Capitanio – 97 points, 2. Pizzitola/Gonda – 70, 3. Bacheta/Nalio – 57, 4. Geerts/Braams – 49, 5. Dontje/Forné – 43…

Classement général Elite provisoire* : 1. A. Pizzitola – 107 points, 2. S. Schothorst – 105, 3. D. Fumanelli – 85, 4. I. Dontje – 56, 5. R. Geerts – 49…

Classement général Prestige provisoire* : 1. D. Capitanio – 137 points, 2. D. Sijthoff – 107, 3. R. Gonda – 105, 4. N. Nalio – 102, 5. M. Braams – 90…

*Sous réserve de l’officialisation des résultats à l’issue des vérifications techniques et sportives.

Le classement de la course Prestige est ici et Elite là

Wheels & Waves 2015 ; PART TWO: RIDE, LISTEN & ENJOY

Wheels & Waves is about people. Yes, those who make and ride beautiful motorcycles, those who surf and those who bring things to sell, but most of all it's about people who love life and attempt create acts whenever possible.
In this film we celebrate the musicians and their work as they play out the ride and the last day of rest and relaxation, when ideas are exchanged and the winter's ambitious projects decided. Wheels & Waves returns to Biarritz and Cité de L'Océan from the 8 to the 12 of June, 2016. 

Wheels & Waves Part 2 from Nick Clements on Vimeo.

Movistar Yamaha, Team Champion du Monde MotoGP™ 2015 / Movistar Yamaha claims first team title since 2010

Le team officiel de Yamaha a décroché au MotorLand Aragón son premier titre de Team Champion du Monde MotoGP™ depuis 2010.

              

Grâce à la 60e victoire de Jorge Lorenzo et au 209e podium de son coéquipier Valentino Rossi au Grand Prix Movistar d’Aragón, le team Movistar Yamaha MotoGP a remporté dimanche dernier le titre de Team Champion du Monde MotoGP™ 2015. Le team officiel de Yamaha s’impose cette année pour la première fois depuis 2010, après quatre saisons dominées par le team Repsol Honda.

Lorenzo a jusqu’ici remporté six victoires et Rossi quatre, soit un impressionnant total de 10 sur 14 courses pour la Yamaha M1.

Les deux pilotes Movistar Yamaha sont en tête du classement MotoGP™ 2015, que Rossi mène avec 14 points d’avance sur Lorenzo avant les quatre dernières courses de la saison.

             

Jorge Lorenzo : 

« Je suis très fier du team et très fier du travail que tout le monde a fait chez Yamaha au Japon. Ils ont travaillé sur tous les aspects et particulièrement sur l’entrée en virage. C’était l’une de nos principales faiblesses les années précédentes. Ce titre de Team Champion du Monde, que nous avons remporté à quatre courses de la fin de la saison, signifie beaucoup de choses pour nous. C’est une année incroyable en termes de résultats comme de performances de la part de notre moto et nous sommes très heureux. »

                

Valentino Rossi : 

« Le titre mondial du team est une belle réussite pour tout le monde parce que toute l’équipe et tous les ingénieurs ont pu améliorer la M1 et nous fournir une excellente moto. Nous avons fait un grand pas en avant par rapport à l’année dernière et surtout par rapport à Honda. C’est toujours important pour les pilotes parce que nous sommes toujours préoccupés par ces choses-là et cette année année Jorge et moi avons remporté beaucoup de points, en finissant très souvent devant. Tout le monde au sein du team est très content. »

                  

Massimo Meregalli :

« Le team a travaillé très dur toute la saison et ça a payé puisque Movistar Yamaha MotoGP est maintenant le Team Champion du Monde. Je souhaite dédier ce titre à tous les membres de l’équipe, qui se sont toujours efforcés de trouver des solutions pour atteindre un haut niveau de compétitivité. Je tiens aussi à dédier cette victoire à Movistar et nous n’aurions pas pu leur offrir un plus beau cadeau que le titre de Team Champion du Monde pour le Grand Prix dont ils sont le sponsor officiel. Je suis très heureux que nous ayons remporté ce titre devant M. Alierta, le président de Telefonica, qui nous a honoré de sa présence dans le garage durant la course. »

              

Movistar Yamaha’s eighth double podium of the season at Aragon meant they lifted the MotoGP™ Team World Championship title.

Jorge Lorenzo’s 60th GP victory and his teammate Valentino Rossi’s 209th premier class podium ensured that the Movistar Yamaha team got their hands on the Team World Championship with four races still to go. It was the first time that had lifted the title since 2010 and in the process they brought an end to the dominance of the Repsol Honda team who have won it for the last four seasons.

Lorenzo has six victories to his name while Rossi has four, meaning that the team have won 10 of the 14 races so far this season in a year that has seen the Yamaha M1 become a force to be reckoned with once more.

The two Movistar Yamaha riders sit on top of the MotoGP™ World Championship standings with Rossi leading Lorenzo by just 14 points after the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón.

               

Jorge Lorenzo: “I‘m very proud of the team and very proud of the work that everyone from Yamaha did in Japan. They worked on all aspects but especially on corner entry. That was our main weakness over the previous years. This Team World Championship title, that we secured already four races before the end of the season, means a lot to us. It‘s been an unbelievable year from the results to the performance of the bike and we are very happy.”

                

Valentino Rossi: “The Team World Title is a great achievement for everybody, because all the team, all the engineers were able to improve the M1 and gave us a great bike. We did a great step compared to last year and compared to Honda also, especially. It is also a great achievement for the riders, because we always care about this and this year me and Jorge were able to win a lot of points and arrived in front a lot of the time. So everybody in the team is very happy.”

Massimo Meregalli: “It was a state of the art performance by Jorge, his level was unmatched and he managed the gap perfectly. He didn‘t make any mistakes and fully deserved his 60th Grand Prix win over all classes. Valentino did well to ride from sixth to third early on in the race and got caught up in a battle with Dani Pedrosa for the final two podium positions. The team has worked very hard all season long and it had paid off, as Movistar Yamaha MotoGP is now the World Champion Team. I want to dedicate this title to all team members, who always put a lot of effort in finding solutions to bring us to a highly competitive level. I also want to dedicate this victory to Movistar, as we could not have given them a better gift than the Team World Championship title at their own title sponsored Grand Prix. I‘m especially happy that we have won this title in front of Mr. Alierta, President of Telefonica, who honoured us with his presence in the garage during the race.”

               

THIS IS WHERE L.A.’S WHIZ KID BIKE BUILDER LIVES

“Son, once you get those training wheels off,” Mark said, “I’ll buy you your first motorcycle.” A day later, Haven could ride his first bicycle without training wheels. Soon, he was on a motorcycle…at three years old. “I just thought it was so cool that I could go so fast, and everything was a blur, and I got to do it myself,” Haven says. “I was really free, I think I always held on to that.” All of the signs present in a typical workshop are here: work benches, welding supplies, spare parts, but the warehouse Mark and Haven live in has been the focal point of their relationship and projects. Now a teenager, Haven has been turning heads with his first few custom motorcycles—that he’s made all by himself. Drive Tastefully®

The world’s best motorcycle, custom built for Classic Driver

As rare and fast as a Münch Mammut, and as futuristic as a science-fiction toy straight out of Hollywood, the new Lotus motorcycle is already considered the superbike of the new millennium. Classic Driver was one of the first customers to commission a Lotus C-01...

There’s great and then there’s...

Vincent Black Shadow, Brough Superior, Münch Mammut, Kawasaki Z1, Ducati 916. Plenty of great motorcycles have been built over the years, but really great ones don’t come along that often. Which is why the long-awaited arrival of the Lotus C-01 should be regarded as a biking landmark – because it truly is one of those rare ‘really great’ motorcycles.

Child of Tron

When the C-01 was first announced in January 2014, it attracted a degree of scepticism because it seemed so different, so futuristic and so implausible that many believed it would never actually enter production. But now it has, and the nay-sayers have been proved radically wrong.

Classic Driver recently took delivery of one of the first examples, custom-finished in our very own livery, and we remain in awe of this remarkable Lotus-badged machine built under licence by the German engineering firm Kodewa, celebrated for its success in everything from DTM to rallying and Formula 1.

Add to that the fact that the C-01 was designed by none other than Daniel Simon, whose past projects have included the Bugatti Veyron and the fantastically futuristic vehicles seen in movies such as Tron: Legacy, Prometheus and Oblivion, and the reasons why the bike is as good as it is begin to become apparent.

Kawasaki-killer

Combining a smooth, slippery, all-enveloping carbonfibre body, a frame made from titanium and aerospace-grade steel, and the same 1200cc, V-twin Rotax engine found in KTM’s RC8R superbike (but tweaked to produce 200bhp), the C-01 is every bit as radical as the far-out vehicles found in Simon's books, ‘Cosmic Machines’and ‘Timeless Racers’– except in this case, concept has turned to dramatic reality.

The Classic Driver C-01 became one of the first examples seen in action when we took it to theGlemseck 101 motorcycle festival in September, where it amazed onlookers by trouncing Kawasaki’s supercharged, 300 horsepower Ninja H2 in a series of sprints.

A masterpiece of German engineering

Before that could happen, however, the C-01 needed to clock up 1,000 kilometres for Corser to be able to use full power. And the enviable task of running it in went to Tobias Aichele, motorcycle fanatic and proprietor of Premium Motorrad, the sole distributor of the Lotus  bike in Europe.

“We are receiving more and more enquiries about the C-01 now that people realise it has actually entered production – and its performance at the Glemseck 101 amazed the spectators. No one could believe how fast it is.

“But it’s not only the performance. The finish is really impressive, and that goes for every detail, from the electrical system down to the fuel tank. To look at, it’s a masterpiece of German engineering, and to ride, it’s even better. Because it has such a long wheelbase, I wasn’t expecting it to handle especially well... but it’s beautiful. I don’t know how they’ve done it, but it takes curves like an all-out sports bike.

100 examples at 100,000 euros each

“I would say it’s an extremely fast motorcycle - not in terms of its top speed, but in the way it performs on the backroads. The handling is superb, and the power delivery is just effortless. The red line is at 6,000rpm, but you don’t need to go anywhere near that in order to ride the C-01 quickly, because it offers so much torque,” adds Aichele, who likens the bike to the legendary Münch Mammut in terms of its radical design and appearance.

A maximum of 100 examples of the €100,000 (plus local taxes) C-01 will be built, production of which will occur in batches of 20. For more information, see www.Lotus-Motorcycles.com

Photos by Rémi Dargegen for Classic Driver © 2015

You can find many classic and collectable motorcycles for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

Yamaha TX650 – Hageman Motorcycles

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Written my Martin Hodgson.

High school graduations often end with parents giving their kids a special gift. I, for example, got a ball point pen with my name engraved on it. But when your Dad is friends with Greg Hageman, one lucky girl got this 1973 Yamaha TX650 retro racer. That my friends is some kind of gift!

One of the most accomplished builders in the industry with multiple bikes featured on Café Racer TV, magazine features, show wins and a top ten finish in Pipeburn’s 2014 Bike of the Year Awards, Greg builds show quality bikes for the street with the sort of attention to detail one expects from a man who has attained his Master level 5 Technician status working for more than a decade at a Harley Davidson dealership. This machine was actually built some ten years ago which goes to show just how well his bikes stand the test of time and equally as impressive the modifications were done in a way that allows the “Yamaha Whisperer” to return the 650 back to stock if it’s so desired.

But this particular Yamaha is quite different to the ones you normally see roll out of Greg’s workshop, unlike the Café Racers and Scramblers that have made him so famous this is a race replica that would make any factory outfit proud! When it comes to vintage race replicas you simply must get the look right and as always Greg has done exactly that. The full fairings come courtesy of California’s Airtech who have been fabricating bodywork for race teams since the early eighties. What makes this one step above the norm however is that it can also be run with just half fairings by removing the lower sections or with the removal of 6 bolts the whole fairing comes off; Clamp on the Bates style headlight and the race replica turns into a clean café racer.

Continuing the race look is the fitment of an XS750 fuel tank that not only looks period correct for a race build but also takes the shape of the long-range tanks used on race bikes at places like the Isle of Man. The seat is typical Hageman in its perfection and suits the build to a t in either guise, with ample padding for long days in the saddle. The side covers remain and keep the overall look of the build exceptionally clean with just their “OHC 650” decals and the Yamaha items on the tank being the only hint as to what’s underneath. The stunning gloss black paint is also a tip of the cap to a time when race machinery didn’t look like they’d been vomited on by a sticker factory; silver racing stripes and yellow number surrounds give the finishing touch to a bike that looks like it belongs in a museum of past GP winners.

But looks is not all that Hageman is about, not by a long shot and this build ensures that rideability and reliability are a big part of the equation. The front forks move in tapered steering head bearings and have been fitted with adjustable preload caps that you can see above the upper triple clamp. The swimgarm has been replaced with one from a later model 650 and it too runs on roller bearings with new shocks featuring progressive rate springs. By 1973 many of the earlier handling problems had been fixed with the frame heavily gusseted around the swingarm mount, steering head, and rear engine mount.  With the engine moved forward 10mm and lowered 10mm to get the centre of gravity lower and further forward. With no front guard Hageman has fitted a fork brace instead and gators to tidy things up.

The iconic Yamaha parallel twin was stripped down and given a complete rebuild with all new gaskets and internals for flawless operation. Despite his ability to get great horsepower numbers out of all most any engine, Hageman decided to keep this one relatively stock knowing the rider was new to bikes. The ignition system has had the popular Boyer Bransden Digital ignition upgrade and the 650 converted to a solid state charging system. The engine benefits from the fitment of later model carburettors while the exhaust is a stunning twin chrome system that finishes in two low slung megaphone mufflers.

A set of clubman bars position the hands perfectly in the fairing cut outs and feature a pair of GT grips. Stock switchblocks are retained for full functionality and a set of bar end mirrors have been fitted, you have to keep reminding yourself this racer is road legal! Keeping an eye on all the vital signs and signalling the ton is close are a pair of chrome cupped gauges that ensure race like minimalism is retained. While the right riding position is achieved with a set of raw metal rearsets that look just the part on this retro racer.

While the gift went over a treat the motorcycle bug never quite captured the young high school graduate and after being in the hands of her father for 10 years the TX650 was shipped back to Greg for a freshen up before being sold to an ad agency in California. It may have been a decade between trips to the Hageman shop but with the Classic TT taking off and retro racing back in vogue you can only hope Hageman Cycles delivers another retro racer for worldwide appreciation.

Back in black. And white.

[Photos by Erick Runyon for Bell Helmets] via PIPEBURN

SAND RAIDERS

SandRaiders 2015 and Adventure with the Dakar essence. There is nothing like it. Sandraiders is a unique experience. 
Sandraiders 2016 is coming!

carreaux.......