Rossi and Pedrosa in front as second Sepang test concludes / Rossi et Pedrosa finissent ex aequo à Sepang

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi and Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa concluded the second Sepang MotoGP™ test with an identical 1’59.999 lap time, as preparations for the 2014 season continued in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, after testing concluded the Ducati Team confirmed their decision to enter the ‘Open’ class in 2014, meaning that they will use standard electronics software and will benefit from the greater engine allocation permitted in the new regulations.

The overall pace was not as quick at Sepang this week, with Rossi and Pedrosa’s best laps today being 0.466s slower than the best circulation set last time out by World Champion Marc Marquez – who missed this test due to injury.

The Doctor demonstrated his pace once again on Friday as he prepares for a 15^th premier class campaign, setting a quickest time on his 13^th lap, in spite of some struggles with the 2014 tyres being experienced by the Yamaha factory team.

Thursday’s fastest rider Dani Pedrosa was also on the pace, his sharpest time coming on the 47^thof his 50 laps, as temperatures dropped slightly – following a 64°C (147°F) track temperature peak at 4pm.

Pedrosa undertook an impressive 19-lap race simulation in the afternoon with every lap under the 2’02.000s mark, and a best time of 2'00.985 coming on lap 15.

On the other side of the Yamaha garage to Rossi, seventh placed Jorge Lorenzo’s frustrations continued as he was +0.75s slower than at the previous test - where track conditions were better and the riders still had access to a 2013 specification tyre.

The Ducati GP14 is showing signs of real improvement and Andrea Dovizioso ended the test 0.068s off the top pace in third, with a lap time 0.3s better than at Sepang1. With the data gathered by him and his fellow Ducati riders the Italian factory made the decision that they will opt for ‘Open’ class participation this season.

Aleix Espargaro was once again quick, his best time of 2’00.101s leaving him fourth best overall and with a decent race simulation performed for the NGM Mobile Forward Racing team on their ‘Open’ Yamaha.

Stefan Bradl wrapped up early having had a solid week, the LCR Honda rider satisfied with his consistently quick times as he found good rhythm on longer runs and ended up fifth overall (+0.165).

The fastest rider on the first day Alvaro Bautista was 0.5s off the pace on the final day in sixth and is happy with progress made with a new rear shock this week.

In eighth Cal Crutchlow made steady headway over the two Sepang tests and has dropped his gap to the frontrunning pace to less than 0.8s compared with a 1.5s deficit at the end of the previous visit to Malaysia.

The key development for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team this week has been the introduction of the seamless gearbox to their package and their young pair of riders, Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro, rounded out the top ten with similar lap times respectively 0.8s and 1s off the pace.

Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone crashed shortly before 1pm but was unhurt and immediately able to continue his work, eventually finishing 11^th, with Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Yonny Hernandez behind him on the timesheet on an ‘Open’ Ducati in 13^th.

Randy de Puniet carried on with his development work for Suzuki, who aim to return to MotoGP™ in 2015, the Frenchman concluding Friday’s test in 12^th, his best lap time down to 1.431s off the top – compared with 2.953s at the end of Sepang1.

Colin Edwards ran out of fuel twice as he pushed the Forward Yamaha to the limit and concluded 14^th, just ahead of compatriot Nicky Hayden who was 1.925s off the top on the Drive M7 Aspar Honda RCV1000R.

The Ducati, Honda and Yamaha factory teams now head to Phillip Island for a tyre safety test from 3^rd-5^th March, though MotoGP™ title holder Marquez will again miss the trip as his recovery from a fibula fracture continues.

Valentino Rossi et Dani Pedrosa ont réalisé des chronos identiques vendredi en Malaisie, où se terminait le deuxième Test Officiel de l’année.

Avec un meilleur temps d’1’59.999, Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) et Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) ont été les deux pilotes les plus rapides de la semaine au Circuit International de Sepang, où les chronos ont été moins bons qu’au début mois puisque l’Italien et l’Espagnol demeuraient à 0.466s du record du circuit signé début février par Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), absent cette semaine pour cause de blessure.

En difficulté jeudi, Rossi était visiblement plus à l’aise aujourd’hui et a réalisé son meilleur temps dès son treizième tour tandis que Pedrosa a, comme hier, attendu la fin de la journée, lorsque les températures de piste étaient en baisse après un pic à 64°C aux alentours de 16h, et le 47ème de ses 50 tours pour faire tomber le chrono.

Pedrosa avait auparavant réalisé une impressionnante simulation de course de 19 tours en restant constamment sous les 2’02.000 et en allant jusqu’à tourner en 2’00.985 sur le quinzième tour.

Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) repartira quant à lui de Sepang frustré par les difficultés rencontrées avec les nouveaux pneus Bridgestone, en septième position et avec 0.75s de retard sur les leaders.

Alors que tout le monde attend de connaître la décision de Ducati au sujet de son inscription en catégorie Factory ou Open pour 2014, Andrea Dovizioso continuait d’imprimer une très bonne cadence sur le tracé malaisien et a fini en troisième position, à seulement 0.068s du temps de référence.

Aleix Espargaró (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) était une fois de plus au rendez-vous et a terminé en quatrième position devant les Honda Factory de Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) et Álvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini).

Derrière Lorenzo, Cal Crutchlow (Ducati) continuait de progresser et revenait à moins de 0.8s des leaders. Le Britannique devançait son compatriote et ancien coéquipier Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) ainsi que Randy de Puniet. 

Ce dernier poursuivait le développement du prototype Suzuki et conclut la semaine à moins d’une seconde et demie du temps de référence alors qu’il comptait deux secondes de retard les deux jours précédents.

Colin Edwards a été victime de deux pannes sèches en poussant la Forward Yamaha dans ses derniers retranchements et a pris la quatorzième position, devant Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar), qui termine à 1.925s de Rossi et Pedrosa avec la Honda RCV1000R.

Mike di Meglio (Avintia Racing) a quant à lui fait une bonne cinquantaine de tours et continue de préparer ses débuts en MotoGP™.

Les teams officiels de Ducati, Honda et Yamaha se rendent maintenant à Phillip Island pour un test avec Bridgestone qui aura lieu du 3 au 5 mars et auquel Márquez ne participera pas après avoir décidé de prendre davantage de temps pour récupérer de sa fracture du péroné.

Cliquez ici pour accéder au classement complet du Test de Sepang.

Barbour International |Heritage Originals/Trophy Collections

Kamikaze Street Tracker by TGS Motorcycles

Kamikaze Street Tracker is a beautiful bike built by German customizer “TGS Motorcycles”, using as a donor 2-stroke motorcycle Kawasaki H2 1974 g / in. Motorcycle turned serious, a true beast – nothing more. 750 cc two-stroke engine installed in lightweight chassis. Suspension seems to be not much modernized, while the braking system is much more complicated than the original motorcycle. Overall, we got a great bike that can give odds to many modern motorcycles.

It is also important to note that the Kamikaze Street Tracker is a very non-traditional custom for German specialists who specialize in more choppers and show bikes than high motorcycles.

via BIKEGLAM

BIGFOOT COUNTRY: The Adventures of Woody and the Blue Ox

After building his own truck-bed camper from scratch in Carpinteria, California, Trevor Gordon embarked on a mission to find surf and adventure in the heart of Cascadia's Bigfoot Country.

BIGFOOT COUNTRY: The Adventures of Woody and the Blue Ox from Woody and the Blue Ox on Vimeo.

‘79 Honda CX500 – Kingston Customs

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Another month and another killer creation from Gelsenkirchen’s Dirk OehlerKing and his merry band of men atKingston Customs. As before, they’ve turned their nimble fingers to a Honda CX500 but this time they’ve taken it in a decidedly different direction. And that direction is mostly a hard left off the bitumen, onto the soft grass and up the nearest embankment. Introducing Kingston’s latest build – an amazing hybrid motorcycle they are calling the CXL500.

Dirk filled us in thusly. “One day a friend came to the garage and brought a ’79 Honda CX500 with him. He asked me to see what I’d do with it. He didn’t want a Café Racer; he wanted a bike suitable for everyday life that he could also ride off-road. He wanted, he said, to ride it to the horse stable every day. Which gave me an idea…”

“So I had the idea to build a mix between a street and an off-road bike. As Honda had built a CX500 and an XL500, it was obvious to us to build a Kingston Honda CXL500 Scrambler.”

“The bike was stripped completely, the frame was glass bead blasted and modified, then painted. The engine was treated with a thermo-sensitive coating. It has an output of around 50 hp.”

“We’re responsible for the bench seat, the battery box, the Aluminium fenders, the 2-into-1 exhaust manifold and the radiator grille & spoiler.”

“We also added an exhaust pipe from Speed Products, footrests from a Yamaha XT600, a mini Cat’s Eye tail light, a K&N air filter, Lucas Stahlflex brake lines, a Shinyo front light and Heidenau K60 rubber (100/90-19 and 120/90-18). The ‘bars and the tank are standard pieces.

Overall, the style and paintwork was intended to remind you of the old Honda Enduros from the seventies.”

[Photos by Dennis Zetlitz]

Studio date with the new McLaren 650S in London

At the Geneva Motor Show 2014, McLaren will be filling the gap between 12C and P1 with a new model. Last week we had the opportunity to inspect the McLaren 650S at a photocall in London before its official premiere.

A backyard in West London. Dented vans parked in the rain, planes from Heathrow roaring over the rooftops and the distant hum of traffic on the highway. Nothing here to indicate that in the inconspicuous two-storey office building, the new secret weapon of the British Empire is waiting to be unleashed. In 2009, sports car manufacturer McLaren promised to unveil a new model every year and the British firm has so far stuck to its promise: the beginning of March will see a new sports car unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. This is not the much-discussed R8/911-hunter that goes by the name of P13 – that £120,000 entry-level model won’t be seen till 2015. First, McLaren has something to fill the gap between the 12C and the million-dollar hypercar P1.

A step closer to the P1 hypercar

Even at first glance, it’s clear that the McLaren 650S is not a completely new car, but more of a development of the eight-cylinder 12C. Visually, the LED headlights move it closer to the P1 and hence it addresses the comments of critics who complained of the 12C's too-sober design. In addition, it has a revised rear diffuser, new wheels, carbonfibre elements and numerous other extras to differentiate its appearance while, in the cabin, you can strap yourself into new and (quite literally) breathtaking, close-fitting sports seats. Then there are the four new colours and plenty of Alcantara options to choose from. More relevant than the redesign, however, is the technical performance – and, more particularly, its enhancement over the 12C. The engine now develops 650HP at 7,250rpm and maximum torque of 678Nm, meaning the sprint from 0 to 62mph can be dispatched in just three seconds. 

No rival for Ferrari 458 Speciale and Porsche 911 GT3 

The McLaren 650S engineers are making big claims for their new car – from its crisp throttle response and streamlined chassis, through to countless other details such as the revised ESP settings and new Pirelli P Zero tyres. The brakes and ABS, too, have been upgraded and are now more powerful. Yet, despite the performance, the 650S is by no means a hardcore racer for the road: this is not a car aiming to outdo the 911 GT3 or Ferrari 458 Speciale. Rather, the McLaren 650S is there to provide the customer with the ultimate combination of driving engagement and genuine useability. The 650S will be available as either a fixed-head coupé or a Spider with a retractable hard-top, and it’s thought that prices will start at around 225,000 euros for the coupé and 255,000 for the Spider. 

Photos: Jan Baedeker

Team USA cause shockwaves at Speedway World Cup

It just wasn't meant to happen. The USA weren't meant to do it. But they did - and this is the story of how. See how the American team upset the biggest nations in speedway at the Monster Energy Speedway World Cup to claim 5th place and take another huge step on the ladder to success...

Smoke on the Water: Cigarette Racing 50’ Vision GT Concept premieres in Miami

For the fourth consecutive year, Mercedes-Benz’s AMG division has collaborated with Cigarette Racing to create a performance boat – this time inspired by the Vision Gran Turismo Concept car…

Named ‘Cigarette Racing 50’ Vision GT Concept’, the new boat is currently being shown to visitors at the Miami Boat Show, where it lines up alongside its four-wheeled inspiration.

It’s powered by twin 1650HP Mercury Racing engines, tuned to a higher state than their application in the 50’ Cigarette Marauder. Also weighing approximately 450kg less, thanks to the use of lightweight materials, the Vision GT boat has a theoretical top speed of around 140mph.

This unique concept racing boat has been valued at $1.5 million by its creators, although it’s not clear whether it’s available for sale.

Photos: Cigarette Racing / Mercedes-Benz

Exclusive boats can be found for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

perdu un bouton ??

Rossi concerned and Lorenzo frustrated in Sepang

Valentino Rossi was disgruntled and Jorge Lorenzo refused to speak to the press at the end of Thursday’s test session at Sepang, with both citing tyre problems for their frustrations.

Rossi explained that he was struggling to get the maximum from his Yamaha YZR-M1 with the new specification Bridgestone tyres for Sepang2, having produced his best time at Sepang1 on 2013 rubber.

After finishing fourth and 0.566s off Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa’s pace on Thursday the Italian stated, "The main thing at this test is to adapt the M1 to work well with the new Bridgestone tyres. We’ve worked a lot and tried many things but at the end of the day we are not very happy. I’m in fourth place and the lap time is quite good, but I’m half a second behind Pedrosa, but I’m also behind other guys."

"We’re suffering because with this tyre our bike becomes difficult to manage. Tomorrow we will try again but we don’t have much that we can do."

Meanwhile, Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager Wilco Zeelenberg spoke to the media on behalf of a frustrated Lorenzo, who had ended the day ninth and over a second down on Pedrosa.

"Jorge is disappointed, so there is your quote and that is our problem," Zeelenberg said. "We knew from the last test that we could struggle with this new tyre but at that test we were able to use the tyres from last season and we were much more competitive."

Asked whether the problem was a major worry for Yamaha’s race competitiveness Zeelenberg added, "I cannot answer that because we are in Sepang and this tyre does not work well for us here and at the Phillip Island test we’ll see how it is for us there, then Qatar is again another situation."

Valentino Rossi et Jorge Lorenzo ont du mal à s’adapter aux nouveaux pneus Bridgestone cette semaine au second Test Officiel de Sepang et ont respectivement fini la seconde journée aux quatrième et neuvième positions.

Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) a expliqué qu’il n’avait pas réussi à configurer son YZR-M1 pour les nouveaux pneus Bridgestone et est bien moins compétitif que lors du premier Test Officiel de début février, lors duquel il avait signé le deuxième temps avec les pneus de 2013.

Rossi a terminé la seconde journée d’essais de la semaine en quatrième position mais à 0.566s du leader, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).

« Le point clé est d’adapter la M1 aux nouveaux pneus Bridgestone, » a affirmé Rossi. « Nous avons travaillé dur et essayé beaucoup de choses mais au final nous ne pouvons pas être satisfaits. Je suis quatrième et le chrono est assez bon mais je suis une demi-seconde derrière Pedrosa, puis aussi derrière d’autres pilotes. »

« Nous avons beaucoup de problèmes avec ce pneu, notre moto est devenue plus difficile à contrôler. Nous réessayerons demain mais il n’y a pas grand chose que nous puissions faire. »

Le team manager Wilco Zeelenberg s’est quant à lui adressé aux médias à la place de Jorge Lorenzo, qui a fini la journée en neuvième position, à plus d’une seconde de Pedrosa.

« Jorge est déçu, maintenant vous avez une déclaration et c’est notre problème, » a affirmé Zeelenberg. « Nous savions depuis le dernier test que nous pourrions avoir des problèmes avec ce nouveau pneu mais lors de ce dernier test, nous pouvions encore utiliser les pneus de la saison dernière et nous avions été bien plus compétitifs. »

Questionné quant aux conséquences sur la compétitivité de la Yamaha en course, Zeelenberg a ajouté : « Je ne peux pas répondre à cette question parce que nous sommes à Sepang et que ce pneu semble ne pas nous aller ici mais nous verrons comment ça se passera à Phillip Island et ce sera encore une autre situation au Qatar. »

Front end set-up tweaks propel Pedrosa forward / Mise au point réussie pour Pedrosa

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa attributed his afternoon improvement in Sepang on Thursday to some ‘big changes’ on his bike and a tweaked front end set-up, which aided his leap to a 2’00.039 best time.

The Spanish rider had been stranded in the unfamiliar territory of 11^th spot on the timesheet earlier in the day and was uncomfortable on the RC213V before his crew made some key set-up changes.

Pedrosa was still suffering from some jet-lag and had a quiet morning, only completing 15 laps. In the afternoon he began to work properly, focusing on setup of the front of his Honda prototype and also with mappings, completing 57 laps with a fastest time on lap 55.

“Things went well this afternoon,” reflected Pedrosa. “Even though this morning we were still having some issues and I wasn't able to ride comfortably. I had to stop early in order to make some big changes to the bike, and when we restarted after lunch I felt more comfortable and put in better laps.”

He added, “We focused on the front end and were able to find a good setup. Tomorrow we will focus on making progress with the rear, because we have to get the new tyre working better and increase grip. If all goes well, then perhaps tomorrow we will be able to do a race simulation.”

On Friday, the final day in Sepang, Pedrosa will switch to work on rear setup before he and his team head to Australia for the final winter three-day test.

Le pilote du team Repsol Honda a été le plus rapide jeudi à Sepang et a affirmé que ses progrès étaient dus aux modifications effectuées sur le train avant de son RC213V.

Onzième sur la feuille de temps en début de journée, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) était de retour aux affaires cet après-midi à Sepang et a signé le meilleur temps de la journée en 2’00.039. Le Catalan n’a fait qu’une quinzaine de tours ce matin sur une RC213V sur laquelle il n’était pas vraiment à l’aise mais s’est ensuite montré beaucoup plus rapide l’après-midi après avoir trouvé de meilleurs réglages à l’avant de sa machine.

« Ça s’est bien passé cet après-midi, alors que nous avions encore des problèmes à résoudre ce matin et que je n’étais pas complètement à l’aise, » a commenté Pedrosa. « J’ai dû rentrer assez tôt pour faire de gros changements sur la moto et lorsque nous sommes repartis, après le déjeuner, j’étais beaucoup plus à l’aise et j’ai pu faire de meilleurs tours. »

« Nous nous sommes concentrés sur le train avant et nous avons trouvé un bon set-up. Demain nous nous concentrerons sur l’arrière parce que nous devons tirer davantage du nouveau pneu arrière et gagner en grip. Si tout se passe bien, nous pourrons peut-être faire une simulation de course. »

En l’absence de son coéquipier Marc Márquez, blessé à la jambe droite, Pedrosa travaillera sur l’arrière de la RC213V vendredi lors de la dernière journée d’essais en Malaisie et continuera son travail de lundi à mercredi prochains en Australie, où il sera de nouveau le seul représentant du team Repsol Honda.

HELL'S GATE METZELER 2014 FINAL HIGHLIGHTS

FIFTY YEARS OF KICKS – MOTORCYCLE DOCUMENTARY

I love a good documentary, especially when it’s about motorcycles and it was made by friends. This fantastic 20 minute film follows the story of Paul Rodden and Larry Murray, two slightly older off-road motorcyclists who regularly go out on the trails with much younger men, and literally leave them in the dust.

Hit play and enjoy the film, I’ve seen it twice.

THE ULTIMA GTR

The Ultima GTR is the automotive equivalent of raw, uncut heroin. It’s offered by the factory as either a turn-key supercar or as a kit car, that latter option allows buyers to configure the final vehicle to their own specifications and price point. Most owners choose a large American V8 coupled to a Porsche G50 transaxle and horsepower figures from 350 all the way up to over 1,700 have been reported. As you can probably imagine, driving the GTR is a fun, frightening and borderline religious experience.

The Ultima was first launched in 1983 by acclaimed automotive engineer Lee Noble, over the past 31 years the Ultima has seen a steady pace of improvement with the current GTR being the evolution of the company’s original Ultima MKI. All Ultimas have been built using a rigid, lightweight steel space frame chassis with GRP bodywork and a mid-mounted V8 – this combination has been found to be the best balance between low cost and low weight.

The flexibility of the GTR has led to it being used by racing teams around the world for a variety of motorsport events, an Ultima chassis was also used by McLaren when they were testing the drivetrain of the McLaren F1 – possibly the greatest vote of confidence a small car maker could receive.

Pricing on the Ultima GTR has always been surprisingly affordable due to the fact that the kit can be bought part-by-part which helps to significantly reduce the initial financial outlay. Sourcing a suitable V8 and transmission is the only other large expense and this can be done relatively cheaply if you don’t mind buying secondhand and doing the refurbishment work yourself.

In 2009 a 720hp factory-built version of the GTR set a slew of new world records including:

Fastest 0-60mph time: 2.6 seconds
Fastest 0–100mph time: 5.3 seconds
Best performance on a skidpad: 1.176g of lateral grip
Fastest road car over the 1/4 mile: 9.9 seconds @ 143 mph
Fastest 0-100-0mph time: 9.4 seconds

Each of these records was set with a road legal car, fitted with road legal tires. Fans of the UK TV show Top Gear might also be interested to know that the GTR holds the unofficial lap record of the Top Gear Test Track with a time of 1:12:28 – over a second faster than anything previously seen at the makeshift circuit.

If you’d like to build an Ultima you’ll need to ensure you have a little space in your shed or garage, then US residents will need to click here, and UK/Rest of the World residents will need to click here. I’ve always thought that the great benefit of the Ultima is that it offers Lamborghini and Ferrari spanking performance at a blue collar price point, in some respects the GTR is the democratisation of the supercar. Now I just need to clear some space in the garage.

The images in this article show an Ultima that has been modified slightly from stock, all Ultima owners customise their cars to a degree, so it’s quite difficult to find one in factory-stock condition. If you’d like to see an unmodified Ultima GTR fresh out of the factory you can click here.

Photo Credits: G F Williams

ACE CAFE : Flat Track Day

Electric Shock: The Icon E-Flyer bicycle

This retro beauty is the Icon E-Flyer, an electrically powered bicycle inspired by the hairy-chested board racers that were seen careering around oval ‘Murderdromes’ throughout America in the early 20th Century…

Developed by Icon in collaboration with Vintage Electric in California, the chic cycle aims to capture the classic elegance of the American board track racers that raced at the very dawn of the motorcycle age. Don’t be fooled by the vintage styling, though; the E-Flyer is crammed with state-of-the-art technology.

The ultimate in retro-cool, each example is hand-built around a hydroformed aluminium frame and finished in a stylish powder-grey. Features include billet aluminium and steel forks, Avid disc brakes, an LED headlight and an ultra-cool leather saddle, hand-stitched by Brooks England Ltd. And that’s before you get to the trick EV system.

Power comes from either the person pedalling, or a 3,500-watt brushless DC hub motor, itself deriving power from a 52-volt battery, aided by clever regenerative braking and fully charged in just two hours. In street-legal mode, 750 watts from the motor allow up to 20mph for 35 miles (more than enough to hold your own on the morning commute), while race mode unleashes the full 3,500 watts, propelling the bike up to 36mph; perfect if you find you have an abundance of old wooden boarding and several friends to race against. And you certainly won’t be late for work astride the quickest electric bike on the market.

The E-Flyer’s versatility means it’ll be right at home wherever you take it – be it cruising nonchalantly along a riverside path, or powering along a winding mountain road. Just 50 examples are being planned, priced at $4995, and you should strike quickly because, as Icon puts it, they will not be around for long.

For more information visit www.Iconelectricbike.com.