Less than two months before WTCC heads to the Nurbugring, Rob Huff and Tom Coronel reflect on the difficulty to apprehend a track like the Nordschleife...
mardi 31 mars 2015
Taking over from Valentino Rossi. By WTCC ace Stefano D’Aste
Motorbike racer turned FIA World Touring Car Championship event winner Stefano D’Aste has recalled the time when he took over Valentino Rossi’s ride.
D’Aste and Rossi raced together at 125cc level during the 1994 season before Cagiva signed D’Aste to replace Rossi for 1995 following the latter’s graduation to the 250cc category.
While Rossi went on to claim a succession of 500cc and MotoGP titles, D’Aste switched to four wheels, firstly in rallying before a successful move to car racing.
“When Valentino was a factory rider of Cagiva in 1994 I was a semi-factory rider,” remembers D’Aste. “I had the official parts but the bike from the year before from Valentino. Then when Valentino left 125 I signed a contact with Cagiva and got the place of Valentino. I used his bike before I got the evolution bike and because Valentino won the championship the year before they gave me number one.”
D’Aste recalls his time on two wheels with great fondness and likens the atmosphere in bike racing to the WTCC, which he’s backing contesting this season in a ALL-INK.com Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet.
“Many times we were together in the paddock having fun and doing silly things,” says D’Aste of Rossi. “We did some funny things with water guns and taking scooters off road, having great fun, which is how it is in the WTCC. I knew Valentino would be good and it’s great he’s back really very competitive now.”
WRC et WEC : Toyota confirme son double engagement / Toyota confirms two-pronged programme
L’arrivée de Toyota en Championnat du monde des Rallyes FIA ne remet pas en cause son engagement en Championnat du monde d’Endurance dans les trois ans à venir. Le premier constructeur mondial va donc mener de front deux programmes… Le Finlandais Teemu Suninen vient d’être confirmé pilote d’essais cette année.
Présent sur le circuit Paul Ricard pour le Prologue du championnat FIA WEC, Pascal Vasselon (Directeur technique de Toyota GmbH) a confirmé l’engagement de la marque en Endurance sur les trois prochaines années parallèlement à son retour en WRC en 2017.
Ces deux programmes seront menés par Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) basé à Cologne (Allemagne), où des équipes distinctes sont en train d’être constituées. Comme en Endurance, TMG devrait s’appuyer sur la société Oreca pour mettre sur pied le programme WRC. En rallye, la structure varoise a remporté les titres de Champion du Monde Junior 2003 (Brice Tirabassi), de Champion d’Europe (Simon Jean-Joseph) 2004 et deux titres de Champion de France en 2002/03.
« Nous avons deux années pour développer la Toyota Yaris WRC et préparer notre retour », nous a dit Pascal Vasselon, qui revient dans une discipline dans laquelle il avait travaillé au développement des pneumatiques chez Michelin au début de sa carrière. Coïncidence, son alter ego chez Porsche en Endurance, Alex Hitzinger, a débuté sa carrière en rallye, au sein du Toyota Team Europe, en 1997 !
« Par rapport à l’Endurance, le rallye est un peu plus conservateur. Sans aller jusqu’à l’hybridation des voitures, nous avons essayé de proposer quelques évolutions technologiques en commission WRC, mais elles ont été rejetées. »
« En revanche, les relations entre ingénieurs et pilotes sont plus étroites en rallye, à tel point qu’on peut monter à côté d’eux dans la voiture pour se forger un avis, sans avoir toujours le « nez » dans les datas. C’est passionnant. ». L’an passé, TMG a recruté Cyrille Jourdan au poste d’ingénieur principal, châssis, recherche & développement en rallye.
Les trois pilotes de développement, Stéphane Sarrazin, Eric Camilli et Sebastian Lindholm, ont déjà parcouru de nombreux kilomètres d’essais sur asphalte, terre et neige. Ils seront rejoints cette année par le Finlandais Teemu Suninen (21 ans) qui a débuté en rallye il y a deux ans seulement, vainqueur du WRC-3 au dernier Rallye de Finlande.
« Le programme de développement va se poursuivre jusqu’en 2017. Pour l’heure, nous n’envisageons pas de participer à des rallyes WRC avant notre retour officiel. « Chez Toyota TMG, l’Endurance et le Rallye ont chacun leur budget », a confirmé Pascal Vasselon. « Il n’y a donc aucun risque pour qu’un programme remplace l’autre à court terme. »
Le président de Toyota TMG, Yoshiaki Kinoshita, sera remplacé par Toshio Sato le 1er avril. Ce changement à la tête du team ne remet pas en cause les engagements sportifs actuels et futurs de la marque.
Toyota’s decision to contest the FIA World Rally Championship has had no influence on the Japanese make’s commitment to world class endurance racing (FIA WEC) for the next three years. As a result, it will be the first volume carmaker to tackle two such major programmes in parallel.
Pascal Vasselon, the Technical Director of Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG), was at last weekend’s official pre-2015 WEC test at Le Castellet, France, where he confirmed the make’s commitment to endurance racing for the next three years in addition to its WRC comeback in 2017.
The programmes will be run by distinct operations at TMG in Cologne, Germany, in association with the French specialist Oreca, the team that helped Brice Tirabassi to Junior WRC success in 2003 and Simon Jean-Joseph to the 2004 European Rally Championship crown, plus French titles in 2002 and 2003.
“We’ve got two years to develop the Toyota Yaris WRC and prepare our return to rallying,” notes Vasselon who worked in the sport as tyre developer with Michelin at the beginning of his career. Coincidentally, Alex Hitzinger, his counterpart at Porsche Team (WEC), started his career with the Toyota Team Europe rally team in 1997!
“Compared with endurance racing, rallying is a little more conservative. Without going as far as running hybrid power, we have suggested some technological evolutions to the WRC Commission, but they were rejected. That said, the relationship between the drivers and the engineers is closer in rallying. You can actually sit alongside them to forge your own opinion rather than depend on analysing data. It’s absorbing!”
Last year, TMG recruited Cyrille Jourdan as Chief Engineer for the rally team, with responsibilities covering the chassis and R&D.
Development drivers Stéphane Sarrazin, Eric Camilli and Sebastian Lindholm have already clocked up a high number of kilometres on asphalt, gravel and snow. They will now be joined by Finnish youngster Teemu Suninen, 21, who won the WRC3 class at last August’s Rally Finland despite only making his debut two years ago.
“Our development work will continue until 2017. For the moment, we have no plans to compete in any WRC events before our official comeback. There are separate budgets for endurance racing and rallying at TMG, so there is no risk of one programme replacing the other in the short term.”
From tomorrow (April 1), Toyota TMG President Yoshiaki Kinoshita will be replaced by Toshio Sato.
This Tequila-powered Triumph has been stretched for the salt
Built for a reason, and for one reason only, this Triumph Thruxton-based ‘Salt Racer’ has its sights set on a new speed record at Lake Gardiner, South Australia, at the end of March…
Far from standard
Long and low-slung, the machine is the finished product from a team of bike-builders in Melbourne, Australia, who wanted to build a café-racer-inspired, land-speed bike – designed to go as fast as possible. With support from Triumph Australia, Peter Stevens Motorcycles led the project, the bike starting life as a factory-standard 2008 Triumph Thruxton. Ross Osborne from Supacustom was also heavily involved.
Power house
At the heart of this purpose-built speed machine is a heavily modified Thruxton motor. Bored to 1000cc by tuning specialist Andrew Hallam and running on alcohol-based fuel (ok, maybe not tequila, but methanol), it is expected to produce in excess of 100bhp. The stylish fuel tank and bodywork are made entirely from carbonfibre. Up front, a pair of forks from a Triumph 675 Daytona replace the originals, while at the rear an extended swingarm and high-performance twin dampers provide greater high-speed stability. If the bike's performance is anything near as good as its appearance, it's very likely that a record will be set in the currently 'open' DLRA 1000MF class.
Photos: TriumphSaltRacer.com
You can find many Triumph motorcycles for sale in the Classic Driver Market.
WSBK : Yamaha précise ses intentions pour 2015 / Yamaha outlines plans for 2015 season
Yamaha se prépare à lancer sa saison 2015 dans le Championnat du Monde eni FIM Superbike début avril au MotorLand Aragón, où la nouvelle R1 fera ses débuts dans la Coupe FIM Superstock 1000.
« Yamaha Racing Europe a une nouvelle stratégie pour 2015, » explique Andrea Dosoli, Directeur du projet Courses sur Route pour la Division Marketing de Yamaha Motor Europe. « Nous allons soutenir cinq teams officiels dans différents championnats : deux teams au niveau national, en BSB (Grande-Bretagne) et en IDM (Allemange), deux teams dans le Championnat du Monde d'Endurance et un team en WorldSBK. »
Yamaha ne courra pas directement dans la catégorie WorldSBK mais engagera d'abord sa nouvelle R1 en Superstock 1000, avec un team officiel qui comptera sur le Français Florian Marino et l'Écossais Kev Coghlan. Deux autres pilotes de la grille STK1000 courront aussi sur Yamaha.
« Nous avons présenté la nouvelle R1 et nous sommes très fiers de ce produit, » a ajouté Dosoli. « C'est notre première moto qui soit orientée sur la compétition. Les réactions des pilotes ont jusqu'ici été positives. La moto a montré beaucoup de potentiel lors d'un test fait en Espagne et nous avons deux bons pilotes avec Florian Marino et Kev Coghlan. Ils ont tous les deux apprécié la moto et sont presque prêts à courir. Nous travaillons encore sur quelques détails mais nous pensons pouvoir être compétitifs dès la première manche, en Aragón. »
« Nous allons aussi travailler avec deux autres teams : Trasimeno avec Jérémy Guarnoni et le Team Guandalini avec Michele Magnoni. Ces quatre pilotes peuvent être compétitifs et démontrer le potentiel de la nouvelle R1. Nous avons par le passé eu un team très compétitif en WorldSBK mais nous n'avons pas pu suffisamment soutenir les teams au niveau local. Nous souhaitons maintenant travailler avec tout le monde, ceux pour qui la course est un loisir et ceux qui courent aux niveaux nationaux et internationaux. L'idée est de développer la R1 afin d'être compétitif partout : en BSB, en IDM, en Endurance et en catégories Stock. »
Yamaha is looking to kick-start its 2015 campaign as the eni FIM Superbike World Championship begins its European season at MotorLand Aragon next weekend. The manufacturer is looking to branch out dramatically with its new R1 model.
“Yamaha Racing Europe has a new strategy for 2015,” explains Andrea Dosoli, Road Racing Project Director for Yamaha Motor Europe’s Marketing Division. “We will support five official teams in four different championships: two teams at national level, in BSB and IDM, two teams in the World Endurance Championship and one team in WorldSBK.”
With regards to the WorldSBK paddock, Yamaha is set to run its official team in Superstock 1000 with riders Florian Marino of France and Kev Coghlan from Scotland. Furthermore, a further two riders will be competing with Yamaha machinery.
“We have introduced the new R1 and we are proud of this product,” Dosoli continues. “It is the first real race-oriented bike. So far, all of the feedback we have had from the riders has been good. The bike has shown high potential in a test run in Spain and we have two strong riders in Florian Marino and Kev Coghlan. Both of them like the bike and both are almost ready for the first race. We are still working on a few details, but we are confident we can be competitive from the next event in Aragon.
“Alongside this we are also supporting another two teams. One is Trasimeno with rider Jeremy Guarnoni and the other is Team Guandalini with Michele Magnoni. Honestly, with these four riders we can be competitive and show the real potential of the new R1. In the past, we had a very strong team in World Superbike, but for now we have not been able to support the teams enough on a local level. Now we would like to support everyone - from those riding for a hobby up to those riding on a national and international level - and develop the R1 as much as possible and try to be competitive everywhere: BSB, IDM, World Endurance and the Stock categories.”
Le Team ORECA fait son retour en rallye
Parallèlement à sa collaboration avec Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) en Endurance dans la cadre du projet Le Mans du team TOYOTA Racing, ORECA s’apprête à faire son retour en rallye ! L’équipe française mènera en effet un double programme, et ce dès 2015, avec deux voitures engagées respectivement sur plusieurs épreuves du WRC2 et WRC3. Cet engagement dans la discipline s’effectuera sur plusieurs années, Eric Camilli et Teemu Suninen, membres du Junior Driver Development Program de TMG, rejoignant ce nouveau défi sportif pour 2015.
Le Team ORECA de retour en rallye…
Historiquement présent dans de nombreuses disciplines, avec plus de 40 titres nationaux et internationaux, le Team ORECA est donc de retour en rallye dès cette saison. Après une première expérience au début des années 1980, notamment avec la BMW M1, les hommes d’Hugues de Chaunac avaient marqué de leur empreinte le début des années 2000 : deux sacres en Championnat de France des Rallyes (2002, 2003), un en Espagne (2004), mais aussi un en Championnat d’Europe (2004) et un titre de Champion du Monde Junior des Rallyes (2003). Sur cette période, ORECA avait signé pas moins de 35 victoires !
L’heure des retrouvailles a sonné avec un double programme au niveau international. Le Team ORECA s’alignera sur plusieurs manches du WRC2, véritable antichambre du Championnat du Monde des Rallyes, et en WRC3. Le détail des participations sera dévoilé ultérieurement, avec au moins 6 rallyes à disputer pour chacun des deux pilotes.
Eric Camilli et Teemu Suninen, membres du Junior Driver Development Program de TMG, en WRC2 et WRC3 !
Eric Camilli, membre de l’Équipe de France FFSA Rallye et pilote Oreca-Store.com depuis plusieurs saisons, qui est désormais membre du Junior Driver Development Program de TMG, évoluera en WRC2. Lauréat de Rallye Jeunes en 2012, le Niçois s’était ensuite illustré dans le Citroën Trophy Junior avec plusieurs victoires en 2013, puis dans la 208 Rallye Cup en 2014. L’an dernier, il avait également reçu le « Colin McRae Flat Out Trophy » pour sa performance au Tour de Corse. Il a débuté la saison lors du Rallye Monte-Carlo, terminant meilleur performeur en WRC2 et quatrième de la catégorie pour sa première participation.
Egalement membre du Junior Driver Development Program de TMG, Teemu Suninen sera engagé en WRC3. A 21 ans seulement, il représente la nouvelle génération finlandaise. Passé par le rallycross, il s’est déjà forgé une belle réputation depuis ses débuts en rallye en 2013. Ses premiers pas en WRC3 n’étaient pas passés inaperçus, avec une victoire de catégorie au Rallye de Finlande 2014 ! Cette même année, il a remporté le Fiesta Sport Trophy dans son pays.
Alberto Ascari drove this Ferrari 275S in the Mille Miglia
The motorsport chapter of this Barchetta’s history began in the marque’s early years of racing – 1950, to be exact. Works driver Alberto Ascari hoped to be first across the line in that year’s Mille Miglia… but it was not to be.
First Lampredi-engined Ferrari sports-racer
As the first Ferrari sports-racer with the Aurelio Lampredi V12 under the bonnet, this 275S is today, 65 years later, a real landmark in the history of Ferrari. As is the case with every one of these early racing cars from Maranello, there is a fascinating history behind this car. Chassis 0030 MT, the 275S shown here, was entered for the 1950 Mille Miglia but, despite that 12-cylinder Lampredi engine in the bow and the renowned Alberto Ascari at the wheel – with Senesio Nicolini navigating – it failed to finish the race, let alone claim victory. Ferrari refused to be deterred, however, and back in Maranello, the racing car was rebuilt to 340 America 4.1-litre V12 specifications. The black and white photograph below shows how it emerged from the factory in November 1950 – the picture taken immediately after completion of the works, and before it was exhibited at the Salon de l'Automobile in Paris.
A little later, Scuderia Marzotto acquired the Ferrari 275S/340 America Barchetta and raced it in the Mille Miglia in both 1951 and 1952 – as well as at the Targa Florio. Up until 1957, the Barchetta competed in a great many more races, with the likes of Ascari, Giovanni Bracco and Gianni Marzotto at the wheel. However, there is no record of any notable victories.
In more recent times, the Ferrari has competed in the Mille Miglia retrospective – and at other high-calibre events such as the Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge. Chassis 0030 MT has Ferrari Classiche certification and was recently announced as a highlight of the RM Sotheby's sale at Monterey in August.
Photos: Archivi Farabola, RM Sotheby's
Other Ferraris with Mille Miglia provenance can be found in the Classic Driver Market.
The highlights of the 73rd Goodwood Members’ Meeting
With motorsport legends in abundance, a jam-packed roster of races and high-speed demonstrations, a spectacular evening celebration extravaganza, oh, and 500,000 daffodils in full bloom, the Goodwood 73rd Members’ Meeting picked up right where last year’s inaugural event left off…
Self one-upmanship, in the finest style
Last year, we questioned how Lord March and his team could possibly better the Members’ Meeting following its super-successful reincarnation but, sure enough, we came away from ‘The 73rd’ utterly astonished. Created to evoke the spirit of the original Goodwood Members’ Meetings held between 1948 and 1966, the limited-entry event boasted far fewer visitors than we’ve come to expect at both the Festival of Speed and the Revival, making for a much more relaxed and intimate atmosphere. And the good Lord has promised it will stay that way.
Grey clouds, red mist
The temperature might have been frigid, but the racing was anything but. With nine grids spanning six decades, machinery in action ranged from pre-1935 Formula Libre cars right through to Group 1 Touring cars of the 1970s and 80s. And race they most certainly did. Despite having been shortened thanks to a contretemps in the preceding Salvadori Cup, Saturday evening’s Graham Hill Trophy twilight affair proved frenetic and thoroughly entertaining throughout, James Cottingham (of Classic Driver dealer DK Engineering) and Joe Twyman narrowly missing out to Emanuele Pirro and Shaun Lynn in their gleaming red Cobra.
Porsche poetry
The Aldington Trophy, for pre-1967 Porsche 911s and 901s proved popular. While BTTC star Andrew Jordan drove a comfortable race out in front, the sight of Mark Bates and Phil Hindley going hammer and tongs (and mostly sideways) in the battle for second really got the crowd going. More impressive was the way all the drivers (including Richard Attwood) balanced their cars on the throttle through Goodwood’s ultra–technical corners, slithering around with such style and finesse – it really was poetry in motion.
David and Goliath…
Perhaps the most memorable tussle was that in the eventful Gerry Marshall Trophy, for the wonderfully evocative Touring Cars in their seemingly countless shapes, sizes and liveries. Crowd-favourite Nick Swift in his Mini and David Clark in the brutish Bastos-liveried Chevrolet Camarodiced door-to-door, lap after lap. Ultimately the American had the legs, but the plucky Brit definitely generated more volume from the onlookers, mostly thanks to Swift's animated and cheeky waves and gestures being beamed across the circuit on the big screens.
(Very) high-speed demonstrations
Like last year, high-speed demonstrations saw machinery that we never thought we’d witness in action on the historic circuit, let alone in anger. Sans safety cars, the drivers were instead governed by track-day regulations. That meant some seriously high-speed running, particularly from the fabulous array of monstrous Group C cars and the largest ever gathering of McLaren F1 GTRs (no fewer than 16), assembled to celebrate 20 years since that incredible outright victory at La Sarthe. Race-goers also got the chance to witness a modern-day Formula 1 car tackle the technical track for the first time in 25 years, when Anthony Davidson piloted the 2013 Mercedes-AMG in a handicapped race (a prominent attraction in the original Members’ Meetings) against Karl Wendlinger in the new AMG GT and Jochen Mass in the famous ‘Red Pig’. Apparently Davidson was pulling 180mph down the Lavant Straight. Still, we bet he’d have had just as much fun in a big Lister banger.
Platform shoes and rose-tinted glasses
Nostalgia took hold when some 30 1970s high-airbox F1 cars took to the track. From Tyrrells and Ferraris, to JPS-liveried Lotuses and a wailing Matra, it was a feast for the senses and a timely reminder of a truly golden era of Formula 1. Jean-Pierre Jarier looked right at home within a few laps of being reunited with his 1975 Shadow DN5, while tired eyes (blame Saturday evening’s party, complete with flame-throwers and fireworks) might have had to double-take on seeing Freddie Hunt relaxing in the cockpit of his father’s Hesketh 308 prior to its demo.
If you can dream it...
A stroll around the sleepy paddocks as the sun set on Sunday evening was the crowning moment, as event-goers reflected on what was a truly memorable weekend. In fact, in terms of historic racing (and in the absence of the Le Mans Classic), we can’t see the bar being raised much further in 2015. We certainly won’t doubt Lord March again. Instead, we can only dream about what he’s got in store for the 74th Members’ Meeting…
Photos: © Tim Brown for Classic Driver
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