MotoGP : Météo mitigée pour la première journée du HRC à Brno / Constructive first day in Brno despite temperamental weather

Après un fantastique doublé au GP d'Allemagne, Marc Márquez et Dani Pedrosa étaient de retour en piste aujourd'hui, à Brno, pour la première de trois journées d'essais privés.

Malgré un ciel globalement ensoleillé, la piste tchèque est restée mouillée pendant un bon moment suite à une grosse averse survenue à 11h30 ce matin. Les pilotes du team Repsol Honda n'ont eu d'autre choix que de travailler sur leurs set-ups pour piste mouillée et Márquez a subi une petite chute dans le virage n°5 en perdant l'avant.

La piste a petit à petit séché et permis aux pilotes de reprendre leur programme d'essais, malgré une adhérence encore réduite. Márquez et Pedrosa sont restés sur leurs machines de 2014 aujourd'hui et ont tous les deux couvert 49 tours chacun.

Mercredi, les deux Espagnols poursuivront leurs tests et pourraient étrenner le prototype Honda de 2015.

Marc Márquez :

« La journée s'est bien passée. Il a plu ce matin, nous avons pu essayer des choses pour piste mouillée et j'ai eu une petite chute. La piste était sèche pour l'après-midi mais le grip n'était pas très bon. L'important est que nous ayons eu des températures plus élevées à la fin, avec un peu plus de gomme sur la piste, ce qui nous a permis d'essayer des modifications pour notre set-up. Espérons que les conditions s'améliorent pour demain. »

Dani Pedrosa :

« La séance d'aujourd'hui a été mitigée. Il a beaucoup plu à midi et nous avons donc pu rouler sur piste mouillée. Après le déjeuner, l'asphalte avait séché mais la piste était sale et n'offrait pas beaucoup de grip. Nous n'avons malheureusement pas pu essayer beaucoup de choses aujourd'hui. Espérons que nous puissions continuer à travailler et mieux profiter de la piste demain. »

Fresh from their fantastic 1-2 finish in the German GP on Sunday, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa were back on track in Brno on Tuesday on day one of the three-day test.

Although the weather was bright and sunny first thing, a heavy rain shower at 11.30am drenched the track and left the Honda riders no option but to try some wet settings on their RC213V machines, Marc suffering a small crash in turn five after losing the front.

 

The track slowly dried and by mid-afternoon it was dry enough to resume the testing program, but with very low grip. Marc and Dani remained on their current 2014 machines for the duration of the day working on general bike settings with both riders recording 49 laps each.

 

On Wednesday, the plan will be to continue their schedule and also test the 2015 machine for the first time.

 

Marc Marquez:

“Today went fairly well, in the morning it rained and we were able to test out a few things on a wet track and I had a small crash. By the afternoon it had already dried out, although the grip levels weren't too good. The important thing is that right at the end we had higher temperatures and a little more rubber on the asphalt, so we could try some initial changes to the setup. Let's hope that conditions are better tomorrow"

 

Dani Pedrosa

“We had a mixed session on this first day. It rained a lot at midday, so we were able to ride in wet conditions. After lunch the asphalt had dried out, but the track was still really dirty and didn't offer us much grip. So unfortunately it wasn't really a day in which we could test too many things. Let's hope that tomorrow we can make better use of our track time to continue working"

ERC, Rally Estonia : Un avant-goût de Finlande...

En seulement cinq éditions, l’auto24 Rally Estonia est devenu incontournable dans le paysage « rallystique » international. Sur les pistes très rapides et bosselées du sud de l’Estonie, on attend une formidable bagarre entre Ott Tanak, Espekka Lappi, Karl Kruuda, Martin Kangur, Sébastien Chardonnet et consorts…

L’épreuve créée par l’ancien pilote Urmo Aava a très rapidement décroché un statut international. Organisé en juillet, l’auto24 Rally Estonia fut tout d’abord prisé des pilotes du WRC souhaitant s’étalonner avant le Rallye de Finlande. Markko Märtin et Mads Ostberg ont ainsi inscrit leur nom au palmarès. Cette année, l’auto24 Rally Estonia rejoint le Championnat d’Europe des Rallyes FIA « nouvelle formule ». Après la Lettonie (ERC) et la Lituanie (WRC), l’Estonie est donc le 3^epays balte à accueillir une épreuve d’envergure internationale.

Si le parcours a été renouvelé à 40%, l’auto24 Rally Estonia se déroule toujours au sud du pays, autour de Tartu et d’Ötepää, sur des spéciales rapides et bosselées type « Finlande » qui se trouve juste en face, de l’autre côté de la Mer Baltique. Seule la spéciale en ville de Tartu est tracée sur asphalte. Quinze spéciales totalisant 231,55 km seront à parcourir avant l’arrivée samedi 19 juillet à Tartu, la 2^e plus grande ville d’Estonie (100 000 habitants).

Comme chaque année, la liste des engagés est très fournie : 169 équipages sont attendus, dont 65 en ERC. Parmi eux, le pilote officiel Skoda Motorsport et leader du championnat Esapekka Lappi. Après avoir piloté le nouvelle Skoda Fabia R5 en public le week-end dernier lors du Rally Bohemia, le Finlandais va retrouver le volant de sa Fabia S2000/Michelin avec laquelle il a déjà remporté le Rally Latvia et le Circuit of Ireland cette année. Après sa sortie de route à Ypres, Esapekka devra rapidement trouver ses marques sur un terrain qui lui est plus familier.

L’Allemand Sepp Wiegand, actuellement 2^e ex aequo du championnat, pilotera lui aussi une Skoda Fabia S2000 officielle et aura pour objectif de scorer de gros points en l’absence du team Peugeot Rally Academy, Craig Breen et Kevin Abbring.

Malgré l’absence des Peugeot officielles, les pilotes officiels Skoda ne manqueront pas d’adversité avec les véloces Estoniens Ott Tanak (Ford Fiesta R5), Karl Kruuda (Peugeot 208 T16) ou encore Martin Kangur (Ford Fiesta S2000) qui se disputaient la victoire WRC-2 lors du dernier Rallye de Pologne. A suivre également les Estoniens Siim Plangi (Peugeot 208 T16), Timmu Korge (Ford Fiesta R5), Raul Jeets (Ford Fiesta R5) et du vice-champion du monde Junior 2011 Egan Kaur (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X).

Parmi les prétendants à la victoire, on notera aussi la présence du Champion du monde WRC-3 en titre Sébastien Chardonnet (Citroën DS3 R5/Michelin) et de l’ancien pilote usine Mitsubishi Kristian Sohlberg (Ford Fiesta R5).

Le Shakedown et la Qualifying Stage se dérouleront jeudi 17 juillet en début d’après-midi avant la cérémonie de départ à Tartu dans la soirée. Départ du rallye vendredi matin.

Red Bull Romaniacs 2014 / Prolog preview

Raikkonen: "Ferrari is more than any other team"

This weekend, Kimi Raikkonen will be at the wheel of his F14 T in the German Grand Prix, but in the meantime, here's a film of the Finn taking part in a rather unusual race. It took place in the countryside around Silverstone and was organised and broadcast on TV by Sky Sports UK.

Kimi took on three former Formula 1 drivers, now commentators for the TV company on some grassy slopes, at the wheel of ride-on mowers. Despite having no practice, the Ferrari man used his past rally experience to come home ahead of Johnny Herbert, Anthony Davidson and Martin Brundle. After the "race" Brundle then interviewed Kimi and here you can see how much fun they all had and what the Finn had to say.

Rallye Breslau - EXTREME CLASS

‘80 Yamaha XT500 – Hgarage

You’d think that throwing in your job would be the pinnacle of fear for anyone making the leap and starting up their own shop. But when you think about it, that’s the easy part. It’s the bit where you have to put your spanners where your mouth is and actually make your first bike that will do your head in. So imagine the surprise and delight of a newly minted shop owner who not only manages to make a bike like this on his first attempt, but who then goes on to take Best in Show at the bike’s maiden outing. That owner is the very surprised and delighted Scott Halbleib – Pipeburn regular and creator of this killer XT500.

What makes Scott’s story all the more amazing is that with a virgin shop on his hands, he then threw himself headfirst into organising the Kentucky Kick Down, a regional and much praised bike show in his home town of Louisville. He readily admits that he bit off way more than he could chew, which probably accounts for fact that he’s been off the grid for the past two years. But it hardly seems to matters when you appear out of the darkness with something like this to show for it.

“When building, I focus on two primary goals,’ says Scott. “I always try to start with something different and I try and do something that I have not seen before, which is getting much more difficult. My last builds included the big Brick, the CB450 which was a little underwhelming on power and the XS that seemed unnecessarily heavy. So I wanted to create something very different. Modern Metals let me ride the Yamaha XT500 he had just finished which really set my course… a thumper was definitely the way to go.”

Scott found this bike on the Internet and decided to take a road trip. The previous owner had turned it into a dirt tracker and other than some questionable paint work and stick-on pinstriping, it was a pretty nice. Then like clockwork, some of the Louisville Vintage Motorworks fellas started giving Scott grief about tearing apartanother sweet bike… but after a couple of rides to the local bike night, it was placed on the lift and the tear-down began.

“I was not exactly sure what to do with the bike but I knew I wanted to make it look older, taking some cues from Honda Elsinores, vintage Huskys and Greeves bikes, which I dig. Immediately, the plastic got tossed along with the tank. I also switched the 18/19 dirt track set-up back to 18/21. Then I started sketching, carving foam, bending cardboard and mocking up ideas. The first concept had been a stylized version of an old dirt bike, but it just would not work the way I envisioned. I just wasn’t prepared to sacrifice that much height and suspension travel for the design.”

After a couple of months of late nights staring at the bike, sketching ideas, and weighing up his options, Scott finally decided on a Yamaha CT175 gas tank. Over this, a 3/8” rod, or  ‘backbone,’ runs from the front to the back of the bike. The tank had to be cut out to fit the frame correctly and also notched to wrap around the oil filler cap. After deciding to do a double hoop on the frame to create the backend rise of the seat and to hold the rear ring for the tail light, Scott’s friend and local blacksmith Lewis Meyer at Falls City Ironworks helped him get the hoops shaped. Then he trimmed, sleeved and welded them into place. Next came the rear fender, which he found lying around the shop that he was able to trim to fit.

“The seat needed to have the backbone run through it, which meant it needed to be tall enough to keep the rider from having a steel rod up their ass but not too tall aesthetically. Using high density race foam for its rigidity and untold hours on sorting out all the seat unique trimming requirements, the construction was sent out for upholstery. I decided to use the Super Trapp exhaust and then fabbed up new header pipes. I also wanted to create a universal mounting system; the bike has a 38mm Mikuni and I thought a little extra juice would come in handy, so I mounted a one gallon Rotopax tank which I had seen on one of the Icon bike builds. I also made a second mount, which carries a waterproof Kriega pack bag. I had already installed a bash guard but felt like it needed a little more armor to really get the look I was going after. I had and ATV crash bar but I needed to reduce the width so I cut and welded it, then built a mount to weld to the frame.”

The paint was decided early on; graphite would cover the wheels and the motor, while a semi-gloss black frame, dark silver tins and black seat would finish things off. The exhaust wrap came and it had a bronze tint to it, which Scott liked enough to start him rethinking his color options, eventually settling on the one you see here. The last touches included having emblems and vinyl templates cut and the whole thing painted. He also added hand guards, some larger and more aggressive pegs, longer progressive rear shocks, lengthened kickstand, shaved steering lock for proper headlight depth, tapered bearings and all finally all the original bolts were replaced with their stainless steel allen bolt equivalent.

“It’s been a while since I had something to send out, but I wanted to make sure I was content with the end result, and I am. I’m never a 100% satisfied, but I’m close. Thanks to Modern Metals, I was able to finish it in time to make it to the Rockerbox Motofest in Wisconsin where it won Best in Show. It’s not necessary to win an award, but it sure is nice to know that what you are doing is also striking a chord with others. I will keep doing it as long as I can fund it. There are plenty of bad days, but a few good days can make it all worth it.”

[Photos by Nicholas Karem]

via PIPEBURN

1973 HONDA CB350 CAFE RACER

The Honda CB350 is one of the most important motorcycles that Honda ever made, everyone knows about the importance of the Honda CB750 but during the same era, slightly under the radar, the CB350 became the best selling motorcycle in the world – shifting over a 250,000 units during its 5 year production.

These high production numbers coupled with the CB350′s low-weight, bullet-proof reliability and ease of modification have led to it becoming one of the cornerstones of the modern cafe racer revival. We’ve seen a huge number of them over the past 5 years and my own love for lighter, smaller-engined motorcycles has led to me nearly punching the Buy It Now button on more than a few eBay auctions.

The well-appointed 1973 Honda CB350 cafe racer you see here was built by hand in Missouri by an award-winning experimental aircraft builder, I find this reassuring as he’s clearly used to building things that kill you if you don’t build them properly. The fact he’s still alive would tend to indicate that he knows what he’s doing.

The list of modifications is expansive and the bidding has only just started, if you’d like to read the description or place a bid you can click here.

via SILODROME

Battles between legends at the Le Mans Classic 2014

Even a downpour couldn’t temper the heat of battle. At the Le Mans Classic 2014, the greatest racing cars of the 20th Century went wheel-to-wheel and Classic Driver was there to witness the action…

When you’re overtaken on the public road by a formation of thunderous Ford GT40s – followed closely by a Lamborghini Countach and a Ferrari 512BB – you’re either hallucinating from motorway monotony, or on the way to Le Mans. Every other year, the European historic racing scene congregates in northwest France for its own version of the legendary 24-hour race. But the circus doesn’t only take place on the 8.5 mile-long circuit: more than 100,000 speed pilgrims from all points of the compass bring their faithful steeds, including Lotuses, TVRs, De Tomasos, Alpines and countless others – many of which barely make the journey. Even on the campsites, where many choose to immerse themselves fully in the unrivalled atmosphere, you’ll not only find VW Type 2 camper vans in their droves, but also the likes of a Rolls-Royce Phantom (yes, really), a thoroughly convincing Aston Martin DBR1 recreation, and just about every flavour of Porsche 911 ever made.

The magical home of racing

Le Mans is the spiritual racing home of many, including the Bentley Boys, Carroll Shelby, Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell, and of course Steve McQueen; each has written history at this semi-road circuit. Countless drivers have been immortalised here, through triumph or tragedy, and now they are back – whether in spirit or in racing overalls. Completing the spectacle this year are some 450 machines, spanning 1923 to 1979 and split into six grids. Anyone doubting the racing commitment of the drivers should spend time at a rain-misted Arnage corner at 1am, as the thunderous machines are driven at outrageous speeds and angles, with most making it through to the Porsche Curves.

Clash of the Titans

The selected racing plateaux were fantastic matchings of machines. Blower Bentleys faced Bugattis and Talbot-Lagos in the pre-War grid (each grid races three times during the 24 hours); the early Ferraris, Lotuses and Jaguars provided a stunning sequel in the one of the post-War plateaux. Thereafter, the various Ford GT40s fought to prove their might against the Cobras and the Ferrari 250 LM. Then came the unforgettable prototype era, which saw the likes of Ferrari 312 Ps, Chevron B16s, Matra MS 660s, Alpine A 220s and Lola T70s. But, for many, the highlight was seeing a Porsche 917 back at Le Mans. In the paddock, with the engine cowl removed and all 12 cylinders exposed, it was a sight to behold. Watching a 917 scream down the Mulsanne Straight at ridiculous-miles-per-hour must have seen the bucket lists of thousands become one item shorter.

Flaming blips and glowing discs

The weekend’s events will surely haunt the dreams of drivers and spectators for months to come. Whether it’s the frantic driver changes, the continuous symphony emanating from the paddocks, or the mixed scent of petrol, oil and brake pads – this is why people travel thousands of miles to Le Mans every two years. Yes, the rain might have travelled too, but for true enthusiasts this only added an exciting extra ingredient. As darkness falls, an apex-clipping line becomes a chuck-and-hope slide; priceless machines pirouette into the gravel and graze the Armco. Downchanges throw flames, brake discs glow, and the silence otherwise present in the early hours is chased away by the collective war cries of Porsche 935s, Ferrari 512BB LMs and BMW M1s. Later, a greasy corner sees an Aston Martin DB4 GT spin as it nibbles the heels of a little Lotus on the final straight, leaving a finned D-type to wiggle through in its place.

Spirit levels on the Dunlop arch

Ultimately, it’s not so much the winning that matters, but the spirit that this competition engenders; the spirit that puts the Le Mans Classic firmly at the forefront of the historic racing calendar. It’s palpably shown by the sporting approach of the drivers, the stresses placed on man and machine, and the typical French staging. The latter sees rosé bottles everywhere, streams of steak-frites making their way to tables, and racing cars being escorted back to their respective bases at alarming speed by whistle-blowing gendarmes in period clothing, with BMW motorbikes to match. It’s over all too soon. But as the sun sets behind the Dunlop arch and the circus disappears for another two years, you close your eyes in order to seal in the weekend’s sights. Until the next meeting in 2016, it will be these memories that occupy the vacant moments.

Text: Jan Baedeker, Joe Breeze & Alex Easthope

Photos: Rémi Dargegen for Classic Driver

Wingate Paine makes our hearts beat faster

Wingate Paine surprised the 1960s art world with his sizzling nudes, creating memorable images that symbolised the sexual revolution. Now, 200 vintage prints from the photographer’s archives are being offered at auction…

The biography of Wingate Paine reads like the script of a Hollywood film

The biography of Wingate Paine reads like the script of a Hollywood film: born in 1915 to a Mayflower family of New England, he left the world of lawyers, bankers and ministers behind him to become a Marine captain, a connoisseur of French wines, an ardent supporter of Hatha yoga – and eventually one of the hottest photographers of 1960s New York. He earned staggering sums of money working for the real-life ‘Mad Men’ advertising scene in Manhattan, with a portfolio that included the legendary VW Beetle adverts.

Mirror of Venus

But in the mid-1960s, he turned away from commercial photography and focused instead on his great work, the photographic book titled ‘Mirror of Venus’. Seen today, the erotic images appear fairly innocuous, but many in America viewed the 1960s freedom movement as a scandal. The models were hired by Paine’s wife Natalie, who headed up one of the leading model agencies, and they were – despite their nakedness – neither chaste nor submissive, but playful, modern and strong. The book was printed in several languages ​​and celebrated as an icon of the sexual revolution.

On 15 July 2014, the auction house Wright is offering almost 200 framed vintage prints from the archive of the late photographer (he died in 1987). Estimates range from 1,000 to 3,000 U.S. dollars.

For more information about the Wright auction, ‘The Photographic Archive of Wingate Paine’, see wright20.com.

10 classic boats in which to sail away into the sunset

Who doesn't dream of it: leaving everyday life behind, and sailing away into the sunset once and for all? You could make the dream become reality with these 10 classic sailing yachts from the Classic Driver Market...

Market | Yachts

J.M. Soper & Sons Bermudian Cutter

EUR 950 000

Market | Yachts

Judel/Vrolijk & Co 52 Performance-Cruiser - "TAJO" Hubkiel

EUR 570 000

Market | Yachts

Albert Andersson Square Metre 95

EUR 178 000

Market | Yachts

Baltic 83

EUR 1 600 000

Market | Yachts

Yachtwerft Martin Tioga - 18 m Ketch "Tioga of Hamburg"

EUR 1 950 000

Market | Yachts

Morris Yachts - M36

EUR 229 000

Market | Yachts

Yacht Dynamics - Sparkman & Stephens Ocean Race Yawl

EUR 750 000

Market | Yachts

Baltic 66

EUR 2 500 000

Market | Yachts

Fitzroy jv 84

EUR 1 750 000

Market | Yachts

Hakes Marine HH42

EUR 366 090