Kajetanowicz stretches ERC lead to 23 points

Kajetan ‘Kajto’ Kajetanowicz has extended his FIA European Rally Championship lead to 23 points, after finishing third on the Barum Czech Rally Zlin.

It was only the four-time Polish rally champion’s second attempt at the classic Czech event, but he and co-driver Jarek Baran were incredibly fast and consistent in their LOTOS Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5 – taking one stage victory, seven runner-up spots and four third places.

Kajto defeated not only all ERC frontrunners, but also many Czech drivers – and some of them have more than dozen outings in the rally under their belts. Only two Czech rally champions and multiple winners of the event beat him to the finish line!

Kajto scored 26 ERC points in Zlin – 15 for the third position in the overall classification, and five and six for the results achieved on day one and two respectively. It means that with three rounds to go, Kajto leads the ERC drivers’ standings with a 23-point advantage over second-placed Craig Breen. Kajto also scored 69 points towards ERC Asphalt Masters classification, reducing Breen’s advantage to 29 points.

This Polish crew have been impressive all seasons, irrespective of surface and conditions, scoring 28 stage wins and 81 top three places on the 95 special stages run so far.

“There is no other rally outside Poland with so many Polish fans, there were thousands of them,” said Kajto. “It was an extremely important event for us, not only from this point of view. Some fans are probably used to our achievements but I want to assure you that we work very hard for every single success. The heart of every LOTOS Rally Team member is filled with passion so for us it is easier to sacrifice a lot in order to achieve more. Only we know how much effort and work each European Championship point costs us but I am very glad that we can share the joy of scoring them with others. This time we moved closer to our ultimate goal although the road can still prove to be very rough.”

FIA WEC Philippe Sinault (Signatech-Alpine) : “Toutes les pistes restent à l’étude pour le futur”

par Laurent Mercier

Après deux couronnes européennes décrochées coup sur coup, Signatech-Alpine est sur la scène mondiale cette saison avec une Alpine A450b en Championnat du Monde d’Endurance de la FIA pour Nelson Panciatici, Paul-Loup Chatin et Vincent Capillaire. La première partie de saison n’a pas permis de montrer le plein potentiel de l’A450b face à la forte concurrence des LM P2 fermées, avec deux abandons en quatre courses, dont celui du Mans.

“Nous avons totalement reconstruit l’auto à l’issue des 24 Heures du Mans”nous a indiqué Philippe Sinault, team principal de Signatech-Alpine. “Elle a beaucoup souffert de la sortie de piste. La première partie n’a pas été à la hauteur de nos espérances et on espère bien se refaire sur les manches restantes.” La #36 a terminé dans le quinté de tête des 6 Heures du Nürburgring en faisant une course sage.

“On connaît tous les tracés exception faite d’Austin et nous avons la capacité à faire des podiums” a déclaré Philippe Sinault. “L’écart avec les nouvelles LM P2 n’est pas si important mais on savait avant le début de saison qu’il y aurait un écart. L’avantage est que l’on connaît l’Alpine A450b par coeur.”

Chez Signatech-Alpine, on prépare justement l’avenir avec l’arrivée d’une nouvelle LM P2 : “On fait tout pour poursuivre l’aventure en FIA WEC la saison prochaine. Nous allons garder jusqu’à la fin du championnat l’Alpine A450b. Il faut que l’histoire continue et qu’une Alpine roule. Nous allons voir ce que le règlement va nous autoriser.” L’actuelle Alpine A450b est basée sur une ORECA 03R et Alpine ne fait pas partie des constructeurs retenus pour le LM P2 2017. Il faudrait donc partir d’un châssis existant, effectuer quelques modifications esthétiques et que l’auto porte le nom d’Alpine. P2. Se diriger vers un châssis ORECA 05 serait dans la logique des choses mais aucune confirmation n’a été faite.

Philippe Sinault nous a confié que toutes les pistes étaient à l’étude : “On a tout regardé et on regarde toujours ce qui peut être fait, même le LM P1 non hybride. Si c’est le seul moyen d’avoir une Alpine, alors on étudiera le sujet. Depuis trois ans, on voit la vie en bleu et on veut que ça continue. C’est mon envie et l’ambition de l’équipe.” En attendant la nouvelle réglementation LM P2, rien n’empêche de voir Signatech-Alpine avec un coupé durant les deux prochaines années.

Quant à la future Alpine de route, la marque dieppoise aimerait bien entendu en décliner un modèle pour la compétition, même si rien n’est arrêté à ce jour.

Motos in Moab

Motos in Moab from Max Daines on Vimeo.

Collectors take home $128m-worth of cars from Gooding auction

Gooding’s $128m Pebble Beach auction included no fewer than three eight-figure results – giving an average sale price of more than $1m per lot overall – but it was the one-of-two Fiat 600 Eden Roc that proved to be the real surprise of the night, selling for a premium-inclusive $660,000…

Gooding gets it Eden Roc off for $660k

Bidding for the wacky Pinin Farina-bodied beach shuttle was perhaps spurred on by the pretty girls that came along for the ride across the block – a tactic Gooding might like to have employed for the Cal’ Spider which, at $15.3m hammer, came in slightly below the $16-18m estimate. That said, with variants of the topless Ferrari a relatively regular sight at auction this year, the premium-inclusive figure of $16.83m will still be considered a victory; one that can be added to the sales of the $16.5m Bertone-bodied ‘Sharknose’ 250 SWB and $10.1m Porsche 956 in David Gooding’s figurative trophy cabinet. The Le Mans-winning Porsche was perhaps helped by the recent announcement from Peter Auto that Group C racing will be strongly featured in its 2016 event programme – so the new owner will be able to demonstrate his acquisition in anger at its old stomping ground in the 2016 Le Mans Classic.

Porsches in need of a piggyback

The green ’73 2.7 RS Lightweight and RSR models garnered $935k apiece (another Lightweight sold for $962.5k), while the ’75 3.0 RSR brought $1.3m – the latter well beyond estimate, although it did include a matching transporter. However, not all the competition Porsches did well: the ex-Works 906 was a non-seller, and the Porsche 906E made a modest $1.65m, which is an absolute steal if you consider that you’d have to pay more for a 918 Spyder on the current market.

Welcome trends

On the topic of contemporary supercars, the McLaren P1 sold for $1.93m (RM’s P1 sold for $50,000 more the night before, although that example included a number of MSO options) – a tidy profit for the previous owner in any case. Another ‘trending’ model, the Ferrari 512 M, made a lofty $599,500.

Speedster surprise

The R-Type Continental ordered new by Ian Fleming was unsold at $1.15m, the celebrity link a little too tentative in comparison to the example owned by Aristotle Onassis that RM sold for $1.21m on Friday. The ‘barn-find condition’ cachet drew fevered bidding on the Porsche 356 Speedster, however, with the price settling at just over half a million dollars against a $325-375k estimate. Another dizzying result saw a Ferrari 250 GTE make almost $800,000.

Please note, all results are inclusive of buyer’s premium, and do not account for all post-auction sales.

Photos: Rémi Dargegen for Classic Driver © 2015

All the news from this year's Monterey and Pebble Beach events can be found in our comprehensive overview.