World Superbikes 2013: Only 16 riders?

With Twowheelsblog

With just a little more than two months before the start of the 2013 World Superbike championship with the season opener at Phillip Island, the series seems to heading down the same road that MotoGP had before Dorna introduced the CRT’s - a dwindling grid - with just ten teams, sixteen riders and five manufacturers present so far.

Aprilia will be playing the lion’s part with four bikes on the grid, BMW three, while Ducati has dropped from its massive seven strong in 2012 to just three riders to use the new 1199 Panigale in the upcoming season. Kawasaki will have two or four depending on Pedercini, while Suzuki and Honda will each have two bikes.

2013 entry list so far:

Aprilia Racing Team : Eugene Laverty and Sylvain Guintoli
Althea Racing Aprilia Team : Davide Giugliano
Red Devils Aprilia Team : Michel Fabrizio
Kawasaki Racing Team : Tom Sykes and Loris Baz
Pata Honda Racing : Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam
Crescent Fixi Suzuki : Jules Cluzel and Leon Camier
Alstare Ducati : Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini
BMW Motorrad Motorsport Goldbet : Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies
Grillini Progea SBK Team BMW : Vittorio Iannuzzo
MR Ducati Team : Max Neukirchner

Kawasaki Pedercini has yet to confirm their riders, which could be Alex Lundh and Simone Grotzkyj Giorgi and there could be a new entry with Team Air Asia BMW that may field CIV Superbike rider Ivan Clementi. So far the earlier rumors that Effenbert Liberty could be making a return haven’t panned out, yet.

Aprilia has offered other RSV4’s to Red Devils Roma and Althea teams, and apparently the relative team managers are working on finding the necessary budget to see if they can field each field another rider.

Source | moto.it

1966 Shelby Mustang Trans Am

Authentic Shelby Mustangs have always been and will always be gold. Competition cars with a genuine race history are even more special. This car is just such a Mustang. In 1966, Shelby American constructed sixteen Mustangs to compete in the Sports Car Club of America’s Group II series. This was better known as the Trans-American Sedan Championship, or Trans-Am. Trans-Am actually consisted of two series, one for professional drivers and one for amateurs, and of course proved to be wildly popular. The Group II Shelbys were mechanically very similar to the B-Production GT350R and featured the Shelby-built 289, close ratio Borg-Warner four-speed, Koni shocks, and enlarged fuel tank.

This car was the twelfth of those sixteen Shelby Mustangs built for Group II, and was able to rack up valuable championship points in Ford’s drive to finish on top in the 1966 Trans-Am series. In that year the car won at Green Valley, Texas and at Continental Divide, in addition to being featured on the cover of Sports Car Graphic‘s December issue. It enjoyed a fruitful competition career, including an A/Sedan lap record at Lake Afton in 1968, until 1969. After it, like all competitive race cars, passed into obsolescence, the Shelby sat in a Texas garage for almost thirty years before being restored to its 1966 specifications, making it one of only nine known examples left.

Today, it wears the white and blue proudly, and features the signatures of Shelby himself and original owner/driver John McComb. Find the 1966 Shelby Group II Mustang here at the Mecum Kissimmee auction taking place between January 18th and 27th, 2013.

ED HAAZER KAWASAKI Z1

from 

The American Federation of Motorcyclists is the USA’s oldest motorcycle road racing organization. One of the fastest riders in its race series is Edwin Haazer, who’s famous for wrestling this 1975 Kawasaki Z1 to improbable speeds.

“Mad Ed” has dyno’d his 1975 Z1 at an incredible 118 rear wheel horsepower, a remarkable figure reached with the help of an engine bored out to 1045cc. It’s fed by Mikuni 36mm flatslide carbs and exhales through a trick Bassani exhaust system. Other mods include a Nico Bakker swingarm, WP suspension and Marchesini 17″ magnesium rims.

Haazer and the Z1 were a big hit at last year’s Island Classic in Australia. But a bad crash earlier this year at Thunderhill in Northern California ruined plans for a repeat performance. Haazer broke his leg in several places and although he’ll be heading back to the Island with the Z1 next month, he won’t be riding it himself.

Photographer Jules Cisek managed to shoot the Z1 for us just before it was crated and despatched to Philip Island. Here’s wishing Ed a speedy recovery—and if you’re lucky enough to make it to the Island Classic, keep an eye out for this mean green machine, scheduled to be piloted by Jimi Mac.

from BIKEexif

Land Rover Freelander: Wild in Canada

Europe might have seen a few flakes of snow in recent weeks, but a real winter is different. Classic Driver took the wheel of the new Land Rover Freelander, to discover the great white beauty that is Canada. 

The snow crunches under our shoes and our breath is visible in puffy clouds. Snow and ice will be the theme for the next two days, as our sturdy Freelander leaves the metropolis of Montreal and heads for the Quintessence hotel, picturesquely situated on the edge of Lake Tremblant in the mountains of Quebec.The powerful 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel engine propelling our 2013 all-wheel expert delivers 190HP through the six-speed automatic tranamission with such effortlessness that we are scarcely aware we are moving. Best of all, however – even better than the luxury of heated seats, heated windscreen and a heated steering wheel – is the fact that we can be confident we will not break down or get stuck in snow: a genuine fear in the 3,855,103 square miles of Canadian winter. Instead, we survived, to bring you the picture gallery below. Wrap up, sit by a crackling log fire with a glass of something warming, and indulge in these scenes of cool, white beauty.

Related Links For more information about the new Land Rover Freelander: www.landrover.com. The Hotel Quintessence: www.hotelquintessence.com. Mont Tremblant ski resort: www.tourismemonttremblant.com. The Mont Tremblant Circuit: www.lecircuit.com.

Text: Classic Driver
Photos: Nick Dimbleby / Sven Jürisch