WRC : Acropolis triumph for ‘Grandad’ Latvala: Triomphe grec pour l’expérimenté Latvala

Volkswagen/Michelin’s Jari-Matti claimed the eighth world class win of his career today in Greece. The sure-footed Finn led from SS4 to beat Spaniard Dani Sordo (Citroën/Michelin) by the handsome margin of 1m50.0s. Neuville’s patience was rewarded with third place for Ford/Michelin, while the three Power Stage bonus points went to the championship leader Sébastien Ogier (VW/Michelin).

Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen/Michelin) a remporté sa huitième victoire mondiale aujourd’hui en Grèce. Le Finlandais a pris la tête du rallye à l’issue de l’ES4 pour s’imposer devant l’Espagnol Dani Sordo (Citroën/Michelin) avec 1min50s d’avance ! Thierry Neuville a été récompensé de sa sagesse par la troisième place finale (Ford/Michelin), alors que le leader du championnat Sébastien Ogier a empoché les trois points de la Power Stage.

Jari-Matti Latvala, 28, may not have been the oldest WRC driver in Greece this weekend, since Al Attiyah, Hirvonen, Sordo and Ogier were all born before the Finn. Even so, along with Hirvonen, the Polo R WRC driver has the highest number of Acropolis Rally appearances under his belt, 10, plus 123 WRC starts. And that experience was clearly one of the ingredients that helped him to forge his success today in Loutraki, near Corinth.

While many of his rivals suffered mechanical setbacks or crashes early on, he produced the necessary blend of speed and mechanical sympathy to emerge in first place on Saturday morning’s SS4 before putting space between his VW and the Citroën of chaser Dani Sordo. The Spaniard did not have the resources to respond and Latvala was able to cruise to his first victory with the German make (and his first since last September’s RallyGB) with zero pressure on his shoulders.

“This victory feels amazing after my tough start to the season,” he beamed as he punched air on the last stage’s finish line. “In 2003, Greece was the second WRC event of my career, so it’s great to have won it at last after 10 years!”

In contrast to Latvala and Sordo, Thierry Neuville (Ford, +2m14.1s), 24, was one of the youngest drivers on the event and, like VW’s Andreas Mikkelsen, had only competed here once before, in 2012. Even so, the Belgian was one of only four drivers to stay clear of trouble and his maturity was rewarded with his second podium of the season (after Mexico). It was a polished performance which will force many of those who believed him to be too hot-headed to reconsider…

Mikkelsen, 23, recovered from repeated braking issues on his Polo to clinch a career-best fourth overall (+3m55.1s), helped by a score of three fastest stage times, all on Sunday. Meanwhile, Dakar expert Nasser Al Attiyah took care of his Fiesta WRC to claim a safe fifth place.

All the other expected front-runners were delayed by a variety of misfortunes and were simply happy to put this year’s Acropolis Rally behind them and start focusing on Rally Italia (June 20-22).

Ostberg, Hirvonen, Prokop and Novikov rounded off the top nine, while Ogier was a lowly 10^thoverall after three days that must have reminded him of his 2012 campaign in the Skoda, especially since his championship lead was under no threat this weekend. After the electrical problem that put him out of contention on Friday’s SS1, he was at least able to look forward to the chance of salvaging some bonus points on the Power Stage. Despite the handicap of running first on the road, he was effectively fastest over the 31.4km test, ahead of the hapless Evgeny Novikov and Mikkelsen.

-Matti Latvala (28 ans) n’était peut-être pas le plus âgé en course ce week-end ;  Al-Attiyah, Hirvonen, Sordo et Ogier sont nés avant lui. Mais il fait désormais partie des plus expérimentés avec 123 départs en WRC, dont 10 en Grèce. Et cette expérience fut un réel atout pour s’imposer aujourd’hui à Loutraki.

Alors que beaucoup de ses rivaux ont souffert d’ennuis mécaniques ou commis quelques fautes de pilotage, Jari-Matti a su trouver le bon compromis entre vitesse et sagesse pour prendre la tête samedi matin (ES4). Le Finlandais a ensuite creusé l’écart sur Dani Sordo pour filer vers son premier succès avec l’équipe Volkswagen.

 « C’est une victoire incroyable après mon début de saison difficile », a-t-il hurlé en levant les bras au ciel à l’arrivée de la dernière spéciale. En 2003, la Grèce était le deuxième rallye WRC de ma carrière, alors c’est génial de remporter ce rallye dix ans plus tard. »

A l’opposé de Latvala et Sordo, Thierry Neuville (24 ans) est l’un des plus jeunes du plateau WRC et, comme Andreas Mikkelsen, il n’avait disputé cette épreuve qu’une seule fois, en 2012. Malgré tout, le Belge fut l’un des quatre seuls pilotes épargnés par les déboires et sa maturité fut récompensée par un second podium de la saison après le Mexique.

Mikkelsen (23 ans) a été retardé par des ennuis de freins à répétition sur sa Polo R WRC, mais il est remonté à la 4^e place finale – son meilleur résultat en WRC – grâce à trois temps scratch consécutifs dimanche matin (ses premiers en WRC). De son côté, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Ford/Michelin) était satisfait de sa 5^e place.

De nombreux vainqueurs potentiels ont vécu un Rallye de l’Acropole difficile, comme Mikko Hirvonen (direction ES1), Mads Ostberg (jante cassée ES1), Evgeny Novikov (touchette ES4) ou encore Sébastien Ogier (connexion électrique ES1). Tous sont remontés dans le top-ten final, alors qu’Ogier (10^e) a remporté la Power Stage et les trois points de bonus devant Novikov, premier leader du rallye et meilleur performer du rallye (ex aequo avec Latvala) avec quatre temps scratch sur sa Ford Fiesta RS WRC/Michelin.

Prochaine épreuve dans trois semaines en Sardaigne (21-23 juin) avant un break estival et le Rallye de Finlande début août.

Six Appeal – The Newport Pagnell Aston Martins of the 1960s

At the 1958 London Motor Show, an all-new Aston Martin took a bow. The latest 'DB' carried sublime coachwork, designed by Touring but handcrafted at the old Tickford works in Newport Pagnell. Still quintessentially British, the 140mph six-cylinder DB4 was a true Gran Turismo for the world's elite. The car and its successors – the DB5, two series of DB6s and the DBS – were to dominate the company's catalogue in the 1960s. 

The successor to the DB2 started as a working prototype in 1954. Polish engineer Tadek Marek was responsible for Aston's first big-capacity road car engine, an all-aluminium 3.7-litre six.Italian coachbuilder Touring was chosen to provide not only the new car's styling, but also the necessary tooling and bucks for the DB4 (with its trademarksuperleggera construction of light steel tubes supporting aluminium panels) to be made in Newport Pagnell.


The DB4 was an instant hit. As fast and stylish as any Ferrari or Maserati, it soon became a favourite of the wealthy sporting motorist – and this was despite early setbacks of multiple engine failures, eventually solved by nearly doubling the oil capacity and adding an oil cooler.In tandem with the almost four-seater DB4, the company also produced the shorter chassis DB4GT, triple-Weber-equipped, with a twin-plug head. This formed not only the basis for a last hurrah at Le Mans with the Project Cars, it was also the chassis on which Zagato built 19, now highly sought-after lightweight coupés.In its final, Series V form, the DB4 was a DB5 in all but name. The new car, launched in 1964, was available with a 4.0-litre engine and generally equipped with a five-speed ZF gearbox.

The 1966 DB6, particularly the Mk 2, was probably the finest version of the DB4/5/6 series. An increase of 3¾" in wheelbase and 1½" in roofline gave the latest Aston more interior space. And a Kamm tail helped the new car's aerodynamics. Despite an apparent increase in girth, and no longer usingsuperleggera construction, the DB6 weighed in at only 20lb or so more than the DB5. As many were to 'Vantage' tune, it was just as fast as any of its predecessors.From 1961, with the introduction of the DB4 Convertible, to November 1970 when the last Mk 2 Volante was made, the ultimate in stylish open-air motoring carried the winged Aston Martin badge. Buyers included Her Majesty The Queen, who bought Prince Charles a DB6 Mk 2 Volante for his 21st birthday.Pending the imminent introduction of Marek's new V8, the straight-six was to see further service as a stop-gap installation in the William Towns-designed DBS.
In the late 60s/early 70s, the future of the company clearly lay with a high-performance V8.

Related Links You can find Aston Martins from pre-War days right up to the new Vanquish in the Classic Driver Marketplace

Text: Steve Wakefield (Classic Driver)
Photos: Aston Martin and Aston Martin Heritage Trust, with thanks to Tim Cottingham of www.astonmartins.com

PGO Cevennes Water Snake concept gets detailed

Features a BMW-sourced 1.6-liter engine

PGO has released some new details about their Cevennes Water Snake concept that originally debuted at the Shanghai Motor Show.

Dressed in blue carbon, the concept closely resembles the standard Cevennes but is distinguished by new headlights, LED daytime running lights and 18-inch aluminum wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires.

The interior is nicely equipped with leather upholstery, carbon fiber trim and a flat-bottomed steering wheel. We can also see metallic accents and a Pioneer infotainment system.

Power is provided by a BMW-sourced 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that develops 184 HP (135 kW) and 240 Nm (177 lb-ft) of torque. It is connected to a six-speed manual transmission that should enable the concept to hit a top speed of 225 km/h (140 mph).

Source: PGO and Motor Authority

via Worldcarfans

BMW C 600 Sport RR by Panda Moto

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

We don’t talk a lot about scooters here, so you know that when we do it has to be something special. French company Panda Moto - a BMW dealership from Burgundy - presents its own rendition of the BMW C 600 Sport maxi scooter, offered in a new ‘racing’ guise curated by Panda Moto’s main man Benjamin Dupont. The basic idea was to give the BMW C 600 Sport some specific connotation inspired by the S1000RR Superbike - from which it got the ‘RR tag’ as well as the classic ‘racing’ colors of the German brand - but things went a little out of hand in the process as the number of fine components used for the model ultimately precluded any possibility of make it road legal. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though.

Special graphics aside, the changes that immediately catch the eye of this BMW C 600 Sport RR are the new silencer specifically designed for Panda Moto by Akrapovic, a pair of 6-piston front calipers by Beringer, recalibrated fork by Panda Moto, a cool Ohlins S46 schock at the back, the new deflectors, Michelin Power Pure tires and a new saddle made ​​by specialist Yves Moillo. Benjamin Dupont however did not stop here, and went on to ‘touch’ the mechanics as well: the cylinder head was in fact modified, the speed controller replaced replaced and the final drive chain shortened.

In these images published by Scooter-System.fr you can see that the model is already on display at Panda Moto’s atelier, but the work on the BMW C 600 Sport RR is not finished yet: it will soon receive ‘Streetbike-like’ handlebars by Rizoma, a high performance air filter and a brand new air-box. Hopefully, once the work is done, Panda Moto will also release some performance figure.