Dakar, Leg 6: Duclos takes today’s top prize / étape 6 : Duclos s’impose

Alain Duclos collected the fastest time of the day – the second of his career on the Dakar – en route from Tucuman to Salta. The Sherco-Michelin rider finished clear of Marc Coma (HTM-Michelin) and Mickael Metge (Yamaha Factory Racing-Michelin).

Alain Duclos a signé le meilleur temps de la sixième spéciale entre Tucuman et Salta. Deuxième victoire d’étape sur le Dakar pour le pilote Sherco-Michelin qui devance à l’arrivée le leader Marc Coma (HTM-Michelin) et Mickael Metge (Yamaha Factory Racing-Michelin).

Alain Duclos imitated the performance of his team-mate Juan Pedrero on Wednesday to put his 450 SR Sherco on the top step of today’s podium in Salta. The win continues the Frenchman’s strong start to the rally (three top-five times) and provides him with his second fastest time on the Dakar after his victory in Mali eight years ago.

Duclos started this morning in ninth position on the road and was second fastest to Check Point 1, just 32 seconds behind Coma who was the first rider to start the stage. The Frenchman then produced a faultless run over the remainder of the 400km test which was divided into two parts by a 62km liaison section to beat Thursday’s winner Coma by 1m15s. Cyril Despres’ support rider Mickael Metge was third (+1m49s).

Joan Barreda (+2m22s, Honda-Michelin) finished just shy of the podium to make it four different bike makers in the top four places. The top five was rounded off by Cyril Despres (+2m55s) who took a one-hour penalty yesterday for missing a Way Point.

It wasn’t a great day for Chaleco Lopez (KTM-Michelin) who retired from overnight third after a fall. The Chilean rider had dreamed of winning next week on home soil in Valparaiso, but his bike was too badly damaged in the accident for him to be able to continue.

The combination of his performance and the disappearance of Lopez has promoted Duclos to third overall, while Coma has extended his advantage over second-placed Barreda (+42m17s). Three different makes (KTM, Honda and Sherco) figure in tonight’s top-three, while Jordi Viladoms (KTM-Michelin) and Jeremias Israel (Speedbrain-Michelin) are now in the top five. Despres (+2h24m41s) is 11^th.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is a rest day for the Dakar caravan after a first week that has seen half the starters join the retirements list. The survivors will be glad of the opportunity to take a break ahead of the event’s second half that will hopefully take them all the way to Valparaiso.

The Dakar has suffered a tragic loss, however, in the person of Eric Palante whose dead body was discovered at Km143 of Thursday’s stage. An inquest has been ordered to determine the cause of his death. MotoRacingLive extends its condolences to the Belgian’s family and friends.

Après son coéquipier Juan Pedrero mercredi, c’est au tour d’Alain Duclos de hisser la 450 SR Sherco sur la haute marche du podium à l’arrivée de la sixième étape à Salta. Le pilote français est récompensé de son excellent début de rallye (trois places dans le Top 5) et remporte sa seconde victoire huit ans après celle de Bamako.

Parti neuvième, Duclos pointait à la deuxième position au premier Check Point (CP) à seulement 32 secondes de l’ouvreur Coma. Le Français a commis un sans-faute pour avaler les 400 km de spéciale, séparés par une neutralisation de 62 km, en 5h51min34s. Vainqueur la veille, Marc Coma termine deuxième à 1min15 alors que le porteur d’eau de Cyril Despres, Mickael Metge, se classe troisième à 1min49.

Joan Barreda (Honda-Michelin) finit au pied du podium à 2min22. Une nouvelle fois, quatre constructeurs différents trustent les quatre premières places. Cyril Despres, pénalisé d’une heure hier pour avoir raté un Way Point (WP), complète le Top5 à 2min55.

Pas de chance pour Chaleco Lopez (KTM-Michelin), troisième au classement général ce matin,  qui est contraint d’abandonner sur chute. Le chilien qui rêvait de l’emporter chez lui à Valparaiso quitte prématurément le Dakar, sa moto ayant trop souffert dans la chute.

Victoire d’étape cumulée au retrait de Lopez, Alain Duclos hérite de la troisième place du classement provisoire. Marc Coma accentue son avance au général (+42min17s) sur Barreda. Trois marques différentes (KTM-Honda-Sherco) sont représentées sur le podium provisoire. Jordi Viladoms (KTM-Michelin) et Jeremias Israel (Speedbrain-Michelin) se hissent dans le Top 5 général.  Relégué à 2h24min41s de Coma, Despres occupe la 11^ème place du général.

Demain,  c’est repos pour les concurrents du Dakar. Après une première semaine difficile où la moitié des partants a abandonné, les rescapés devront trouver les ressources nécessaires pour pourvoir admirer les paysages colorés de Valparaiso.

Triste nouvelle, le Dakar a été une nouvelle fois endeuillé cette année avec le décès du pilote Belge, Éric Palante, retrouvé sans vie ce matin  au 143^ème  km de la cinquième étape entre Chilecito et Tucuman. Une enquête a été ouverte pour découvrir les circonstances de la mort. MotoRacingLive présente ses condoléances à sa famille et ses proches.

Classement étape 6 :

1.Duclos (Sherco-Michelin) – 2. Coma (KTM-Michelin) +1min15 – 3. Metge (Yamaha-Michelin) +1min49 – 4. Barreda (Honda-Michelin) +2min22 – 5. Despres (Yamaha-Michelin) +2min55,…

Classement général :

1.Coma (KTM-Michelin) – 2. Barreda (Honda –Michelin) +42min17s – 3. Duclos (Sherco-Michelin) +1h00min58s – 4. Viladoms (KTM-Michelin) +1h08min09s – 5. Israel (Speedbrain –Michelin) +1h33min28s,…

Allegedly official 2015 Subaru WRX STI images hit the web

To be shown at NAIAS

The first allegedly official images of the 2015 Subaru WRX STI have been published online, ahead of a confirmed NAIAS debut later this month.

Subaru introduced the 2015 WRX back in November at the Los Angeles Auto Show and now we catch a first glimpse at the hotter STI variant which adopts a more aggressive body kit painted in Subaru's traditional World Rally Blue matched with golden alloy wheels. Apparently this finish will be reserved initially for a first edition which is likely to come with other enhancements.

While the aforementioned WRX makes use of a 4-cylinder, 2.0-liter boxer rated at 268 bhp (200 kW) and 258 lb-ft (349 Nm), the STI is rumored to get a larger 2.5-liter turbocharged four-banger with 300 bhp (224 kW) and 290 lb-ft (393 Nm).

Already teased, Subaru will unveil its “iconic performance flagship model” later this January in Detroit.

Source: autos.terra.mx via es.autoblog.com and autoforum.cz

RED MAX’S 900SS

You may have noticed that we’re big fans of Ducati cafe racers, so when we came across this 900ss from our friends,Redmax Speedshop down in the South of England, we had to get her up on the bike shed asap for your viewing pleasure.

This donor bike is late 80s Ducati, which is perhaps not the Bologna factory’s finest era in many respects, as they were churning out parts-bin specials, but the 900ss has turned out to be a great donor for some of the nicest customs around. Not only do they look great, but they also handle, are very light, and with a few simple tweaks they are reliable and fast.

Paul rode the bike in standard trim for a summer before realising it was destined for better things. He’d seen a couple of cafe’d 900ss customs on the net, which both had different elements he liked, so he knew what he wanted. All he needed to do was find the person to interpret his wishes and he was fortunate to come across Steve Hillary at Redmax Speedshop. Knowing the whole build was going be to managed via correspondence Paul was initially worried whether the guys would be able to understand what he wanted, but his trust in Steve and his crew clearly paid off.

His brief was to “cafe the 900SS, with 2 into 1 under seat exhaust, sort of rat looking, with less polishing more riding, bikini fairing and old school”, and as the build progressed it quickly exceeded his expectations.

“Photo mockups were produced with me giving Steve the shits with literally hundreds of emails “umming and ahhing” trying to decide the exact route to go, looking at the tank, fairing and seat options available and that big decision, what colour and which graphics…”

“First off was a fairing. Steve had the plan to use a Norton fairing with a removable headlight cover to maintain the racer look, but the fairing was massive and I was dubious. Steve took my comments onboard and it was shaved down to within an inch of its function and the tight look I wanted was there. Different seat options were looked at that would work with my under seat exhaust along with various upgrades proposed, my confidence in Steve’s work grew to the point I just replied to his further suggestions with “sure, do it”!”

“The tank was an issue and I really had my heart set on an aftermarket 70′s SS style tank, but that wasn’t going to happen unless I pulled the expense pin on something completely customised. So the next best plan was to cut the side scallops out of the original tank and make her look right. I think this part of the bike is what I really like the most, it changed that bulbous original into a sleek one off custom that’s a credit to Steve and his team…”

“I made a decision to not worry about doing any major mechanical upgrades apart from the 41mm FCR’s, as the bike is plenty fast enough for what I need. I almost lost the original Verlicchi aluminium swing arm due to a sprocket bolt coming loose, but Steve saved it. Rebuilt the Marzocchi’s on the front, tidied up the brake lines with some Goodrich braided hoses, beautiful new Hagon rear shock that proved a troublesome fit, 916 fluid pots and levers, custom mounted old school looking headlight, a beautiful pair of rear sets to match the cut and coated hangers, coated everything else, and throughout Steve utilised all the existing parts he could and fabricating where he couldn’t…..”

“In the beginning I really thought I knew exactly what colours to paint the frame, tank, seat, stripes, decals, the whole enchilada. This proved to be the most difficult part of the bike for me… When you rely on photo’s of a build to help you make decisions you are pretty much shooting blind when it comes to dimensions and profiles, as we all know bikes can take on so many different looks from all the different angles and perspectives, so that’s when I really had to put my trust in Steve, fuck me, what a killer creation he ended up making.”

The bike has now been safely delivered to it’s new owner in Germany. So, is Paul happy with the end result? “Hell yeah!” was the reply, so, top work as usual by Steve Hillary and the Redmax Speedshop crew. You can see more of Red Max Speed Shop’s work on their website and Flickr pages, or here on The Bike Shed.

DEUS EX MACHINA: SIBLING RIVALRY

Two new Deus Ex Machina motorcycles have just rolled out of the Venice, California workshop. Affectionately called Sibling Rivalry, these custom Hondas are high-performance variations on the same theme: turning a street-legal enduro bike into a badass ‘super single.’

‘Boodaak’ (above and below) and ‘Dakdaak’ are hand-built, motocross-engined café racers tuned for the track and fully competition-capable.

Both motors were custom tuned by Jim Wood at Southland Racing Products. Boodaak is powered by a HRC Johnny Campbell spec Honda XR650R motor with oversized valves and a Carrillo rod, while Dakdaak (below) runs a Honda CRF450X Stage Two motor with two-millimeter oversize stainless steel valves for longevity.

Hand-made chromoly frames and custom chromoly swingarms keep things moving in the right direction, with serious stopping power coming from Beringer six piston brakes up front and Brembos in the rear. The aluminum gas tanks are hand-fabricated, there’s a sprinkling of classy Rizoma parts throughout, and the custom-made seats are clad with Kushitani leather for maximum comfort in the saddle.

Bridgestone Battlax BT-003 rubber provides reassuring grip on both bikes, and the suspensions have been tuned by Ed Sorbo at Lindemann Engineering.

“Boodaak is torquey, and fairly smooth,” says Deus’ Michael Woolaway, “with a big, long power band and super good turning.” Dakdaak turns quicker and is much lighter, we’re told. “The motor runs between 400 and 12,500 rpm and is built to run at the rev limiter all day long. Or for about 50 hours, anyway.”

And the names? Apparently they’re derived from the sound of the engines as you roll on (boooo) and off (daaaak) the throttle. I bet they’re as fun to ride as they are to say.

More details of the bikes will be on the Deus website soon; meanwhile, keep track of the Deus Customs USA operations via their Facebook page.

from BIKEEXIF