Dakar,Leg 10: Barreda collects fourth stage win / étape 10 : quatrième victoire pour Barreda

Joan Barreda (Honda-Michelin) took his stage-win tally for this year to four victories to equal the personal record he set in 2013. The Spaniard beat team-mate Helder Rodrigues and Cyril Despres (Yamaha Factory Racing-Michelin), but Marc Coma (KTM-Michelin) still tops the provisional order by a margin of 44 minutes.

Joan Barreda (Honda-Michelin) remporte sa quatrième victoire d’étape et égale ainsi son propre record de 2013. L’Espagnol s’impose devant son coéquipier Helder Rodrigues et Cyril Despres (Yamaha Factory Racing – Michelin). Marc Coma (KTM-Michelin) reste aux commandes du général avec 44 minutes d’avance.

The 10^th stage (631km) of the 2014 Dakar took the remaining 82 bikers from Iquique to Antofagasta along the Pacific coast. It was divided into two parts, with the first 231km section chiefly on sand and the second moving on to rougher ground where competitors had to be aware of the occasional patch of ‘fesh-fesh’.

Joan Barreda took the win with a time of 7h12m. He was fastest up to Check Point 1 at Km106 and continued at a strong pace to pull comfortably clear of his chasers. He finished 8m0s and 9m40s clear of Rodrigues and Despres, while Olivier Pain (+11m11s, Yamaha Factory Racing-Michelin) produced a good run to claim fourth place, ahead of Marc Coma (+11m26s).

Israel (Speedbrain-Michelin) figured in second place early on but was hit by a non-competing vehicle at Km114 and was forced to retire from the rally. Emergency services were soon on the scene but his injuries are not judged to be serious.

Today’s result has had no effect on the leaderboard which is still topped by Coma, ahead of Barreda (44m10s) who took a 15m30s penalty. The gap to third-placed Jordi Viladoms (KTM-Michelin), who was eighth today, has increased to 2h2m2s. Despres is now sixth (+2h28m16s).

Thursday’s itinerary (749km, including a stage of 605km) takes riders back into the Atacama Desert and the formidable dunes near Copiapo, not to mention some taxing navigation and technically-challenging portions through dry river beds.

La 10^ème étape menait les 82 rescapés d’Iquique àAntofagasta en parcourant 631 km contre la montre le long de la côte Pacifique. La spéciale était divisée en deux sections. La première partie de 231 km composée majoritairement de sable et une seconde moitié plus cassante où les motards devaient éviter les pièges du fesh-fesh.

Joan Barreda est crédité du meilleur temps en bouclant les 631 km en 07h12min. Le Catalan a viré en tête au Check Point 1 (CP – km 106) et a ensuite imprimé un rythme soutenu pour creuser l’écart sur ses poursuivants. Il rallie l’arrivée avec une avance respective de 8min et 9min40s sur Rodrigues et Despres. Olivier Pain (Yamaha Factory Racing – Michelin) signe à nouveau une belle performance à terminant au pied du podium (+11min11s) devant Marc Coma (+11min26s).

Deuxième en début de course, Israel (Speedbrain-Michelin) a malheureusement été percuté par un véhicule civil au km 114 et a été contraint à l’abandon. Pris en charge rapidement, il souffre de diverses contusions sans grande gravité.

Pas de changement au classement général, Marc Coma compte 44min10s d’avance sur Barreda pénalisé par 15min30. Jordi Viladoms (KTM-Michelin), huitième du jour, est relégué à 2h02min02s. Cyril Despres gagne une place et remonte à la sixième position à 2h28min16s.

Demain,le Dakar plonge au cœur du désert de l’Atacama avec les dunes tant redoutées de Copiapo. Les motards seront confrontés à l’ensemble des difficultés que rassemble un rallye-raid : endurance (749 dont 605 km de spéciale), navigation, passages techniques dans les rios et franchissement de dunes.

Classement étape 10 :

1.Barreda (Honda-Michelin) – 2. Rodrigues (Honda) +8min - 3. Despres (Yamaha-Michelin) +9min40 – 4. Pain (Yamaha-Michelin) +11min11s – 5. Coma (KTM-Michelin) +11min26s, …

Classement général :

1.Coma (KTM-Michelin) – 2. Barreda (Honda-Michelin) +44min10s - 3. Viladoms (KTM-Michelin) + 2H02min02s – 4.  Pain (Yamaha-Michelin) +2h16min12s – 5. Rodrigues (Honda) +2h21min16s, 

BAD NEWS : ADIÓS, RADICAL DUCATI

News has just broken that Radical Ducati is no more. The Madrid workshop run by Pepo Rosell and Reyes Ramon has suddenly shut down, despite a string of high-profile customs and critical acclaim.

A brief statement on Radical Ducati’s Facebook page signaled the end. “It has been more than 15 years of passion, designing, fabricating, riding and developing my dreams,” said Pepo. “Now is time to stop and make a change in my life.”

We’ve always been huge fans of Radical Ducati’s work. Who can resist beautiful Italian machines, carefully constructed, oozing verve and style?

Here’s a brief retrospective of the best moments from the Spanish masters. Adiós, guys—you’ll be missed.

Somewhere under here is a Ducati GT1000, given a heavy dose of attitude. The Cafe Veloce was also treated to an uprated dry clutch, new suspension, a shortened frame, a modified fuel tank and clip-on bars.

Based on a 1963 Ducati 125 TS, the F3 (above) was a purpose-built track demon: stripped back, beefed up and ready to give even the most seasoned rider a kick in the pants.

The 7½ Sportiva was a Ducati 749R given a retro flavor and put on a diet. And being Radical Ducati, they tore the bike down and modified virtually every component apart from the trellis main frame and fuel tank.

Inspired by racing Ducatis from the 1970s and the ‘monocilindrica’ 450cc, the starting point of the 9½ (above) was a 1997 Monster M900, chopped at the back to accommodate a racing-style tail unit.

Based on an ancient Ducati 125, the Carallo Sport was designed to compete in the legendary Motogiro d’Italia.

You could be forgiven for thinking it’s a Ducati Pantah, given the color scheme, but ‘Pantahstica‘ is based on a Cagiva Alazzurra, a mid-80s touring derivative of the Pantah.

Towards the end, Radical Ducati experimented with other marques. ‘Dirt Rad‘ (above) was a heavily modified Yamaha XT600, sporting a FZR600 fork and a Hagon shock. The air-cooled motor was rebuilt with polished and ported heads, and exhaled via a Spark GP megaphone muffler.

Three months ago, Radical Ducati released ‘Interceptor,’ a BMW R80 ST built in conjunction with the French BMW specialist Max Boxer. But the Ducati links remained strong: the front end is from a SportClassic, and the triple trees are from a Monster. The motor is a BMW R100 boxer, the muffler is from an S 1000 RR, and the tank is a modified Laverda item. Interceptor was one of the most heavily modified and visually arresting bikes from the Radical Ducati stable, and a fitting swansong.

Radical Ducati’s closure is sad news—not only for Ducatistis, but also for custom motorcycle fans of any persuasion. Hopefully Pepo and Reyes will return soon, and seduce us once again with more high-performance, stylish customs.

from BIKEEXIF

StuntFreaksTeam – Winter Mayhem

Some guys from Finland making the most of the snowy conditions!

HUSQVARNA NUDA CUSTOM

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

I was pretty excited when the Husqvarna Nuda 900R was released in 2012—and equally disappointed when it was discontinued, following Pierer Industrie AG’s acquisition of the Italian marque a year ago. The supermoto-esque naked featured a punched out, 898cc version of the Rotax twin-cylinder mill found in BMW’s F800 series, and a tubular steel frame.

This particular Nuda belongs to Marc Woodward, an ex-motorcycle racer based in Brighton who builds café racers as a hobby. As an ex-racer, Marc says his philosophy “is to try and create café racers that handle and go as good as they look.” He takes this philosophy fairly seriously—his radically restyled Nuda now kicks out a healthy 110bhp, thanks to a full Arrow race exhaust system and a remapped ECU.

It also features the front end from a Ducati 1198S, earning it the ‘Huscati’ nickname. The Ducati’s Öhlins forks have been re-sleeved to fit the Nuda’s stock yokes, which have been milled to remove the original handlebar mounts. Since the Nuda came from the factory with an adjustable Öhlins rear shock, there was no need to rework the rear end.

The biggest visual changes are the new tank and seat—which are both catalog items made specifically for the Husqvarna Nuda by the German parts specialist LSL, which also supplied the rearsets. The leather tank strap was hand made by Born & Bred in Brighton. Other finishing kit includes carbon fiber clip-ons, Rizoma brake reservoirs and red Venhill braided brake hoses.

D-Lucks Custom Paint Workshop—another local Brighton business, and long-time Spirit of the Seventies collaborator—was responsible for the beautifully executed paint work. “The tank is a chrome metal flake with gold leaf, black and red pinstripes, and matte finish tank cut outs with shadow effect race numbers”, explains Marc, ’77′ being his old race number.

Marc is, in his own words, “pretty obsessive about getting the details right” on his builds—and it shows. To my eye the ‘Huscati’ is a perfectly executed, performance-based modern retro.

Wouldn’t it be good to see more Nuda-based customs in the future?

Extra special thanks to Merry Michau for the images.via BIKEEXIF