The Monster Yamaha Tech3 MotoGP™ team has been affected by the recent extreme weather to hit the southern coast of France.
Basé à Bormes-Les-Mimosas, le team Monster Yamaha Tech3 a été l’une des victimes des très fortes pluie et des inondations qui ont sévi le week-end dernier dans le sud de la France et mené le Premier Ministre à promettre un arrêté de catastrophe naturelle
.The base in Bormes-les-Mimosas, home of the MotoGP™ outfit which is to run Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro as well as the Moto2™ team of Marcel Schrotter and Alex Mariñelarena, was affected on Sunday as the immense levels of rainfall resulted in rivers bursting their banks. This has occurred shortly before the squad was to pack up for the opening pre-season premier class test in Malaysia.
An anticyclone over northern Europe later resulted in heavy rain over France, resulting in much damage to crates in the Tech3 premises - whose watertight door failed - which on Tuesday were planned to have been shipped to Malaysia. The entire region has been majorly affected by the weather, with two people having lost their lives and a further individual injured as the storms left many without electricity and running water as well as much damage to buildings.
The majority of damage was sustained between 10 and 11am on Sunday, with the flood water coating the workshop floor in mud and damaging equipment. "This is a major natural occurrence, but we are fortunate this has not happened at a busier time of year," Team Manager Herve Poncharal explains. "Although we have many things to prepare, it shouldn’t affect us too badly."
Since the damage was incurred on Sunday, Tech3 personnel have been busily attempting to clean up the property with the assistance of neighbours.
A quelques jours de mettre le cap sur la Malaisie pour le premier Test Officiel de l’année, le team Monster Yamaha a subi un coup dur le week-end dernier suite aux pluies diluviennes qui se sont abattues sur le sud de la France et causé de très importants dommages matériels, deux morts, une personne portée disparue ainsi que des évacuations en urgence.
Hervé Poncharal s’est entretenu avec motogp.com mardi après-midi pour faire le bilan de la situation et a expliqué : « Là, trois jours après, le beau temps est revenu mais il y a encore des gens sans électricité, sans eau, homeless. Ça a été, comme souvent en Méditerranée, aussi brutal que bref. Notre atelier est juste à côté d’un tout petit cours d’eau. Il avait déjà beaucoup plu jeudi, vendredi et samedi, mais jusqu’à samedi soir ça coulait normalement. »
« Dimanche matin il y a eu une dépression orageuse qui venait de la Méditerranée et qui est restée bloquée au-dessus de nous. Il a plu toute la journée, c’était très localisé, avec des pluies diluviennes de 4-5h du matin jusqu’à 14h. Nous étions passés à l’atelier à 8h30 pour surélever et sécuriser les caisses de matériel, qui partaient ce matin pour la Malaisie, pour les premiers tests de l’année. »
« Ça a tenu jusqu’à un moment donné où l’eau est montée tout d’un coup, notre porte étanche a lâché, c’était comme l’explosion d’une bombe, puis la vague d’eau est rentrée et a traversé l’atelier. La grosse inondation a eu lieu vers 10h30-11h. A 14h40-15h, l’eau était partie mais le problème, c’est qu’elle était montée à plus d’un mètre et on a de la boue absolument partout. En plus les canalisations d’eau ont été arrachées et c’est donc une galère monstrueuse. »
« Heureusement, il n’y a pas eu de dommage corporel ou matériel chez nous. Il y a eu une belle solidarité. On a la chance d’avoir des voisins qui ont des machines, tractopelles et autres, des gens qui sont venus aider. C’est un coup dur qui n’arrive pas à une bonne période de l’année puisqu’on a beaucoup de choses à faire et à préparer, mais ça n’aura pas de répercussion sur quoi que ce soit. »
Our first BMW R-series Top 5 received mixed reactions. Some of you loved our selection, while others wondered why their favorites didn’t make the list. The truth is, narrowing down a selection of one’s favorite customs of a particular marque to just five is pretty challenging. Especially when you’re dealing with the much loved, and widely used, R-series. Add personal taste to the mix, and you’re bound to ruffle a few feathers.
Nevertheless, we felt that BMW’s venerable R-series deserved another look. So we scoured the archives and put together a fresh list—based on your recommendations. Let us know how this one stacks up against the original.
Bill Costello’s R100RT Bill Costello first made his mark on the world of classic motorcycles when he painstakingly restored his father’s 1958 BMW R50 a few years ago. This elegant, yet functional, R100RT is his second build. This time round Bill wanted to build a custom bike, rather than a factory restoration, and was after something he could use as a reliable daily runner. The RT rolls on custom spoked wheels from Woody’s Wheel Works, and upgraded suspension. There’s a new triple tree from Toaster Tan, Tarozzi clip-ons, and rearsets from Boxer Metal—who helped out on the build. The classic café racer seat hides a tiny lithium-ion battery and a full BMW tool kit. Finished in a timeless black and white paint scheme, it’s the perfect example of a ‘real world’ café racer. [More about this bike]
Casey Wilkinson’s R75/6 This much-loved café racer belongs to Casey Wilkinson of design studio Wilkinson Brothers, founded with brother Corey. The brothers are nuts about motorcycles—their workspace, an old carriage house, has a number of bikes parked in it at any given time. Casey found this ’76 R75/5 at the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days and bought it with 100,000 miles on the clock. He then mocked up a new swingarm, subframe and ‘bum box,’ using quarter-inch steel round bar and insulation foam board. This was all sent to Cliff Meyer of Meyerbuilt Metalworks to bring to life. There’s also a mono-shock conversion, using a Suzuki GSX-R750 shock. Creativity abounds—the foot pegs are modified BMX freestyle pegs and the headlight guard is an aftermarket MG part. The top triple clamp was CNC’d, again by Toaster Tan. It’s adorned with a ‘Good Spark Garage’ logo—the name of the Wilkinson brothers’ moto-culture blog. [More about this bike | Wilkinson Brothers]
Lucky Cat Garage ‘Sprintbeemer’ There’s something fantastic about a motorcycle that’s been built for a single purpose. In this case, that purpose was to win the Starr Wars sprint race at the Glemseck 101 festival in Germany. ‘Sprintbeemer’ was built by ‘Sonic Séb’ Lorentz of Lucky Cat Garage, from a mixed bag of parts—including a vintage M&H Racemaster drag tyre and an Airtech dustbin fairing. At its heart is a R100RS motor with some tasty performance upgrades, breathing through Dell’Orto PHM 40 carbs, linked to a R60/6 transmission and housed in a modified R50/2 chassis. Adjustable billet aluminum struts are hidden in the rear shocks, and the shortened front suspension is from a R75/5. Unfortunately Séb broke his leg in a BMX accident before the event, so Sylvain Berneron (aka Holographic Hammer) took his place in the hot seat, piloting ‘Sprintbeemer’ to victory. [More about this bike | Lucky Cat Garage]
El Solitario R75/5 ‘Baula’ When it comes to style, El Solitario are a law unto themselves. Their builds usually fall somewhere between audacious and outrageous—bucking, or totally ignoring, current trends. ‘Baula’ is based on a ’69 BMW R75/5, and according to El Solitario’s David Borras, was inspired by the 1939 TT-winning BMW Rennsport and the Art Deco Henderson. It sports a massive Hoske long-range tank, fishtail pipes from a Velocette Thruxton and vintage Buco panniers. All of this is tied together with a number of bespoke parts, including the dual-headlight fairing. The engine, suspension and electrics were all overhauled as well. Not surprisingly, ‘Baula’ drew a crowd when El Solitario debuted it at the 2013 Wheels & Waves show in Biarritz. [More about this bike | El Solitario]
Ritmo Sereno R100RS ‘RSR’ A part of me regrets not including this R100RS in the original BMW R-series ‘Top 5.’ It’s the work of Japanese resto-mod specialists Ritmo Sereno, who set out to reduce the R100′s weight from BMW’s claimed 242kg to just 190kg. The engine’s been ported and polished, and breathes out through a 2-into-1 stainless steel exhaust system. The standard RS fairing has been trimmed for a sleeker profile. In fact, just about every part’s been modified or lightened in some way. Resplendent in a livery inspired by the BMW 3.5CSL Group 5 race cars of the ’70s, it would be just as at home on a race track as it would in a museum. [More about this bike |Ritmo Sereno]
The ’98 Triumph Adventurer is one of the better bikes built by Triumph in the ’90s, it was fitted with an 885cc triple cylinder engine with 12 valves, it produced 68hp and 70nm of torque which was fed to the rear wheel via a 5-speed transmission and a chain drive.
Despite the name, it wasn’t really an adventure bike, in reality it was a sort of cross between the modern Bonneville and the Thunderbird. Not that this is a bad thing.
This take on the Adventurer by custom motorcycle garage Steel Bent Customs is a fascinating look into the potential of the base model. The stripped back mid-section and minimalist seat are both highly attractive modifications, not to mention the addition of clip-on handlebars and the removal of the rear fender.
As the bike stands now it looks like the sort of thing we should ship over to the Triumph headquarters with a note asking them to make a few more.
Steel Bent Customs has been going from strength to strength recently, the Florida based team headed up by Michael Mundy have produced a serious collection of modern cafe racers and their reputation is climbing on the international stage at a phenomenal rate.
I have no idea where to start with this one. In all the years I’ve been writing about different feature cars I’ve never seen anything quite this insane, or been so dumbfounded. I mean that. Right here and now, I’ll freely state that the Oemmedi Meccanica Fiat 500 is quite possibly the most out there car I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with. A bold statement? Yes it is, but one which I’ve considered for a while. Every time another feature I’ve produced pops up in my mind, the Fiat comes back with an even more convincing argument for its case.
The car is outrageous, the execution flawless and the motive brilliant. So to try and make sense of it all, I’ll deal with those points in that order. The first being entirely justified by the fact that this is in essence, a Lamborghini Murcielago. That’s right, a proper, bonafide, kick ass supercar from a thoroughbred Italian manufacturer. Aside from some handmade bodywork that barely covers the mid mounted 6.2 litre V12 engine, this is a Lamborghini. No really, it is. With 580hp.
When I first showed this build to a friend, he made noises of disbelief, saying it was probably a lash up and not running a proper Lamborghini engine. Well for any other naysayers out there and for anybody else who has fuel pumping through their veins, click on the video and take a look. Then close your eyes. It’s incredible huh?
So what sort of madmen would create such a thing? Oemmedi Meccanica, that’s who. They’re a family run general maintenance and restoration workshop in the middle of Italy. It’s roughly an hour’s drive south to Rome from here and the surrounding countryside feels dry and clean.
The lazy late summer air is laden with warmth; my mouth is dry and my head feels a little slow and numb after travelling over 1000 miles today to get here. But what I’ve found on this innocuous, hidden away industrial estate is quite possibly genius and madness mixed in equal quantities. This is what snaps me back to #MaximumAttack mode.
I realise quickly that I’m just circling the Fiat not really knowing where to start. Seeing pictures is one thing but I’ll disappoint you now by saying it’s nothing compared to experiencing it in the metal. You don’t just decide to use some Lamborghini salvage one day though; you don’t just wander into a bull ring and pull out a red flag wondering what will happen next. Oh no.
What you do is build a whole line-up of street fighters before taking on the heavyweight title; so neatly lined up in one corner of the expansive workshop are what came before the Lamborghini-engined experiment. The red car is an Abarth: the factory/aftermarket tuner take on things. Air-cooled and original save for a few modifications, the 500 is synonymous with Italy and it’s easy to see why it captured so many hearts during its production run. The silver car is the first step on the mutant ladder though.
Underneath the two part electrically-operated deck lid is a Porsche flat six. Here you can see the extra girth starting to kick in – wide arches on wide arches. Now the large air intakes on the leading edge of the wings make sense. This is just Oemmedi getting started though. You see the dark grey to the right? That’s hiding a Ferrari V8, and yes I did shoot it for a feature so you’ll see more of it in the future. Right now I need to get back to the Lambofiat Murciequento… Well, what would you call it?
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I can see why the Fiat appeals: its shape is like the Mini and the Beetle – iconic and spanning all walks of life. Now I know the history that lead to this point though, I need to understand more about just how Gianfranco Dini – the genuinely gentle man who’s responsible for the line-up - went about creating this thing.
First up was sourcing the base car. Between 2001 and 2010, just over four thousand Murcielagos were built. These are supercars, so are cosseted, but I guess some end up getting damaged and that salvage has to go somewhere. Being in the car restoration and repair business means the Oemmedi team can source just about anything. Although the wheels aren’t sourced from a Murcielago – instead I think they’re from an earlier Diablo. Everything else has come from the later model.
Which means all the systems should work together right? When you think about it logically, what the guys have done is to strip the body away, use the major organs and nervous system from the donor, lay it all out and then build a new structure to house it all.
There are no aftermarket ECUs here or even parts from a whole bunch of different manufacturers where you have to blend wiring looms and fittings. Everything did have to be made smaller though. So essentially what they did is bring the four corners closer together. Now there’s not much left of what Fiat originally produced.
So if that’s what they did, how they did it is equally as ingenious. Here you can see the front differential, because the original 4WD system has been retained, which means two things: there’s more fabrication to accommodate in the initial build, but everything works as it should. Can you imagine if this thing was two-wheel drive? How wild would that be? Given how central everything is, I’d be really intrigued to see just how good it would be on track.
As you saw above, the underneath is as well-finished as the bodywork, and for me it’s the overall design that really makes it. Let’s face it, the end result could be a lot less pleasing to the eye than it is. Look at the way the mesh runs into the rear wings; those last sections purely exist for aesthetics. The miniature rear diffuser could even be partly functional, although the Fiat has got enough power to bend physics, so it doesn’t really matter what the wind is doing anyway.
Like I said at the start, everything about this build is out there. The extra wide arches curve away from the original body lines smoothly and violently too; it’s part freak, part artwork.
In the background you can see the profile of an original unmolested 500. See where the arches are? The scale of metalwork that’s been custom made starts to become more obvious now. What I really admire is that Oemmedi have been able to use sharp lines as well as the Fiat’s more organic curves. From this view you get to imagine what it would look like with the body lifted off, so you can imagine the drivetrain layout. Because there’s a genuine V12 Lambo engine in there… I’m still not kidding.
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See the box behind the driver and passenger? That’s the top of the engine. A proper Lamborghini V12 hides within.
Because where else is it going to go? The rear windows come out for maintenance checks, but whichever way you look at it, the Fiat really has been built around the running gear.
See how the rear suspension towers nestle in the mix too? The gearbox is somewhere near the bottom with the split drive transfer box off to one side. My brain can take in all the elements but the thought that must have gone in to constructing the framework to hang it all on? Then the process of physically putting it together? Damn.
As if incredible running gear and fantastical bodywork isn’t enough, there are lovely details like the electrically operated deck lid and the high level spoiler that sits above it complete with brake light. No bad wiring hanging down or messing up the lines. Remember everything you’re looking at in this picture, apart from the rear window, has been custom-made.
The OMP seats have had their frames modified to make them more vertical. That alone must have taken hours and then the seats needed retrimming, but then again it was worth it just for those extra inches of leg room.
Just like the exterior, the interior has been handcrafted, and just like the running gear, it continues the theme of using all Lamborghini hardware. So those dials, switches and steering column are all used to working together.
The one feature of the interior that instantly grabbed me was the centrally mounted rev counter in the steering wheel. Not only is it fully functioning but the wheel rotates around it, as the counter stays stationary. How cool is that? I guess after the rest of the fabrication work, that was a quick job while the coffee machine warmed up in the morning.
It’s all very well talking about how amazing it is, but there’s really only one way to experience it. From inside. I don’t speak any Italian and Gianfranco doesn’t speak any English, but when the head nods in the direction of the passenger seat and eyebrows raise in a questioning way, I completely understand what is being asked.
And so it was that here I am being driven through the Italian countryside, the sun blazing and breaking through the trees, in this demonic creation. If I could pat myself on the back, I would also be able to reach one bank of cylinders. This is incredible.
The first thing that strikes me is it’s not as loud as I expected. I can’t even work out why that is. Maybe it’s because I just got out of the Ferrari V8-engined Fiat 500 I’ll show you another time, but this one seems to be a wall of sound. A solid chunk of noise that carries across the landscape, rather than a peaky, screaming sound, it’s there like a mountain.
Once or twice the throttle is mashed and the speed gains so quickly, like an on/off switch. As though there’s no acceleration, just slow and hyper fast. We see other traffic on the road and they stare as they pass, with good reason. You will never see anything like this anywhere else in the world. Fact.
So am I justified in claiming that this is the wildest feature car I’ve ever seen? I think so. Hardware made from Lamborghini unobtanium, amazingly skillful body mods, tastefully executed to the highest of standards using an iconic and emotive base model.
Technology, passion, speed… I could go on. Where others couldn’t imagine such a thing being done, Oemmedi did. When those others said it couldn’t be done, Oemmedi did it.
If you disagree, think how you’d top it. Then go do it.
