THE NÜRBURGRING: SOLD TO AN AMERICAN INVESTMENT FIRM?

Future is uncertain for this historic German racetrack.

 By Andrew Bornhop 

According to a recent Reuters report, an investor group led by HIG Capital is “poised to buy” the financially troubled Nürburgring racetrack in Germany for roughly $82 million. The bid from the Miami-based firm apparently beat out earlier offers from Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and the ADAC, the German equivalent of the AAA in the US. The final sale of the assets, which include the entire 12.9-mile Nordschleifetrack, hotels and a theme park, is expected to be approved by the EU Commission late this month.

The sale puts to bed much speculation that one of the big German automakers—which test so often there—would buy the facility, which was originally constructed in 1927 to showcase German automotive engineering prowess but grew to become a hallowed place for motorsports enthusiasts…on two or four wheels. None other than three-time F1 World Champion Jackie Stewart called the track in the Eifel region of Germany “the greatest and most challenging circuit in the world,” and F1 fans will always remember it as the unforgiving course where Niki Lauda nearly lost his life in 1976, the last year an F1 Grand Prix was held on the twisting Nordschleife. Now, as many know, the circuit is effectively a tollroad open to public in which riders and drivers alike plunk down their 23 euros and lap at their own risk. Our own Road Test Editor, Don Canet, did about 50 laps of the circuit on a Ducati 1098 back in 2007, and he still can’t stop talking about it.

In July of 2012, the track—saddled with debt reported to equal about 50 years’ worth of profit—declared bankruptcy, and the place was put up for sale last May. Many motorsports fans, those with an appreciation for racing history, maintain that they’d like to see the ’Ring stay just the way it is, with manufacturer test days mixed in with the type of open-to-the-public lapping that allows each of us to find our inner Fangio or Hailwood.

But some fear that the sale to a private equity firm may have dire consequences, turning the forested facility into a more restricted place, an exclusive motorsport playground of sorts dotted with private cottages at choice viewing areas like Flugplatz, Brunnchen, Adenauer Forst and the Karussell. While something of the sort may be within the new owner’s rights, we remain hopeful that the company can make the track financially sound while maintaining its magical nature.

via cycleworld

poker !

Aleix Espargaro on top as 2014 MotoGP™ preseason concludes / Aleix Espargaró a le dernier mot au Test de Losail

The final premier class test of the 2014 preseason concluded on Sunday night at the floodlit desert circuit of Qatar, with Aleix Espargaro the fastest rider in attendance – just ahead of his younger brother Pol who suffered a collarbone break in a late evening crash.

Over the last few months, during the preparations for the new MotoGP™ World Championship campaign, the elder Espargaro sibling has been the standout performer of the testing period – showing the potential of his ‘Open’ entry Yamaha for the NGM Mobile Forward Racing team.

He set the best time of the three day Qatar test with a 1’54.874 circulation on the 19^th of 47 Sunday laps. That time was less than 0.2s off Jorge Lorenzo’s 2013 pole lap at the Losail Circuit and Espargaro also looked strong in a race simulation which he carried out late on the final day.

His brother Pol Espargaro, the Moto2™ World Champion and a rookie this season, was just 0.033s behind him in second place, but the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 youngster’s good preseason ended with an untimely collarbone fracture. He crashed at turn 6 and was taken straight to medical centre, with the extent of his injury still under examination – he faces surgery in Barcelona on Monday.

On the other side of the Tech 3 garage, Englishman Bradley Smith has a year of MotoGP racing under his belt and having finished third at the test (+0.153s) one of his objectives will be to beat the Espargaro brothers in the opening Grands Prix of 2014. Smith escaped unhurt from a mid evening spill from his Yamaha YZR-M1.

After the three Yamahas at the top of the timesheet, Honda riders Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista were fourth and fifth respectively with similar lap times, the pair of them avoiding injury despite both crashing twice on Sunday. LCR Honda man Bradl notched a 1’55.187 best time, putting him 0.045s ahead of his GO&FUN Honda Gresini rival.

Pramac Racing's Andrea Iannone was the faster of the two Ducati riders on track again, finishing 0.644s off the pace, whilst Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Yonny Hernandez (+1.182) was eighth on the 2013 Ducati bike.

In seventh place meanwhile, Colin Edwards again chipped a few tenths off his previous day’s best and ends preseason lapping around a second slower than his Forward Racing colleague Espargaro. The experienced Texan puts the time difference down to riding style and aims to adapt to a Yamaha machine different to that which he has previously ridden.

The top ten was rounded out by Drive M7 Aspar colleagues Nicky Hayden (+1.399s) and Hiroshi Aoyama (2.132s) on their ‘Open’ Honda RCV1000R machines. Hayden made a 0.65s improvement in outright pace on the final day and was generally pleased with his rhythm over race distance, but wants more competitiveness for Grand Prix competition.

Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing), Danilo Petrucci (IodaRacing Project) and Paul Bird Motorsport teammates Michael Laverty and Broc Parkes featured in positions 11 to 17 respectively.

There is a Moto2™ and Moto3™ test this week at Jerez, completing the World Championship’s 2014 preseason – ahead of round one’s Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar (20^th-23^rd March).

Aleix Espargaró a conclu le dernier Test Officiel de la pré-saison MotoGP™ avec le meilleur temps dimanche au Circuit International de Losail, où son frère cadet Pol s'est fracturé la clavicule.

Parmi les principaux protagonistes de la pré-saison 2014, Aleix Espargaró (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) a confirmé le potentiel de sa Forward-Yamaha Open en terminant le Test Officiel de Losail au sommet de la feuille de temps.

Le Catalan a signé le meilleur temps en 1'54.874 sur le 19ème de ses 47 tours et était donc deux dixièmes de seconde en dessous de la pole position de Jorge Lorenzo de 2013.

Son frère Pol Espargaró, le Champion du Monde Moto2™ 2013, a fini en seconde position, à seulement 0.033s d'Aleix, mais a terminé la pré-saison sur une mauvaise chute dans le virage n°6. Immédiatement transféré au centre médical du circuit, Pol Espargaró souffre d'une fracture de la clavicule et devra être opéré lundi à son retour à Barcelone.

De l'autre côté du garage de Monster Yamaha Tech3, le Britannique Bradley Smith a signé le troisième temps et était aussi tombé, en milieu de soirée, dans un incident finalement sans conséquence.

Derrière un Top 3 monopolisé par Yamaha, Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) et Álvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honde Gresini) ont respectivement fini aux quatrième et cinquième positions. Bradl a tourné en 1'55.187, soit 0.045s de mieux que son homologue espagnol.

Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) a été le plus rapide des deux pilotes Ducati présents ce week-end au Qatar, à 0.644s du temps de référence, tandis que Yonny Hernández (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) a fini huitième, à 1.182s du leader.

En septième position, Colin Edwards (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) continuait de gagner quelques dixièmes de seconde et est revenu à une seconde du rythme de son coéquipier Aleix Espargaró. L'Américain devra toutefois continuer de travailler sur son pilotage pour s'adapter à sa nouvelle machine et se rapprocher du Top 5.

Complétaient le Top 10 Nicky Hayden (+1.399s) et Hiroshi Aoyama (+2.132s) du team Drive M7 Aspar, sur leurs Honda RCV1000R Open. Hayden a gagné plus d'une demi-seconde lors de cette dernière journée d'essais et était satisfait de son rythme de course.

Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), Mike di Meglio (Avintia Racing), Danilo Petrucci (IodaRacing Project), Michael Laverty (PBM) et Broc Parkes (PBM) ont fini classés de la onzième à la dix-septième positions.

Le pré-saison MotoGP™ est désormais terminée mais les catégories Moto2™ et Moto3™ seront de retour en piste à Jerez la semaine prochaine, pour un dernier test qui précèdera le Grand Prix Commercial Bank du Qatar (20-23 mars).

Cliquez ici pour accéder au classement du Test de Losail.

Volkswagen/Michelin savours one-two success in Mexico / Doublé Volkswagen/Michelin au Mexique

Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala provided Volkswagen with another one-two finish today in Mexico. For the Frenchman, it was his 18th world class victory and his second this season. Like last year, Thierry Neuville came third to collect Hyundai’s first ever WRC podium finish.

Ogier won 14 of Rally Mexico’s 22 tests (which takes his score to 250 WRC stage victories) on his way to a dominating win on the year’s first gravel round in his Volkswagen Polo R WRC/Michelin.

The Frenchman was the event’s early leader and he only relinquished top spot to Mads Ostberg (Citroën/Michelin) for four stages before the Norwegian was eliminated after an ‘off’ on SS7, at practically at the same spot as last year.

That handed first place back to Ogier who defended it to the finish, pulling gradually clear of team-mate Latvala who had suffered from the handicap of running first on the road on Day 1.

The result hands Volkswagen its seventh consecutive WRC win and its fourth one-two success at this level.

Once again, Rally Mexico produced a high number of front-running victims, with as many as nine drivers failing to complete the first leg, including Andreas Mikkelsen, Kris Meeke, Mikko Hirvonen and Robert Kubica. They were all able to re-join the next day under the Rally2 ruling, but Mikkelsen had to resort to the same solution the following day, which meant he wasn’t eligible to score Power Stage bonus points.

The final test was eventually won by Sébastien Ogier (three points), ahead of Latvala (two) and Mikko Hirvonen (one). Citroën’s Kris Meeke, who was running first on the road, hit a rock and was unable to reach the finish in Leon.

After claiming his first stage win in 2012 and his first WRC podium last year, Neuville earned Hyundai’s first ever podium finish today. The Belgian took advantage of his rivals’ misfortunes to appear in third spot before pulling progressively clear of Rally Mexico rookie Elfyn Evans (Ford/Michelin) who will be delighted with fourth place. The Welshman nearly finished on the podium himself when the N°7 Hyundai i20 WRC developed a water leak on the final road section. However, thanks to the bottle of Corona beer he had in the car, Neuville was able to nurse his machine back to the finish…

Martin Prokop produced a solid run in his privately-entered Ford Fiesta RS WRC to claim fifth place, ahead of Mexican Benito Guerra (Ford) who improved on the eighth place he secured on his home event in 2013. Australia’s Chris Atkinson (Hyundai) was seventh, ahead of Mikko Hirvonen (Ford, 8^th) and Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT’s Mads Ostberg (9^th).

The WRC-2 scrap saw Ott Tanak (Ford Fiesta R5) emerge in front early on after posting an incredible second-best time on the super-special in Guanajuato (SS1). The Estonian was eliminated on Friday, however, and he was soon joined on the retirements list by Nicolas Fuchs (Ford Fiesta R5) and Quentin Gilbert (Ford Fiesta R5). Lorenzo Bertelli (Ford Fiesta R5) appeared momentarily in front before being passed by Yuri Protasov (Ford Fiesta R5/Michelin after SS4, but the Ukrainian suffered transmission failure on the final morning.

Sébastien Ogier et Jari-Matti Latvala ont offert un nouveau doublé à la marque Volkswagen. Le Français a remporté sa 18e victoire mondiale, la seconde cette saison. Thierry Neuville, troisième, a terminé à la même place que l’an passé et offre un premier podium à la marque Hyundai en WRC.

En remportant 14 des 22 spéciales du Rallye du Mexique 2014 (250 en WRC), le champion du monde sortant a dominé la 3^e manche de la saison et la 1^ère sur terre au volant de sa Volkswagen Polo R WRC/Michelin.

Premier leader, le Français n’a laissé les commandes du rallye que l’espace de quatre spéciales à Mads Ostberg (Citroën/Michelin), qui fut déjà son principal challenger de l’édition 2013. Mais comme l’an passé, et quasiment au même endroit, le Norvégien a dû se retirer suite à une touchette.

Sébastien Ogier est donc repassé en tête à l’issue de l’ES7 et n’a plus quitté cette position, creusant peu à peu l’écart sur son équipier Jari-Matti Latvala qui ouvrait la route et balayait les pistes le 1^er jour. Volkswagen s’est offert une 7^e victoire mondiale consécutive et un 4^e doublé en WRC.

Les pistes mexicaines ont encore une fois piégé de nombreux concurrents : neuf pilotes n’ont pas pu terminer la 1^ère étape, comme Andreas Mikkelsen, Kris Meeke, Mikko Hirvonen ou encore Robert Kubica. Tous ont pu repartir en Rally2 le lendemain, voire même en Rally2 le surlendemain pour Mikkelsen, mais ils n’étaient pas tous éligibles pour marquer des points de bonus dans la Power Stage.

En effet, le règlement prévoit que seuls les pilotes n’ayant pas abandonné et ceux s’étant retirés le 1^er jour peuvent « chasser » les points dans la Power Stage ! Cette dernière spéciale a été remportée par Sébastien Ogier (3 points), devant Jari-Matti Latvala (2 points) et Mikko Hirvonen (1 point). Premier sur la route, Kris Meeke (Citroën) a tapé une pierre qui se trouvait en pleine trajectoire et n’a pu rentrer au parc de Leon.

Après une 1^ère victoire de spéciale en 2012 et un 1^er podium WRC l’an passé, Thierry Neuville a cette année offert un 1^er podium mondial à la marque Hyundai malgré une grosse frayeur sur la dernière liaison suite à une fuite du radiateur. Le pilote Belge a profité des infortunes de ses adversaires pour se hisser à la 3^e place et prendre l’ascendant sur le jeune Gallois Elfyn Evans (Ford/Michelin), 4^e à l’issue d’un rallye qu’il découvrait.

Martin Prokop a réalisé une très belle prestation au volant de sa Ford Fiesta RS WRC privée (5^e), devant le Mexicain Benito Guerra (Ford), 8^e l’an passé et 6^e cette année. L’Australien Chris Atkinson (Hyundai) a terminé à la 7^e place devant Mikko Hirvonen (8^e, Ford), 1^er des Rally2, et le pilote Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT Mads Ostberg (9^e).

En WRC-2, Ott Tanak (Ford Fiesta R5) fut le 1^er leader après un incroyable 2^e meilleur temps scratch dans la Superspéciale de Guanajuato. Mais l’Estonien a dû se retirer le lendemain, tout comme Nicolas Fuchs (Ford Fiesta R5) et Quentin Gilbert (Ford Fiesta R5). Lorenzo Bertelli (Ford Fiesta R5) s’est hissé en tête avant d’être débordé par l’Ukrainien Yuri Protasov (Ford Fiesta R5/Michelin à l’issue de l’ES4, vainqueur malgré une transmission cassée dimanche matin.