Après Assen , Lorenzo se confie / Lorenzo opens up to After the Flag

Le double Champion du Monde MotoGP™ se livre dans le dernier épisode d’After the Flag, accesible gratuitement sur simple inscription sur motogp.com.

Jorge Lorenzo avait terminé l’année 2013 sur une impressionnante série de neuf podiums consécutifs dont trois victoires sur les trois dernières manches et avait repoussé le sacre de Marc Márquez jusqu’au dénouement du GP de Valence.

Opéré cet hiver, le pilote du team Movistar Yamaha MotoGP a cependant eu du mal à retrouver sa condition physique cette année et a aussi souffert de plusieurs changements techniques sur sa machine.

Après un début de saison difficile, Lorenzo s’est confié à After the Flag et a affirmé : « Je n’ai pas encore pu courir à mon vrai niveau. Peut-être au Mugello, où j’ai pu me battre, en Argentine, où j’avais fini troisième et à Montmeló, pas en fin de course mais plutôt sur l’ensemble du week-end. »

« Mais il y a quelque chose qui ne va pas sur ma moto, qui ne va pas à mon style de pilotage, à mon feeling sur la moto. Le litre de carburant en moins cette année rend le moteur Yamaha un peu plus agressif à l’ouverture des gaz. Ce changement et les nouveaux pneus font que c’est plus difficile cette année. Je n’étais pas en grande forme en début de saison et il y avait donc trois facteurs qui jouaient contre mes performances. C’était vraiment difficile d’être compétitif. »

Le Majorquin se sent néanmoins maintenant plus fort et prêt pour la seconde partie de la saison : « Maintenant je me sens bien physiquement. Après Montmeló, nous avons essayé quelque chose avec l’électronique, la moto se comporte davantage comme l’an dernier et je comprends aussi mieux les pneus. Nos trois problèmes sont donc résolus. »

Quant à ce qu'il aime le plus de sa carrière sportive, Lorenzo a ajouté : « On prend beaucoup de plaisir à doubler. Quand on se fait doubler, un peu moins ! C’est la nature de ce sport. Personne n’aime une course où le vainqueur s’échappe dès le départ. Quand vous gagnez comme ça tout va bien pour vous, mais pas si vous êtes un spectateur. »

« Quand je regarde d’autres sports, je veux voir de la concurrence. La concurrence qu’il y a eu l’an dernier entre Marc et moi a produit de très, très belles courses. Cette année, le pourcentage de course ‘disputées’ est encore plus élevé. Je pense que c’est plus que jamais le sport le plus spectaculaire de la planète. »

Double MotoGP™ World Champion Jorge Lorenzo provides a revealing insight into his racing philosophy and his performances so far in 2014, in the latest episode of After the Flag - which can be watched for free upon registration here on motogp.com.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider finished last season in incredible form with nine successive podiums and three wins in the last three rounds, taking the title fight with eventual winner Marc Marquez down to the final lap in Valencia.

 

However, after surgery in the winter which proved difficult to recover quickly from in terms of his overall fitness and some technical changes to his race package, the 2010 and 2012 premier class title winner has not visited the top step of the podium so far this season.

 

Speaking to motogp.com for the After the Flag show, Lorenzo explains, "My real performance this year has not arrived yet. Maybe in Mugello I was able to fight, in Argentina I finished third and in Montmelo I was ok, not at the end of the race but all the weekend I was ok."

 

"But there is something that is still not really right for my bike, for my riding style. For my feeling on the bike. The one litre less of fuel this year makes the Yamaha engine a bit more aggressive at the first touch on acceleration. This together with the new tyres, which are harder this year, along with my not good physical condition at the beginning of the season, makes it three conditions against my performance. It was really difficult to be competitive."

 

Fortunately Lorenzo is now feeling stronger as the half way stage of the season approaches. "Now I feel good physically," he asserts, "After Montmelo we tried something on the electronics which makes the bike more like last year and now I understand the tyres more. So these three conditions are now nearly solved." 

 

Asked about his emotions when riding and his overall vision of Grand Prix racing, the man from Majorca replies, "When you overtake you enjoy it a lot. When they pass you, you enjoy it not so much! It is the essence of the sport. No-one likes a race where the winner just gets away right from the start. If you are the one winning everything is perfect for you, but not if you are the spectator."

 

"For myself too when I am a spectator and I watch sport I want to see competition. Obviously the competition between me and Marc last year was really, really beautiful, in some races. This year the percentage of ‘fighting’ races has been even higher. I think now more than ever it is one of the most spectacular sports in the world."

Ogier mène à la mi-temps

A mi-championnat 2014, Sébastien Ogier mène le classement Pilotes avec 50 points d’avance sur Jari-Matti Latvala. Volkswagen Motorsport est leader du championnat Constructeurs avec 147 points d’avance sur Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT.

Il y a un an, après la 7^e manche du championnat 2013, Sébastien Ogier comptait quatre victoires bonifiées (28 points) et 64 points d’avance au championnat sur Jari-Matti Latvala. Au lendemain du Rally Poland 2014, le Français a remporté cinq victoires dont trois maxi bonifiées et compte 50 points d’avance sur le Finlandais.

Avec l’équivalent de deux victoires d’avance, on peut dire que Seb Ogier a fait le break au championnat à l’issue du Rally Poland où il fut accroché par un autre de ses équipiers, Andreas Mikkelsen. Le Norvégien avait bien préparé son affaire et entendait profiter de la découverte du parcours de l’ensemble des pilotes pour faire un coup.

Mais l’expérience du Français a payé. Samedi matin au départ de l’étape, Seb Ogier avait l’œil du tigre. « On va bien voir s’il m’en met aujourd’hui » avait-il murmuré en s’installant dans sa Polo R WRC. Les deux hommes sont partis sur un rythme sans doute trop élevé dans l’ES12, très piégeuse, et le champion du monde s’en est le mieux sorti. Ensuite, Andreas a lâché prise peu à peu pour assurer sa 2^e place, son meilleur résultat depuis la Suède. Seb Ogier en avait encore sous le pied et a arraché trois points supplémentaires dans la Power Stage.

Sur un parcours ultra rapide, il fut étonnant de voir les Finlandais Jari-Matti Latvala et Mikko Hirvonen en difficulté en début de course. Jari-Matti a réagi le lendemain, alors que le pilote Ford n’a pas su hausser le rythme. Jari-Matti avait le podium en ligne de mire avant de rechuter au classement (amortisseur), puis de revenir dans la bagarre pour la 3^e place. Bref, une course en dents-de-scie pour le Finlandais qui échoue finalement à 7/10^e de son compatriote Hirvonen auteur d’une prestation plus régulière.

Sans cette fameuse pierre cachée dans les hautes herbes (ES14), Mads Ostberg (Citroën) aurait pu prétendre à un nouveau podium. Il était même revenu à 9s6 de Mikkelsen. Partis très vite, Kris Meeke et Juho Hanninen ont été désavantagés sur les spéciales creusées de Lituanie et ont progressivement rétrogradé au classement. Thierry Neuville a quant à lui connu une progression constante au fil des spéciales pour finir sur le podium après avoir défendu farouchement sa position dimanche matin.

Côté Constructeurs, Volkswagen Motorsport compte 147 points d’avance sur Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT, contre 46 en 2013 à pareille époque. Le constructeur allemand pourrait être titré dès cet été, au Rallye d’Allemagne par exemple… Les tests asphalte de la Polo R WRC/Michelin débutent le week-end prochain.

‘79 Honda CX500 – JMR Customs

via PIPEBURN

‘Plastic Maggots’ they called them. And all for an unassuming little fairing that some ‘genius’ decided didn’t suit their tastes. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water. Thirty five years later and the Honda CX series’ full potential is only just being realised. With a bullet-proof v-twin, shaft drive, liquid cooling and failsafe electrical system, this is a bike that oozes potential. Just ask they boys who used the bike to take the 500cc pushrod record at Bonneville. Them, and the very talented Josh Mott of JMR Customs.

“This is my latest creation, a 1979 Honda CX 500 custom,” says Josh. “I’ve always wanted the chance to put my own twist on a CX, so I put the word out around the Boise area and a couple of months later Boise Vintage Cycle unearthed one that they kindly donated to us. The bike was in very rough condition, but like always I do my normal checks. If it has spark and compression then nine times out of ten I can clean the carbs up and get it running. The bike had both and it fired right up.”

As soon as Josh knew he had something to work with, he began coming up with ideas. But not before stripping everything off the bike that he wouldn’t be using. Then he and his dad started brainstorming. “I had been noticing that most everyone building up the CX model had done a low-mount exhaust. The idea was to do 2-into-1 pipes and have it exit out the center of the rear fender right above the wheel. I was able to have them come straight back and connect right in the center of the rear wheel. The rear fender I made around the exhaust in 3 sections of 16 gauge steel.” He also made the seat out of fibreglass - remarkably, it was his first time working with the material and he managed to impress himself with the end product.

By building the exhaust up through the centre of the bike, Josh had the added task of relocating the wiring, battery, CDI, and the regulator/rectifier. Unsurprisingly, the only place he had room to place them was underneath the motor. Accordingly, he built a battery box that he could mount all of it components inside cleanly; the wiring now runs down the frame in between the carbs and neatly into the battery box.

The headlight assembly was all hand-made with the headlight itself coming off of a XS650 Yamaha. Josh wanted to make a cool-looking dash and headlight bucket all in one piece, so the speedo, tacho, temperature gauge, choke, and ignition switch are all mounted onto the dash itself. And the hat tip to the original ‘plastic maggot’ fairing has not gone un-noticed… at least here in the Pipeburn offices.

“After most of the chassis was mocked up, I noticed the stock suspension and triple clamps made the bike look slightly like a chopper with its uphill stance. The stock triple clamps raised the stance 1 inch. So I found a set of CL360 clamps that (surprisingly) fit the frame with no modifications and it dropped the bike by 1 inch. It helped, but it still was not where I wanted it. I then shortened the forks 1 inch from the inside and installed 1 inch longer eye to eye shocks on the rear. By doing this, it gave the bike a great ‘bulldog’ look and made it look nice and level.”

The wheels were something that Josh took a chance on. He pre-drill holes 2 inches apart all the way around the wheel, powder coated them black, and then drilled them again for a highlighted look. With the white wall Shinko 777s, we think they came out pretty damn nice.

“Everything on the bike was done in-house, except the powder coat and upholstery. The paint credit goes to my dad, Randy Mott, and the photo credit goes to my girlfriend, Kate Robbins. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch.”

Don't blink! What not to miss at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014

One of our biggest challenges of the year is choosing what to include in our Goodwood Festival of Speed preview, such is the sheer wealth of entertainment on offer throughout the weekend. Here is this year’s attempt to narrow down our highlights into a ‘what not to miss’ at Goodwood guide...

Star cars

Where do we start? Well, before paying tribute to your favourite machines of yore, you might want to catch your first glimpse of their latest descendants. This year’s Festival debutants includeJaguar’s limited-production Project 7, the race-inspired Bentley Continental GT3-R, Morgan’s retro-tastic Plus 8 Speedster and the Aston Martin DP-100 concept, the latest in a series of ‘Visions’ made for the Gran Turismo video game. There’s also a new McLaren 650S by McLaren Special Operations, and a UK debut for the Maserati Alfieri and Centennial Editions. Visitors will also witness the first public coming-together of the LaFerrari, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder andKoenigsegg One:1 – a long-awaited battle made more exciting by the fact that the Supercar Run will be timed this year.

As well as watching the countless classic and historic racing cars giving their legs a rare stretch by bombing up the hill, you’ll also be able to acquire your own – should your bidding nouse outwit that of the others at the Bonhams auction, that is. Sale highlights include the ex-Graham Hill Lotus 49B, an ex-Works Ferrari 375-Plus and one of the rare Aston Martin ‘Ulsters’.

Anniversaries in abundance

Almost every event in this year’s calendar honours Maserati’s centenary in one way or another, and Goodwood will be doing this in the grandest manner possible: no fewer than 20 important cars from the storied manufacturer will climb the hill, with a class all to themselves. Other milestones to be celebrated include 60 years of the Jaguar D-type, 50 years of nail-biting racing at Goodwood from Derek Bell, and 120 years of Mercedes Racing – the latter marked not only by way of the centrepiece sculpture, but also the 18 cars being flown from the museum.

Historic heroes

With all these potent (and often priceless) machines storming up the hill, there will be plenty of professionals trying to ensure they remain on the narrow, ribbon-like asphalt. Derek Bell will celebrate his Goodwood golden jubilee by piloting a Bentley Continental GT V8 S. Meanwhile, John Surtees OBE will complete a tandem display with Kimi Räikkönen, both in their respective Championship-winning Ferraris. Other racing legends in action include Sir Jackie Stewart, Sir Stirling Moss, Emerson Fittipaldi, Damon Hill and Brian Redman, the latter of whom will be reunited with his Porsche 917 (albeit with period-altered bodywork). They’ll be joined by many of their modern-day F1 successors.

Oddities and rarities

If your motoring preferences are a little more... ‘style conscious’, the Cartier Style et Luxe display will be a priority destination. Now in its 20th year, the unmissable pageant again promises a “definitive celebration of fine automotive design” which, in previous years, has meant a fair few curiosities finding their way onto the lawn. This year will see dedicated classes for both 1950s Maserati GTs (with entrants bodied by Pininfarina, Zagato, Frua and Allemano) and a Mad Men-inspired group of ‘aspirational’ American two-seaters. There’ll no doubt be plenty of head-turning machines elsewhere, including the Maserati Tipo 151/3 – better-known as ‘the other Breadvan’ that was last seen (unpainted) at the 2012 Revival.

Beyond four wheels

As if there weren’t already enough cars to have you buzzing around all weekend, there will also be bikes, planes, helicopters – and goodness knows what else Lord March has in store. On the two-wheeled front, Giacomo Agostini will be showing off the talents that have made him the most successful GP racer ever. In the air, the Red Arrows will commemorate their 50th anniversary with a new sequence for the ever-engaging acrobatic display, as well as a new tailfin design.

The last remaining Avro Vulcan jet will also be in action, having undergone a revision to its wings that will keep it from being decommissioned for at least two more years – a £400,000 operation funded entirely by supporters. Thankful chief pilot Martin Withers has promised them and the other Festival attendees a spectacle in return: “I’ll turn her on her side and fly up Lord March’s drive, then ease the throttles up to 90 per cent to make her Olympus engines howl as we climb out.” To us, that alone sounds like reason enough for the trip to Chichester.

Photos: Classic Driver/Goodwood

Fancy a free ticket next year? There are plenty of Goodwood invitation-worthy cars for sale in the Classic Driver Market.