ERC ; Loix offre sa première victoire à la Skoda Fabia R5 à Ypres / Loix gives Škoda Fabia R5 maiden ERC win in Ypres

Freddy Loix a su effacer ses 30 secondes de retard pour inscrire sa 10e victoire au Rallye d’Ypres Kenotek by CID LINES, offrant ainsi à la Skoda Fabia R5 des débuts couronnés de réussite.

Copiloté par Johan Gitsels, Loix a su adapter son style de conduite pour compenser un manque de grip avec sa nouvelle voiture. En difficulté à chaque jonction serrée, il était pourtant pressenti comme un des grands favoris… Loix pointait en 5^e position après sept spéciales, à 25,8 secondes  du leader. Son premier temps scratch, le Belge l’a réalisé sur l’ES9. Et progressivement il va réduire l’écart qui le séparait de ses adversaires. La victoire fut assurée quand Craig Breen s’est retiré dans la 12^e spéciale. Loix a également profité des ennuis rencontrés par Stéphane Lefebvre, victime d’une crevaison sur cette même section, et par le leader Bryan Bouffier, contraint de s’arrêter pour changer de pneu dans l’ES15. Cette victoire est aussi synonyme de triomphe en ERC Asphalt Masters.

« Nous n’étions pas très rapides au début. Vu qu’il s’agissait d’une nouvelle voiture, nous avions besoin de nous habituer, a déclaré Loix.Je n’étais pas forcément en confiance avec les changements de direction mais nous avons travaillé dur avec le team et étape par étape nous l’avons fait ! Gagner le Rallye d’Ypres pour une 10^e fois  est quelque chose d’assez spécial. Pour un pilote de 40 ans, face à tous ces jeunes pilotes, ça n’est pas si mal. Ca restera un des moments forts de ma carrière. »

Bouffier a réalisé une très jolie prestation sur sa Citroën DS3 R5 et a su résister au retour de Loix, menant le classement avec 1,4 seconde d’avance à l’entame de de l’ES15. Malgré ce bon rythme, il perd l’équivalent de deux minutes dans un changement de pneus à la mi-spéciale. Il terminera néanmoins 2^e à 1’27’’5.

Vincent Verschueren a pu enfin conjurer le mauvais sort à Ypres en se classant 3^e de son épreuve nationale. Le Belge était un peu tendu sur la fin puisque sa Citroën DS3 R5 n’avait plus de première vitesse. Mais il n’a dévoilé cette défaillance qu’à la fin de la dernière spéciale de crainte que ses rivaux en profitent pour l’attaquer et qu’il ne puisse pas être en mesure de se défendre.

Freddy Loix came from almost 30 seconds behind to score a sensation 10th victory on the Kenotek by CID LINES Ypres Rally, and in doing so gives the ŠKODA Fabia R5 victory on its FIA European Rally Championship debut.

Co-driven by Johan Gitsels, Loix had to adapt his driving style to make up for a lack of mechanical grip with his new BMA-run car, which struggled to find the required grip coming out of the many tight T-junctions. Having been tipped as pre-event hot favourite, Loix was fifth overnight, 25.8 seconds behind the leader after seven stages. His first of five stage wins was only registered on SS9. But Loix gradually closed the gap on the cars ahead, and victory was assured when Craig Breen retired after SS12, Stéphane Lefebvre picked up a puncture on the same stage and leader Bryan Bouffier was forced to stop to change a puncture on SS15. Loix also scored maximum ERC Asphalt Masters points.

“We started not so quick, with a new car that we had to get used to,” said Loix. “It was not such a good feeling to start off with changing direction, but we worked very hard as a team and step-by-step we did it. To win the Ypres Rally for a tenth time is pretty special. For a 45-year old driver, twentieth time here, against all these young drivers, is not so bad! It is a highlight of my career.”

Bouffier had driven brilliantly in his Citroën DS3 R5, and despite the attacked by Loix held the lead by 1.4 seconds entering SS15. Such had been his pace, that even though he lost two minutes with his mid-stage tyre change, he still finished second, 1m 27.5s behind.

Vincent Verschueren put previous Ypres Rally bad luck behind him to finish third on his home round of the ERC. He had a nervous run to the finish, as his Citroën DS3 R5 had lost first gear – although he didn’t reveal that until the end of the final stage, as he didn’t want his rivals to know.

1		5	F. LOIX (BEL) J. GITSELS (BEL) SKODA FABIA R5		2:21:29.9	-:- -:-
2		4	B. BOUFFIER (FRA) T. DE LA HAYE (FRA) CITROËN DS3 R5	T	2:22:57.4	+1:27.5 +1:27.5
3		10	V. VERSCHUEREN (BEL) V. HOSTENS (BEL) CITROËN DS3 R5	T	2:23:32.4	+2:02.5 +35.0
4		9	B. MAGALHÃES (PRT) H. MAGALHÃES (PRT) PEUGEOT 208 T16		2:24:23.0	+2:53.1 +50.6
5		3	S. LEFEBVRE (FRA) S. PREVOT (BEL) PEUGEOT 208 T16	T	2:24:31.8	+3:01.9 +8.8
6		19	J. ORSÁK (CZE) D. SMEIDLER (CZE) SKODA FABIA S2000	T	2:24:50.7	+3:20.8 +18.9
7		12	J. TARABUS (CZE) D. TRUNKÁT (CZE) SKODA FABIA S2000	T	2:25:54.9	+4:25.0 +1:04.2
8		20	D. DUQUESNE (BEL) F. CUVELIER (BEL) FORD FIESTA R5	T	2:27:16.1	+5:46.2 +1:21.2
9		14	M. MCCORMACK (GBR) J. O'REILLY (IRL) SKODA FABIA S2000		2:27:18.1	+5:48.2 +2.0
10		17	D. VANNESTE (BEL) E. SNAET (BEL) FORD FIESTA R5	T	2:27:18.2 [0:20]	+5:48.3 +0.1

Ex-Works Aston Martin leads the way at Bonhams' Goodwood sale

Some 90 cars will go under the gavel at Bonhams’ Goodwood Festival of Speed sale this Friday, held in the environs of Lord March’s stately home. We’ve perused the two-part catalogue to bring you our favourites…

Spearheading the sale are the Aston Martin Works Ulster LM19 and the Porsche RS-61 Spyder, the latter owned by Sir Stirling Moss and, appropriately, warranting its own separate catalogue. Eligible for almost every event on the classic calendar, the Aston presents an extremely rare opportunity to purchase one of four LM19 'Team Cars', considered the ultimate specification Ulster. With Le Mans, Mille Miglia, RAC Tourist Trophy and Grand Prix history, it’s estimated at a hefty £1.6-2.2m. 

Big hitters

While the Porsche’s competition background is perhaps not as prestigious, it was prominent and extremely successful in the hands of Bob Holbert across America in the early 1960s. And being the final car in which Moss raced before his retirement in 2011, we can’t imagine auctioneer James Knight will have to work the room too hard to reach the car’s £1.7m lower estimate. 

Endangered species

Believe it or not, there are no particularly notable Ferraris to speak of – we're sure this will be rectified come Monterey. Of the selection on offer, we like the black matching-numbers Dino 246GT (£250,000-300,000) and, though a little untidy (and on the wrong wheels), the right-hand-drive 308 GTB Vetroresina (estimated at £60,000-80,000) could be a good buy given the glassfibre cars' current buoyancy in the market.

Perfect Porsches

Deemed an entirely ‘perfect’ design by its owner, the ‘father of pop art’ Richard Hamilton, the black-over-black Porsche 911 S 2.7 is about as good as it gets for a non-RS 911, reflected in its £250,000-300,000 estimate. Other Porsches that took our eye include James May’s 911 Carrera 3.2(£28,000-34,000), and a two-owner 930 3.3 Turbo boasting its original paint and interior, plus a scant 13,000km on the clock (£100,000-130,000). 

Get involved...

If you were taken with our stunning gallery of the International Bugatti Meeting in Provence last week, the 1929 Type 40 ‘Grand Sport’ (£120,000-150,000) is a potential entry for next year’s rally in Switzerland. Given the extremely positive reception the rare, unmolested Morris Mini Minor (est. £6,000-10,000) received on our social media channels, we simply had to include it here.

The ultimate soft-top Aston?

Billed by Bonhams as ‘the ultimate soft-top Aston Martin’ (though we’re not entirely sure we’d agree), the 1988 V8 Vantage Volante shows a scant 14k miles, and has been maintained by Aston Martin Works service since 2011. Resplendent in tasteful Tungsten Silver, it’s estimated at a healthy £200,000-250,000. Elsewhere, there’s an ultra-rare Mercedes CLK GTR Roadster (£1.4-1.8m), a clearly cared-for Audi Quattro Sport (£200,000-250,000), and an ex-Autodelta – though not matching numbers – Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm (£220,000-300,000).

Proceeds of crime

Finally, we must mention the four Ferraris (and one Rolls-Royce) consigned by the National Crime Agency to be sold under the Proceeds of Crime Act, most notably the c.2004 Enzo (est. £600,000-800,000). Though elements of its history are confusing (perhaps inevitable given its dubious owner?), it shows just 1,285 miles on the clock and has recently been serviced. Tempted? 

Photos: Bonhams

Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed sale takes place this Friday at the Goodwood Festival of Speed near Chichester. You can find the full catalogue listed in the Classic Driver Market. 

750..........

What not to miss at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Goodwood-bound for the Festival of Speed this weekend? Here’s what not to miss at Lord March’s garden-party-like-no-other…

Derek Bell reunited with his Le Mans-winning Mirage

It’s been 40 years since Derek Bell scored his first of five victories at Le Mans, driving the Gulf Mirage GR8 alongside Jacky Ickx. Given the ‘Flat-out and Fearless’ theme at this year’s Festival, we can’t think of a more apt event to celebrate. Derek will drive the car – which, save for a cracked exhaust and serious vibration from the engine, tackled the gruelling race without fault – on all three days.

The Mazda 787B

We were thrilled to hear that Mazda is the featured marque this year. Many don’t realise the Japanese company’s rich motorsport heritage, so it will be great to see treasures that rarely appear in Europe brought over from Japan especially for the Festival. Already confirmed is the rotary-engined 787B, a car almost as famous for its distinctive wail as its Le Mans victory. Make sure you’re trackside when it makes its runs up the hill. Oh, and bring some earplugs.

Debuts galore

As is traditional, many manufacturers choose the impossibly narrow, straw-bale-lined Goodwood hillclimb to debut their latest wares (completely illogical, isn’t it?). Among those already announced is the Morgan EV3, a targa-topped Singer, the Aston Martin Vulcan and DB9 GT, the McLaren 570S, and the Ferrari 488GTB. Perhaps most exciting is that both McLaren and Ferrari’s track-only halo hypercars, the P1 GTR and FXX K, will contest the hill. We’re sure someone will have the stopwatches running. 

Forest Rally Stage

We know it’s a long trek up the hill, but if you do one thing this weekend, make sure you head up to the Forest Rally Stage. There’s nothing quite like hiking deep into the woods to find a spot from which to watch rally cars of all ages slithering around a chalky track at full tilt. What’s more, the tree cover acts as a natural roof, meaning the exhaust bark, turbo whooshes and gunshot-like backfires are all emphasised in a cacophonous orgy of noise, colour and dust. You’ll discover exactly what we mean…

100-year-old FIAT S76 on the hill

The ultra-technical Goodwood hillclimb will this year be tackled by the unofficial fastest car in the world… from 1911. Featured as part of a new class named ‘Earth-shattering Edwardian leviathans’, the monstrous 28-litre Fiat S76 was the Italian marque’s weapon to defeat the ‘Blitzen’ Benzes’ flying mile and kilometre records. The ‘Beast of Turin’, as it's otherwise known, has been subject to a 10-year restoration and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser this weekend, as it thunders up the hill.

Seven (of eight) Mercedes 300 SLRs

Stirling Moss and and Denis Jenkinson’s near-100mph-average Mille Miglia victory in 1955 is now automotive lore, but what of the car in which they achieved it? Considered by Moss to be the finest sports car he ever drove, seven of the eight Mercedes 300 SLRs built will be present at Goodwood this weekend to celebrate 60 years since that momentous win – a coup only Lord March could pull off. And yes, Moss will be reunited with ‘722’, in what is sure to be one of the moments of the weekend. 

Photos: Goodwood Motor Circuit, Mercedes-Benz, Tim Brown, The Derek Bell Collection, Amy Shore.

WTCC ; La joie d’une pole à domicile pour Loeb / Loeb stuns for WTCC pole in France with sizzling sub-record lap

Sébastien Loeb s’élancera en pole position de la JVC KENWOOD WTCC Race of France grâce à un tour impeccable réalisé en qualifications au Castellet.

Loeb devance ses équipiers chez Citroën Yvan Muller, José María López et Ma Qing Hua. La marque d’une totale domination du constructeur français sur ses terres. Tom Chilton, au volant de sa Chevrolet privée, complète le Top-5 et domine le Trophée Yokohama.

Sébastien Loeb will start his home round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship on pole position following a red-hot Qualifying for JVC KENWOOD WTCC Race of France at Circuit Paul Ricard this afternoon, during which the Frenchman showed why he is one of the most crowned champions in motorsport. Loeb also beat last year’s pole time by three-tenths of a second to underline his sensational performance for Citroën.

In ambient temperatures of 32 degrees centigrade, Loeb, the nine-time world rally champion, stunned his Citroën team-mates and WTCC title chasers Yvan Muller and José María López to snatch his first top spot of the season, with Ma Qing Hua locking out the front two rows of the grid for the French make. Tom Chilton topped the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy in fifth, one place ahead of fellow Chevrolet Cruze pilot Hugo Valente.

Loeb has never previously started a WTCC race from the DHL-presented pole position, making his achievement particularly satisfying. It also came at the venue where he made his circuit racing debut in 1997.

He said: “I certainly didn’t expect to be sitting on pole tonight when I woke up this morning. It was really intense, because we saw already from the start of Qualifying that it would be very, very tight – as we already knew it would be from before. You have to take a few risks and this is what I did. I made a little mistake in turn nine but in the end I actually gained some time because of that, as I pushed really hard in the entry. I made the difference in the last sector so maybe it was good to do it like this. It’s always difficult for me since the start of the season to fight with my two team-mates in qualifying because they are always able to put everything together and I am struggling. But today I was able to do it and I’m really happy for that.”

Citroën drivers have now taken pole for all seven rounds of the season so far but with the performance gap between its different drivers shrinking all the time, as the balance of power shifts from race to race.

Tom Chilton was fifth in his ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet as the top Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy contender, a result that delighted the Englishman. “At the start of the session I was a little bit nervous,” he said. “I thought there was a good chance we would be outside of the top 10. But then I saw that we were all separated by just tenths of a second – so I realised that we even had a chance of pole.”

French up-and-coming talent Hugo Valente was sixth in a similar Chevrolet, ahead of two Honda Civic WTCCs driven by former F1 driver Tiago Monteiro from Portugal and Hungarian Norbert Michelisz. LADA’s Jaap van Lagen is ninth while P10 for Moroccan privateer Mehdi Bennani – albeit by 0.015s ahead of Grégoire Demoustier – means that he will start the reverse grid second race from pole for Sébastien Loeb Racing.

A broken suspension part restricted Rob Huff to Q3 and caused the Briton to spin into a water-filled barrier. Stefano D’Aste and Nicky Catsburg also suffered off-track moments while Tom Coronel just missed out on a spot in Q2, as did Gabriele Tarquini. Honda Racing team Sweden’s Rickard Rydell was P17 ahead of his WTCC centenary race on Sunday afternoon. John Filippi completes the list of runners.

Qualifying points: Sébastien Loeb (5pts); Yvan Muller: 4pts; José María López: 3; 3; Ma Qing Hua 2; Tom Chilton (1).

16ÈME RALLYE TERRE DE LANGRES HAUTE-MARNE - ETAPE 1 ; Jean-Marie Cuoq reçu 4 sur 4 !

                                     

Vainqueur des quatre spéciales programmées aujourd’hui, Jean-Marie Cuoq (Citroën C4 WRC) n’a pas fait de détails ! A l’issue de la première étape, il devance Lionel Baud (Ford Fiesta WRC) et Cyrille Féraud (Citroën Xsara WRC). En Championnat Deux Roues Motrices, c’est Jean-Paul Monnin qui mène la danse devant Emmanuel Gascou et Stéphane Consani, tous trois sur des Peugeot 208 R2. Révélation du début de saison en 208 Rally Cup, Jose Suarez continue sur sa lancée puisqu’il a dominé cette première étape de la tête et des épaules.

Les pronostics n’ont pas été déjoués sur la première étape du Rallye Terre de Langres Haute-Marne ! Archi favori, Jean-Marie Cuoq n’a laissé aucune miette à ses adversaires en remportant les 4 spéciales du jour. Parti prudemment sur la première boucle pour ne pas se faire piéger en balayant, le pilote de la Citroën C4 WRC a haussé le ton dans l’après-midi pour augmenter son avance sur Lionel Baud. Troisième à Langres l’an passé, le Haut-Savoyard est pour l’instant en phase avec ses ambitions annoncées avant l’épreuve, à savoir faire mieux qu'en 2014 !

Derrière ces deux hommes au dessus du lot aujourd’hui, l’écart est saisissant car Cyrille Féraud pointe à plus de 2 minutes de la tête de course. Auteur d’une course sage pour son deuxième rallye au volant de la Citroën Xsara WRC, Cyrille Féraud est solidement accroché à la troisième place.

Alors qu’il regrettait l’absence d’Arnaud Mordacq lors de la conférence de presse, Stephan Codou n’a pas perdu le rythme malgré l’absence son adversaire favori ! Quatrième ce soir, le Gardois domine largement en Groupe N, malgré une petite erreur commise dans l’ES3 (tout droit).

Brillant leader de la 208 Rally Cup, Jose Suarez occupe une superbe cinquième place au général devant Jean-Marc Falco (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9), dernier pilote classé dans le top 10 au volant d’une 4 roues motrices !

En effet, ce ne sont pas moins de 4 208 R2 qui complètent le top 10 ! Jean-Paul Monnin, qui occupe par ailleurs la tête en Deux Roues Motrices ce soir, est septième en devançant Emmanuel Gascou, Stéphane Consani et François-Xavier Blanc.

Si Jean-Marie Cuoq et Lionel Baud ont tué tout suspense en ce qui concerne la victoire, en Deux Roues Motrices la bataille fait rage. Les 4 pensionnaires de la 208 Rally Cup cités précédemment occupent les quatre premières places en devançant Vincent Dubert (Citroën DS3 R3), leader du Championnat avant cette épreuve. Au terme de cette première journée, ces trois hommes sont regroupés en moins de 13 secondes, ce qui promet pour demain !

Les réactions

Jean-Marie Cuoq (Citroën C4 WRC), leader : « Avec une année de roulage, je connais désormais tous les réglages sur la Citroën C4 WRC. Cela m’a bien aidé aujourd’hui pour me remettre vite dans le bain ! On a creusé l’écart assez rapidement sur les deux premières spéciales. Les pistes étaient balayées au deuxième passage, le grip était bon et nous avons continué à attaquer pour augmenter notre avance. Demain, il faudra être prudent. »

Lionel Baud (Ford Fiesta WRC), deuxième : « Malheureusement, je suis toujours deuxième derrière Jean-Marie ! Cet homme est redoutable avec sa C4 WRC. Je peux rouler plus vite je pense mais je n’aurai pas assez de marge de sécurité. Je dois améliorer ma prise de notes pour demain… »

Cyrille Féraud (Citroën Xsara WRC), troisième : « Nous sommes troisièmes ce soir et c’est déjà très bien. En plus, nous avons pas mal d’avance sur nos poursuivants. Il faudrait essayer de se rapprocher un peu plus des leaders, mais je veux continuer à me familiariser avec la voiture… »

Jean-Paul Monnin (Peugeot 208 R2), leader provisoire en Championnat de France des Rallyes Terre Deux Roues Motrices : « Ce soir, je suis deuxième en 208 Rally Cup où il y a un gros niveau ! Je vais tout faire pour terminer sur le podium de la formule de promotion. Si tout va bien ce serait également synonyme de victoire en Championnat Deux Roues Motrices ! On verra demain si on peut faire cette ‘double’ bonne opération ! »

Jose Suarez (Peugeot 208 R2), leader provisoire de la 208 Rally Cup : « Aujourd’hui, j’avais un bon feeling avec la voiture. Je suis vraiment content car j’ai tout donné mais demain la journée sera longue. Il ne faudra pas de déconcentrer car derrière ça va très vite. Il faudra donc attaquer et ne pas baisser le rythme sous peine de faire une erreur… »

Classement provisoire :
1.Jean-Marie Cuoq - Marielle Grandemange (Citroën C4 WRC), A8W en 38:53:4
2.Lionel Baud - Pascal Serre (Ford Fiesta WRC), A8W + 23:4
3.Cyrille Féraud - Aymeric Duchemin (Citroën Xsara WRC), A8W +2:00:3
4.Stephan Codou - Stéphane Triaire (Subaru Impreza), N4 + 3:11:1
5.José Suarez - Candido Carrera (Peugeot 208 R2), R2 + 3:14:1
6.Jean-Marc Falco - Jonathan Boheri (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9), R4 + 3:31:7
7.Jean-Paul Monnin - Franck Gilliot (Peugeot 208 R2), R2 + 3:47:6
8.Emmanuel Gascou - Céline Chapus (Peugeot 208 R2), R2 + 3:52:7
9.Stéphane Consani - Lara Vanneste (Peugeot 208 R2), R2 + 3:53:8
10.François-Xavier Blanc - Gilles De Turckeim (Peugeot 208 R2), R2 + 3:55:8

Meilleurs temps :
Jean-Marie Cuoq (Citroën C4 WRC) : 4

Leader :
ES 1 à 4 : Jean-Marie Cuoq (Citroën C4 WRC)

Principaux abandons :
Laurent Fouques (Subaru Impreza) : Mécanique dans ES2
Jordan Berfa (Peugeot 208 R2) : Suite sortie après ES2
Kévin Bochatay (Peugeot 208 R2) : Mécanique dans ES3
Jacky Chassaniol (Citroën Saxo T4) : Mécanique après ES2

Yamaha Return to Wheels & Waves 2015

Yamaha returned to Biarritz this summer to participate in the annual Wheels & Waves motorcycle and surf event for the second time. Bringing a host of new Yard Built motorcycles, including an XV950 Side Car from Deus Ex Machina and an XJR1300 from Numbnut Motorcycles. Yamaha also used the occasion to launch the Faster Sons concept with legendary Japanese custom bike builder Shinya Kimura.

The Kings of Winter - Malle London

While the rest of us wait for summer, a few men and their machines defy winter and take to the ice.

We'd been tipped off about the race the day before - we traveled up to a huge lake 2 hours from the Canadian border - when the ice is thick enough a small group of motorcycle riders spread the word and meet in the middle of the lake. This is the story of that race.

The Kings of Winter - Malle London from MALLE London on Vimeo.

Find out more about the story in the Malle Journal at mallelondon.com/the-kings-of-winter