BLANCPAIN GT SERIES 24H Spa : 66 GT3 et des grands noms au départ !

 par Laurent Mercier (Endurance-Info.com)

A la veille du test day officiel de la classique belge programmé ce mercredi 24 juin, la liste des engagés pour l’édition 2015 des Total 24 Hours of Spa est pratiquement finalisée. Plusieurs grands noms de l’endurance rejoindront les habitués de la Blancpain Endurance Series fin juillet pour participer à ce qui s’annonce déjà comme une édition historique.

Avec un nouveau record de 28 voitures engagées en Pro Cup, il est clair que la lutte pour la victoire lors des Total 24 Hours of Spa 2015 sera plus intense que jamais. Surtout que quelques spécialistes de l’endurance ne disputant que cette épreuve-phare de la Blancpain Endurance Series viendront affronter les concurrents réguliers du championnat. Ainsi, le Phoenix Racing pourra compter sur le renfort d’André Lotterer. Le plus Belge des Allemands, triple vainqueur aux 24H du Mans, rejoindra sur l’Audi #6 son comparse de longue date (et ancien vainqueur à Spa) Marcel Fässler et Mike Rockenfeller, qui affiche lui aussi un beau palmarès en endurance. L’autre voiture de l’équipe allemande verra les deux nouveaux- venus aux Total 24 Hours of Spa que sont Christian Mamerow et Nicki Thiim rejoindre l’ex- champion de la Blancpain Endurance Series Christopher Mies.

Marlus Winkelhock passera dans le clan du Belgian Audi Club Team WRT pour les Total 24 Hours of Spa en assistant Laurens Vanthoor et René Rast au volant de l’une des quatre nouvelles Audi R8 LMS. C’est la première fois que ce trio sera reformé depuis leur victoire arrachée sur le fil lors de l’édition 2014 du double tour d’horloge des Ardennes.

Passé tellement près du succès l’an dernier, le BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS est de retour avec deux BMW Z4 GT3. Si l’on en juge par sa performance lors de la Blancpain Endurance Series 1000 sur le Circuit Paul-Ricard samedi dernier, l’équipe belge sera au rendez-vous et est plus motivée que jamais à remporter un premier succès à domicile.

Un autre Belge visera un résultat de choix en Pro Cup : Nico Verdonck. Le Bruxellois fera en effet équipe avec Adam Christodoulou et un troisième pilote encore à confirmer au volant de la Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 #29 de l’équipe Black Falcon. Voilà encore un trio à placer parmi les outsiders pour le podium final !

Dans la Pro-Am Cup, forte de 25 engagés, l’équipe australienne Lago Racing emmènera sa Lamborghini Gallardo à Spa avec la superstar du V8 Supercar Craig Lowndes (qui a remporté sa 100e victoire le week-end dernier) parmi les pilotes.

De même, la formation britannique Motion Performance rejoint également le peloton avec une Aston Martin Vantage GT3 alors qu’AF Corse alignera une Ferrari 458 pour le quatuor Bruni-Pier Guidi-Lathouras-Lémeret, un équipage qui visera certainement la victoire dans sa catégorie. Enfin, c’est aussi en Pro-Am que l’on retrouvera la BMW du projet « Racing against Cancer » de Pascal Witmeur, le Belge voulant attirer l’attention sur cette maladie. Il sera épaulé par trois pilotes qui ont gagné pas moins de 12 éditions des Total 24 Hours of Spa : Eric van de Poele, Jean-Michel Martin en Marc Duez.

Stéphane Lémeret ne sera pas le seul pilote belge qui voudra réussir un one-shot à Spa. Frédéric Bouvy a le même objectif, mais en Am Cup. Pour sa 21e participation, celui qui remporta l’épreuve deux fois lorsqu’elle était réservée aux voitures de tourisme renforcera l’équipage de la BMW #30 de Classic & Modern Racing.

Avec un total de 66 voitures sur la liste des engagés, les Total 24 Hours of Spa devraient proposer un maximum de spectacle et de suspense dans les trois catégories tout au long du double tour d’horloge. Si vous pensiez que l’écart de sept secondes entre le vainqueur et son dauphin en 2014 fut unique et n’a aucune chance de se reproduire, peut-être allez vous devoir revoir votre jugement le dimanche 26 juillet…

PRO-CUP (28)
1	Audi Sport Team WRT	Audi R8 LMS	Winkelhock-Rast-Vanthoor
2	Audi Sport Team WRT	Audi R8 LMS	Stippler-Ortelli-Müller
3	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi R8 LMS ultra	Frijns-Vernay-Richelmi
5	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi R8 LMS	Mamerow-Mies-Thiim
6	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi R8 LMS	Fässler-Lotterer-Rockenfeller
7	Bentley M-Sport	Bentley Continental GT3	Smith-Kane-Meyrick
8	Bentley M-Sport	Bentley Continental GT3	Soucek-Soulet-Buhk
9	ROAL Motorsport	BMW Z4 GT3	Zanardi-Glock-Spengler
19	Grasser Racing Team	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Babini-Palmer-Mul
21	Black Falcon	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3	Al Faisal-Haupt-Buurman
23	Nissan GT Academy Team RJN	Nissan GT-R GT3 NISMO	Buncombe-Reip-Chiyo
29	Black Falcon	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3	Verdonck-Christodoulou-TBA
35	Saintéloc Racing	Audi R8 LMS ultra	Guilvert-Sandström-Basseng
44	Oman Racing Team	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	AlHarthy-Adam-Llyod
45	BMW Sports Trophy Marc VDS	BMW Z4 GT3	Martin-Farfus-TBA
46	BMW Sports Trophy Marc VDS	BMW Z4 GT3	Palttala-Catsburg-TBA
55	Attempto Racing	McLaren 650S GT3	Thuner-Armindo-Ramos
58	Von Ryan Racing	McLaren 650S GT3	van Gisbergen-Estre-Bell
59	Von Ryan Racing	McLaren 650S GT3	Parente-Quaife Hobbs-Senna
63	Grasser Racing Team	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Zaugg-Bortolotti-Venturini
73	MRS GT Racing	Nissan GT-R GT3 NISMO	Walkinshaw-Dolby-Plowan
75	I.S.R.	Audi R8 LMS ultra	Salaquarda-Bonanomi-Vervisch
77	BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil	BMW Z4 GT3	Jimenez-Fraga-Bueno
83	Bentley Team HTP	Bentley Continental GT3	TBA-TBA-TBA
84	Bentley Team HTP	Bentley Continental GT3	Abril-Parisy-Primat
98	ROWE Racing	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3	Sylvest-Jäger-Dontje
99	ROWE Racing	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3	Bastian-Juncadella-Dusseldorp
333	Rinaldi Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Seefried-Siedler-Salikhov

PRO-AM CUP (25)
4	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi R8 LMS ultra	Bottemanne-Koebolt-Schothorst-Nash
11	Kessel Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Broniszewski-Bonacini-Lyons
12	TDS Racing	BMW Z4 GT3	Beche-Perera-Dermont-Hassid
14	Emil Frey Racing	Emil Frey Jaguar	Barth-Frey-Gardel-Hirschi
17	Insight Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Andersen-Jensen-TBA
18	Black Falcon	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3	Engel-Morley-Johnston
22	Nissan GT Academy RJN	Nissan GT-R GT3 NISMO	Sanchez-Paletou-Shulzhitskiy-Pla
32	Leonard Motorsport AMR	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	Leonard-Meadows-Mücke-Onslow Cole
33	Car Collection Motorsport	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3	Schmidt-Toril-Heyer-Seyffarth
41	Sport Garage	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Guibbert-Vannelet-Santamato-TBA
47	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Bruni-Lathouras-Lémeret-Pier Guidi
51	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Cameron-Griffin-Guedes-TBA
52	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	De Leener-Sbirrazzuoli-TBA-TBA
53	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Perazzini-Cioci-Potolicchio-TBA
54	Attempto Racing	McLaren MP4-12C GT3	Yazbik-Borches-Alvares
55	Attempto Racing	McLaren 650S GT3	Gitlin-Ramos-Chukanov
70	GT Russian Team	Mercedes SLS AMG	Karachev-Schneider-TBA-TBA
71	GT Russian Team	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3	Asmer-Vasiliev-TBA-TBA
78	Team Russia by Barwell	BMW Z4 GT3	Cocker-Keen-Minshaw-Machitski
79	Ecurie Ecosse	BMW Z4 GT3	Modell-MacCaig-Bryant-Sims
100	DragonSpeed	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Julian-Hedman-Lazzaro-Dalziel
132	Lago Racing	Lamborghini Gallardo	Lago-Lowndes-Russell-Owen
152	Motion Performance	Aston Martin Vantage	Storey-Gower-Shedden-TBA
888	Triple Eight Racing	BMW Z4 GT3	Mowle-Osborne-Ratcliffe-Müller
TBC	BMW Racing Against Cancer	BMW Z4 GT3	Witmeur-Martin-Duez-van de Poele

AM CUP (13)
10	Team AKKA-ASP	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Bourret-Gibon-Belloc-Polette
15	Boutsen Ginion Racing	BMW Z4 GT3	Ojjeh-Grotz-TBA-TBA
16	Sport Garage	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	TBA-TBA-TBA-TBA
24	Team Parker Racing	Audi R8 LMS ultra	Loggie-Westwood-Simonsen-MacLeod
25	Glorax Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Mastronardi-Birzhin-Mancini-TBA
28	Delahaye Racing	Porsche 911 GT3-R	Bordet-Viron-Orgeval-TBA
30	Classic & Modern Racing	BMW Z4 GT3	Hirschi-Kelders-Blanchemain-Bouvy
36	Saintéloc Racing	Audi R8 LMS ultra	Buffin-Cabannes-Lallement
49	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Mallegol-Blank-Bachelier-TBA
50	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Moiseev-Kondakov-Ragazzi-TBA
56	Attempto Racing	Porsche 911 GT3-R	Häring-Kostandinou-Schmickler-TBA
111	Kessel Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Earle-Talbot-Zanuttini-TBA
TBC	Duqueine Engineering	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3	Duqueine-Brandela

WRC, Rally Poland, ES7 : Ogier repasse en tête

La plus longue spéciale du rallye (39,12 km) a permis à Sébastien Ogier de reprendre les commandes du Rallye de Pologne pour 1.7 seconde devant Mikkelsen et 2.4 secondes sur Tanak.

Il a rarement fait aussi chaud aux confins de la Pologne, de la Russie et de la Lituanie. Même les cigognes cherchent désespérément un peu d’ombre.

La spéciale n°7, Stanczyski, est la plus longue du rallye avec près de 40 kilomètres à parcourir sur un rythme élevé. Cette spéciale est vraiment magnifique, peut-être la plus belle du rallye.Pour ce second passage, Sébastien Ogier bénéficiait de pistes balayées. Et le Français est passé à l’attaque.

En 18min58s2, il a remporté cette spéciale avec 1s2 d’avance sur Jari-Matti Latvala et 4s4 sur Mikkelsen, et repris les commandes du rallye devant le Norvégien : « On a fait un choix de pneus un peu trop agressif en soft », déclarait le double champion du monde à l’arrivée, alors que Latvala louait la robustesse du pneu LTX Force Michelin après avoir tapé dans un trou.

Les concurrents qui ont privilégié un choix de pneus soft cet après-midi ont quelque peu souffert sur cette longue spéciale, comme Elfyn Evans, Kris Meeke ou encore le leader Ott Tanak, relégué à 16 secondes. L’Estonien se retrouve désormais 3^e au général à 2s4 d’Ogier.

Les quatre premiers sont groupés en moins de 10 secondes puisque Jari-Matti Latvala (VW) est 4^e à 9s5. Hayden Paddon, qui a chaussé des pneus hard, est 5^e devant son équipier Thierry Neuville (6^e) et Robert Kubica (7^e). Ces trois-là sont groupés en moins de 5 secondes.

Morgan’s EV3 concept shocks the 3 Wheeler into the 21st Century

Set to be revealed at Goodwood this weekend, the EV3 concept is the second fully electric car from Morgan, and is said to take an entirely different approach to electric motoring, with more emphasis placed on fun…

When we think about it, the 3 Wheeler is an ideal candidate to be ‘electrified’. At just 450kg, the electric 3 Wheeler is even lighter than its combustion-engined counterpart, and with a single 75kW electric motor (delivering circa 100bhp to the rear wheel), its range is apparently in the region of 150 miles – that's rather impressive. We’d be lying if we said we wouldn’t miss that rorty V-twin, though. Now, where are our goggles?

You can find several non-electrified Morgan 3 Wheelers for sale in the Classic Driver Market. 

WRC, Rally Poland, ES4 : Tanak leader en Pologne / Tanak in front

Les concurrents ont déjà parcouru trois spéciales ce matin. L’Estonien Ott Tanak (Ford/Michelin) est leader devant trois Volkswagen, Andreas Mikkelsen (+4s9), Sébastien Ogier (+10s5) et Jari-Matti Latvala (+12s2).

Une centaine de kilomètres séparent Mikolajki de l’arrivée de Babki (ES4, 14,65 km) à travers la campagne polonaise, un peu plus si l’on suit les « grands » axes via Elk et Olecko. C’est l’option que nous avons choisie aujourd’hui, après avoir emprunté les voies vicinales qui cheminent de lacs en lacs pendant les reconnaissances.

La première spéciale, Gorklo (13 km) a été remportée par Andreas Mikkelsen (VW) et le Norvégien a pris la tête du rallye devant Tanak et Ogier. Puis Goldap (14,75 km) a profité à Ott Tanak (Ford) qui, à son tour, a pris les rênes de l’épreuve pour 1/10^e de seconde !

C’est donc séparé par une dizaine de secondes que le top-ten s’est présenté au départ de Babki (ES4), une spéciale qui propose une alternance de parties larges et étroites, sur des pistes tantôt dures, tantôt soft. La fin est ultra-rapide.

Avec nos stickers bleus, verts, jaunes et orange collés sur le pare-brise, on était confiant pour accéder à l’arrivée de Babki. Mais il nous manquait le ROUGE ! Nous avons donc dû rebrousser chemin pour accéder à un point-spectateurs, à environ 3 km du départ.

Le passage valait le coup d’œil avec une longue ligne-droite et un freinage hyper violent pour une épingle droite. Emporté par sa fougue, Andreas Mikkelsen est allé toucher le talus extérieur, alors qu’Hayden Paddon et Ott Tanak ont sans doute réalisé les deux plus beaux passages.

Ott Tanak, qui bénéficie de piste nettoyées, a remporté sa seconde spéciale d’affilée devant les VW d’Ogier et Mikkelsen, et les Hyundai de Neuville et Paddon. Au général, l’Estonien est leader devant Mikkelsen, Ogier et Latvala. Hayden Paddon et Kris Meeke se disputent la dernière place du top-5 provisoire.

After this morning’s three stages, Estonia’s Ott Tanak (Ford/Michelin) tops the order in Poland, chased by Volkswagen’s Andreas Mikkelsen (+4.9s), Sébastien Ogier (+10.5s) and Jari-Matti Latvala (+12.2s).

The run from Mikolajki to the end of ‘Babki’ (SS4, 14.65km) is about 100km if you drive through the Polish countryside. It’s a little longer if you use the main roads via Elk and Olecko, but that’s the option we chose today after exploring the smaller roads that take you via some picturesque lakes during recce.

Today’s first stage (‘Gorklo’, 13km) was won by Mikkelsen (VW) who emerged briefly in front, ahead of Tanak and Ogier. The visit to ‘Goldap’ (14.75km) saw the lead become the property of Ott Tanak (Ford) by just one-tenth of a second!

The top 10 were covered by around 10 seconds at the start of SS4 (‘Babki’), a mixture of wide and narrow lanes on alternately hard-packed and soft ground. The final part of the stage is extremely fast.

We were pretty sure we would be authorised to drive to the Stop Control thanks to the blue, green, yellow and orange stickers we have on the windscreen. But no, we didn’t have the RED one, so we had to drive back to a spectator point, about three kilometres into the test.

That said, it was a great viewing spot, with a long straight feeding into a right-hand hairpin for which the drivers had to be very hard on the brakes. Mikkelsen hit the bank on the outside of the turn, while Hayden Paddon and Tanak were the two most spectacular drivers.

Tanak, who has the benefit of cleaner conditions, went on to claim his second straight stage win ahead of VW’s Ogier and Mikkelsen and Hyundai duo Neuville and Paddon.

The Estonian currently tops the overall leaderboard, followed by Mikkelsen, Ogier and Latvala. Paddon and Kris Meeke are battling hard for fifth.

MACCO MOTORS FOXY LADY

Billionaire. Has a nice ring to it, usually. That is until images of gambling fat cats in pinstripe suits spring to mind. Each to their own and all that but we prefer human stories of endeavour, and shed based ones all the better. At Bike Shed London we met a bunch of awesome people, one being John Bloor. A chap who started his working life as a plasterer and in 1983 scraped together £150,000 to buy Triumph Motorcycles from the receivers. Let us all rejoice that the man must have infinite vision, unwavering determination and balls the size of planets. Last year one in every five new motorcycles bought in the U.K. was a Triumph and globally nearly 55,000 units were built and sold.

O.K. so this is starting to sound like some poorly prepared investor presentation but we have a lot to thank John and his team for. Without this modern base for customisers, builders and shed fettlers to work on a large void would exist in the current custom scene. The Bonneville and Scrambler are so frequent on our pages for very good reason, they’re a great bike, period.

Two other guys we met were Jose and Tito from Macco Motors in Cadiz, Spain. What they lack in comparative zeros on the bank balance they more than make up for in charisma and craftsmanship. They don’t just build Triumphs but when they do, the formula works and customers keep ordering more. The Foxy Lady was supposed to be a build for the guys to enjoy for themselves, but customers pay the bills so the spec changed to suit.

The donor in question is a 2010 Bonnie T100 EFi, that was offered in very good original condition. Jose and Tito don’t hold stock but prefer to find the right donor to match the owner’s budget and expectations. It’s now commonplace for a prospective customer to source a bike from their home market, ship to the builder of choice for the work to be carried out, and then ship it back, reducing the time and admin of re-registering the bike. Although here in the U.K. the DVLA are pretty well set up for importing and the process is electronic and simple. This Foxy Lady is bound for home shores but a sister bike will soon be sent across the pond to Miami.

One component that is subject to the budget constraints of mass manufacturing in a competitive global market is the forks. Gold anodised Scando-suspenders suggest quality to the masses but the associated costs of fitting such exotic parts wouldn’t yield the aforementioned sales figures, so the Bonneville leaves Hinkley rolling on a perfectly good set of conventional forks, fit for the majority of real world situations. Custom customers are a bit more demanding so a pair of upsidedowners were liberated from a Ducati Monster 1100 EVO, complete with Brembo radials, Free Spirits triple trees enable simple fitment, and look the business black anodised matching the painted fork legs. They might not be gold either but the rear shocks are by Öhlins and fully adjustable.

To give that second Brembo disc a home a Thunderbird hub was laced to a 19″ rim and the spindle re-machined, this thing should stop on a Peseta. Metzeler Tourance dual sport rubber grip well in all conditions and come with just the slightest whiff of off-road without screaming faux-scrambler. The tall front wheel, squat forks and de-cluttered cockpit give a hunkered-down, beefy look. We like that. Biltwell bars with LSL clubman grips, a single mini speedo, race levers and a Bates headlight sit well alongside the stock switchgear.

The Triumph subframe is an easy one to plug the ends and leave as is, but it always looks infinitely neater to run a loop to keep the job tidy, a kick up helps visually and allows the rear fender to nestle higher up for a bit more clearance. The guys opted for real farmyard leather for the saddle, rather than the futuristic alternative, which should become supple and marked with age. You can’t put a price on real patina.

The fuel tank was stripped bare and re-coated in matt black, with the side sections receiving just a few layers of lacquer and a gold pin stripe. Subtle and classy for one, but also the raw scallops of steel help to shrink the sometimes bulbous Bonnie tank.

The sweeping yet sectional stainless exhausts were designed and fabricated by Roberto from GR Exhausts. In a bid to steer clear of the more obvious and classic reverse megaphones Roberto has integrated oval versions of their GP end cans. The raw finish of the super neat welds help add that all important new but used look to the finished bike. Not only that, it’ll sound fantastic with the baffles pulled.

The Foxy Lady is now loose on U.K. roads, ready for the British Summer, which I think was here between 10:37 this morning and 13:19 this afternoon, I do hope the new owner enjoyed himself.  It might sound a touch pretentious laying thanks at the feet of a shrewd business man for the steady stream of fantastic custom Triumphs we’ve seen over the last few years, but seriously, look at the pictures above. Spreadsheets, bank managers, bore-mongers from Brussels and the press probably would have seen a radiator fitted to this icon some time ago. We are very, very glad John didn’t listen.

Jose and Tito will take on builds of other marques but as demonstrated here, completely nail the Bonnie and Scrambler. To reach the guys head to the Macco Motors website, follow the progress of other builds on the Facebook page or wistfully daydream on Instagram.

As usual, fantastic photos by Sergio Ibarra from Semimate agency.

via The Bike Shed

Hard on the wind at the 2015 Panerai Classic Yacht Challenge

The regattas of the Panerai Classic Yacht Challenge are comparable to historic motorsport. Between Antigua and Cannes, nine races are held. Classic Driver was at the third round in Argentario, on land and sea...

Calm before the storm

A gentle breeze blows in the historic port of Porto Santo Stefano, where modern yachts awaiting charter gently bob side-by-side with the 37 historic yachts taking part in the regatta. Aboard the boats there is hustle and bustle, as preparations are made before the start of the first race on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Aboard the mahogany sloop Jalina, the mood is jubilant, while on Sagittarius, the skipper commands his team with a stern, militaristic tone – no coincidence, given the crew is from a training ship for the Italian Navy.

No mercy

The wind freshens, and on the ketch Eilean, skipper Andrew Cully gives his final pep talk before the starting signal sounds on the stroke of 12, and the team begins its journey towards the imaginary finish line. As with historic motorsport, the skippers are fiercely competitive, stopping at nothing to succeed. “We cannot win silver,” says the owner/skipper of Corsaro II, “we can only lose gold.” This underlines the ambition of the teams in the Classic Yacht Challenge and, for this reason, collisions were inevitable.   

Post-beer peace

During the fastest turning manoeuvres, boats often cross paths, their respective crews unwilling to deviate even millimetres from their desired course. The aforementioned Corsaro II undertook such a manoeuvre when challenging rival boat Chinook, their contact resulting in some wooden railing being left behind in the Mediterranean. Although there is red mist at sea, disputes are settled once back on terra firma – the sailors of historic yachts form a tight-knit community so, after two or three beers, all is forgotten. 

At the end of the regatta, Manitou secured victory in the thrilling Classic class, while in the Vintage and Spirit of Tradition classes, victory went to Sagittarius and Mida respectively. The next regatta in the Panerai Classic Yacht Challenge will take place on 18-21 July at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. 

Photos: Pierpaolo Lanfrancotti / Panerai 

You can find more information about the Panerai Classic Yacht Challenge here.

This Ferrari 275 GTS is worth its weight in gold

There’s something about a classic Ferrari in a colour other than red or yellow that just exudes elegance – take this gold 275 GTS, for example…

Golden era

Certified by Ferrari Classiche and boasting those all-important matching numbers, this 275 GTS (which is currently for sale in the Classic Driver Market) looks to be in fantastic condition. More to the point, it’s an achingly gorgeous 1960s (Golden era?), soft-top Ferrari, in a colour we wish we saw more of. Kudos to its owner...

Photos: Frederik Dulay-Winkler

You can find classic Ferraris in many different colours for sale in the Classic Driver Market. 

WRC, Rally Poland, ES1 : Ogier leader devant Kubica/ Ogier leads Kubica

Pour 5/10e de seconde, Sébastien Ogier (VW/Michelin) a privé le Polonais Robert Kubica du meilleur temps dans la Superspéciale de Mikolajki. Andreas Mikkelsen complète le podium provisoire.

La place principale de Mikolajki était noire de monde en milieu d’après-midi pour la séance de dédicace et la cérémonie de départ, organisées sous un chaud soleil. La queue était interminable devant le pupitre de Robert Kubica et quand le premier Polonais vainqueur d’un GP de F1 est monté sur le podium, il a reçu une véritable ovation.

Mais on s’attendait à plus d’enthousiasme, car les milliers de fans massés autour de la place ont aussi chaleureusement applaudi Jari-Matti Latvala, Ott Tanak ou encore Kris Meeke qui s’est présenté à pied sur le podium après sa sortie de route au Shakedown. Pour son anniversaire, Kris a reçu un beau bouquet et a eu droit à unhappy birthdayentonné par tous les fans !

Puis, ce fut une grande transhumance jusqu’au parc d’assistance, situé à un petit kilomètre du centre-ville, et sur le coup des 18h00, tout le monde s’est dirigé vers la Superspéciale qui se trouve à 500 mètres du parc environ. Comme l’an passé, les concurrents vont parcourir ce « Grand Huit » à trois reprises.

Tracée dans un champ de 15 hectares, cette Superspéciale offre deux pistes parallèles qui s’entrecroisent grâce à un pont. Elle a été inaugurée en 2009 et est utilisée chaque année par le Rally Poland et, le reste du temps, par une école de pilotage et diverses opérations sportives et d’évènementiel. En 2009, cette Superspéciale a été rendue célèbre par Jari-Matti Latvala.

C’est Sébastien Ogier qui a remporté cette première spéciale avec 5/10^e de seconde d’avance sur Robert Kubica. Si le Polonais avait été en tête du Rally Poland ce soir, la Pologne aurait sans doute fait nuit blanche ! Andreas Mikkelsen a conclu dans la même seconde. Stéphane Lefebvre (WRC-2) a signé le 7^e temps scratch à seulement 2s4 du vainqueur

Aujourd'hui, huit spéciales (155,84 km) sont à enchaîner sans assistance autre qu’un changement de pneumatiques à Goldap entre les deux boucles de spéciales.

Sébastien Ogier (VW/Michelin) deprived Pole Robert Kubica of the fastest time on this evening’s super-special by half-a-second. Andreas Mikkelsen was third.

The main square in Mikolajki was packed for this afternoon’s sunny ceremonial start which was preceded by an autograph session. Unsurprisingly, the biggest queue for a signature was in front of Kubica’s booth and he was treated to a big ovation when he appeared on the start podium.

There was warm applause, too, for Jari-Matti Latvala, Ott Tanak and Kris Meeke who was without his car following his accident on this morning’s shakedown. To celebrate his birthday, he was presented with a bunch of flowers followed by a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’!

After the ceremony, everyone moved on to the service park barely a kilometre from the ramp and, at 6pm sharp, the focus of attention became the super-special, which was only around 500 metres from the park.

Competitors completed three laps of this figure-of-eight stage which was laid out in a 15-hectare field with two parallel tracks and a central bridge. It has been visited by the rally every year since 2009 and the rest of the year it is used by a rally driving school, as well as for other sporting and special events. It was here in 2009 that Latvala famously crashed.

This evening’s stage was won by Ogier who beat Kubica by half-a-second, depriving Poland of a good reason to celebrate tonight. Mikkelsen was third, while WRC2 victor Stéphane Lefebvre was seventh overall, just 2.4s short of the winner.

Friday’s menu features eight stages totalling 155.84km with only a remote tyre zone in Goldap between the two long loops.

Scrambler.......;