Leon Camier and Jules Cluzel ready to start tour de force testing

This weekend at the Almeria circuit there won’t be only Tom Sykes and Loris Baz with their Kawasaki’s, but also present will be the Crescent FIXI Suzuki team with Leon Camier in his season with the British based team and World Superbike rookie, Jules Cluzel who was the 2012 World Supersport runner-up.

The Suzuki’s last test was at Aragon in October with Camier finishing third overall and team decided to skip the November test at Jerez with the rest of the SBK teams, so the two days at Almeria will be a proper shakedown test for the riders and their Suzuk GSX-R’s after the winter break before they head to Jerez next Tuesday for another test and before they ship up everything and head to Australia for two further tests ahead of the season opener at Phillip Island on February 24th.

Leon Camier said, “I’m really looking forward to the test and seeing the progress the guys have made in the winter. I know that they have refined the bike quite a bit and that is has more power than last year, so I’m really excited about riding it. We will also have the new 17inch wheels to test, so it will be good to see how the bike behaves with them. I’m sure, that with everything the crew has done back at the workshop, we will be a lot nearer where we want to be. I’ve managed to do lots of riding during the break, including some Enduro and push-bike trials, and I’m off to do a bit of dirt-track before I go to Almeria, so that should sharpen me up nicely for the two tests.”

Jules Cluzel was confirmed by the team and the end of October, after John Hopkins announced that he was taking sabbatical from racing to try to solve his hip issues, so Almeria will be the French rider’s first contact with the Suzuki Superbike.

“I’ve had over two months of waiting to ride the FIXI Crescent Suzuki GSX-R and am now really excited that the time is here to get out on track. I don’t really have an idea of what to expect from a 1000cc machine, how it will feel and handle and mostly how much quicker it will be, but I know I am really looking forward to whatever happens. I have done lots of training through the winter to get fitter and stronger and I had an operation to cure my arm-pump issues and that has been a success, so I feel really good and ready to go. I’ve ridden at Jerez before, but have never been to Almeria, so it’s a good place to start my experience on the bike, as I don’t know the track or the GSX-R, so I can take it steady to start with and get to learn both,” said Cluzel.

Team boss Paul Denning said, “The FIXI Crescent Suzuki team has been working relentlessly since the end of last season to produce a faster, sharper and more competitive GSX-R1000. These two tests in Spain will give us the opportunity to understand what we have achieved, but at the same time we need to manage our expectations and treat them as shakedown tests – the laps in Spain will provide Jules with his first kilometres on a Superbike and allow Leon time to get back up to speed after a long winter break. The atmosphere in the team is very positive and the attention to detail that the guys here – and our partners at Yoshimura and all our technical suppliers – have put into the bike has been extremely impressive. Without turning a wheel, we know that the technical platform of the 2013 FIXI Crescent Suzuki is much stronger and it will be nice to start working with it later this week.”

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti: Star of Detroit 2004

Nine years ago, at the 2004 North American International Auto Show, Ferrari revealed the striking 612 Scaglietti, a four-seater coupé with a 315km/h top speed...

The new car, with its Pininfarina-styled bodywork echoing the famous 1950s ‘Ingrid Bergman’ Ferrari 375 MM, was the first of a new generation of Ferraris with even more power (533bhp from its 5748cc V12) and robotised-manual, six-speed transmission, although a traditional manual was still an option.

It replaced the 456 GT and has only recently been superseded by the 4WD FF.

The big GT (it was 4902mm long) soon became the favoured vehicle for Ferrari owners with families. In common with the 599 GTB, which was launched at the 2006 Geneva Show, the 612 Scaglietti offered blistering acceleration above 250km/h. Performance-wise, the cars were dramatic improvements on even the already potent 575 Maranello.



Handling and braking on the 612 Scaglietti was on a par with the company’s two-seaters, too, with carbon composite material discs an option and – later – standard equipment. 

Inside, the hand-built nature of the car was such that no two are likely to be the same. Later in its life the 612 Sessanta (2007) was offered as an edition limited to just 60 pieces to celebrate six decades of Ferrari. The car came with 19in forged aluminium wheels, black chrome exhaust tips and a three-position electrochromatic glass roof.


Nowadays, a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti can be purchased for as little as £50,000 – 60,000 from an independent dealer, with official Ferrari agencies offering warrantied cars for a touch more. The car offers stellar performance that will eat a DB9 or Vanquish for breakfast, genuine practicality for four (with a small boot, though) and dramatic styling from Pininfarina.

Related Links The 612 Scaglietti seen in the pictures is currently being offered by Auto Salon Singen; to see the full advert, click here To browse the rest of Singen's inventory, click here. Both modern and classic Ferraris can be found in the Classic Driver Marketplace.

Text: Steve Wakefield (classicDriver)
Photos: Auto Salon Singen

MOTOR ROCK : W650 CUSTOM

The Kawasaki W650 was and still is, an unashamed Triumph rip-off. Evolving out of previous Triumph/BSA copies, the W650 has become a true master of disguise, appearing in many the custom build and frequently embarrassing the trained bike-spotter (Gee! That’s a nice Bonnevi…..wait a minute!)

This one however, from Japanese builders Motor Rock, simply wasn't satisfied with being a blue-collar Bonneville clone; it wanted something more. This plucky young Kawasaki decided to have a crack at being the mythical Vincent! Thankfully however, it hasn’t done a very good job of it and while its Vincent influences are clear, it’s actually been transformed into a stately, well-proportioned grand-tourer in the British and Italian style of the '50s and 60s. In the end, its a become a damn sight more original than a Triumph copy, copying a Vincent and we rather like it!
 

Now, my Japanese ain't what it used to be and info on the Motor Rock site is thin on the ground so the only details I can provide for the build are what I can see in the photos which isnt going to be particularly enlightening because I know bugger-all about the intricacies of the W650. Its safe to say though that the frame, particularly the rear has been completely transformed. The traditional dual shocks have been moved in under the seat a la Vincent, the rear guard has been mounted to the swingarm allowing a close fit between the it and the tyre. The seat has been modified to mimic a 1960s Italian item and the tank is from god-knows-what.The work is impeccable- have a look at the quality of welding on the swingarm below to see what I mean.

Photos: Motor Rock 

via wideopenmoto

Yamaha kicks off 2013 season with slick teaser video

The latest edition of Ducati’s Wroom at Madonna di Campiglio will be capturing a lot of headlines and space in the next few hours - and following days - with interviews, images and videos of the Ducati and Pramac teams, but Yamaha Factory Racing team has decided to do a little of their own 2013 pre-season campaigning of their own, and if we weren’t slightly jaded we’d wonder about their timing.

So following the ‘Welcome Home Vale! video with all of Valentino Rossi’s past successes with Yamaha before his two year unsuccessful stint with Ducati that they released earlier this month, they have now turned out this very slick video of reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo and his returning team mate with some teaser shots of the new 2013 YZR-M1.

via TWOWHEELSBLOG