Foto: Hidemotorcycle via RACING CAFE
jeudi 7 février 2013
ES1 : Show à l’hippodrome ! / a show for spectators at Karlstad’s hippodrome!
There was plenty to keep spectators entertained this evening in Karlstad. In addition to the show provided by the WRC’s stars round the short super-special, fans were treated to a spectacular acrobatic snowmobile show and a parade of ‘historic’ rally cars.
Véhicules historiques, choix des positions de départ des pilotes WRC, « backflip » à motoneige et Superspéciale ont animé la soirée à l’hippodrome de Karlstad.
The entertainment kicked off at 6:30pm when the historic cars arrived at the snowy hippodrome, led by the Mk2 Ford Escort of Petter Solberg. The 2003 world champion’s car was soon joined by some exceptional machinery, including several Porsche 911s, Triumph Dolomites, a Mini Cooper, an Austin Healey 3000, a Toyota Starlet, an Audi Quattro, a Mazda 323, a Saab 96, a number of Volvo Amazons, an Alpine A110 and an Opel Kadett. All these competitors will get their first taste of competitive action on the famous ‘Vargasen’ stage on Friday morning.
The 17 modern-day WRC cars were next to arrive at the trotting track where they parked ‘Le Mans’ fashion in front of the grandstands in the order of their positions on this morning’s Qualifying Stage. Then, one by one, the drivers were asked to select their start order for tomorrow morning. Qualifying winner Sébastien Ogier unsurprisingly chose to start 17th on the road. Mads Ostberg went for 16th, Mikko Hirvonen for 15th, and so on, and so on. Swedish youngster Pontus Tidemand received a big round of applause (although there wasn’t much noise because most people were wearing gloves!) when he chose 14th for his start order. Jari-Matti Latvala made the effort to address the crowd in Swedish, as did Khalid Al-Qassimi who said “four” in the language of the host country! Finland’s Jarkko Nikara, who missed the qualifying session, will be the first driver on the road tomorrow.
Next up was the hero of the recent Winter X-Games, Daniel Bodin (see separate story), and four other snowmobile freestylers who thrilled spectators with a series of spectacular leaps, including Bodin’s trademark ‘backflip’. We spoke to him afterwards, and he promises he is working on something even bigger – but secret – for March!
After a firework display, the week’s world championship action began with SS1 which was contested two cars at a time. The exact pairings were decided by the rally’s Facebook visitors who requested a certain number of ‘duels’, including Loeb/Ogier, Hirvonen/Latvala and Ostberg /Tidemand. We chose to watch the stage from the warmth of the restaurant which enjoys a panoramic view of the track and where more than 400 meals were served to VIP and corporate guests during the evening.
The 1.90km super-special was won by Sébastien Loeb, who was 0.5s faster than Novikov and Latvala, and 0.7s better than Hirvonen and Ostberg. Sébastien Ogier (9th) dropped 2.5s when he swiped a snow bank. “There’s something not quite right with the rear-right of my car,” he commented at the Stop Control.
Le spectacle a débuté vers 18h30 avec l’entrée sur l’hippodrome des véhicules engagés dans le rallye historique, la Ford Escort Mk2 de Petter Solberg en tête. Le Champion du monde 2003 fut rapidement encerclé de Porsche 911, Triumph Dolomite, Mini Cooper, Austin Healey 3000, Toyota Starlet, Audi Quattro, Mazda 323, Saab 96, Volvo Amazon, Alpine A110, Opel Kadett… Tout ce petit monde se retrouvera demain dans la spéciale de Vargasen.
Les 17 WRC « modernes » ont à leur tour fait leur apparition sur l’ovale enneigé avant de se ranger en épis devant les tribunes en fonction de leur classement dans la Qualifying Stage matinale. C’était l’heure du choix des positions de départ pour vendredi. Sébastien Ogier a logiquement désigné la 17e position sur la piste, Mads Ostberg la 16e, Mikko Hirvonen la 15e. Le Suédois Pontus Tidemand fut très applaudi – mais avec les moufles, le son était un peu étouffé ! – en annonçant sa 14e position pour demain. Jari-Matti Latvala a fait l’effort de prononcer quelques mots en suédois, de même que Khalid Al-Qassimi qui a annoncé le chiffre 4 dans la langue du pays hôte. Absent de la « qualif » ce matin après une sortie de piste au Shakedown, le Finlandais Jarkko Nikara ouvrira la route demain.
L’ambiance est ensuite montée d’un cran avec le héros des derniers Winter X-Games, le Suédois Daniel Bodin, et quatre autres freestylers à motoneige. Ils ont régalé le public de sauts impressionnants jusqu’au célèbre « backflip » tenté et réussi à plusieurs reprises par Bodin.
Après un feu d’artifice, les funambules du WRC ont à leur tour pris la piste pour cette Superspéciale disputée par paire. Ce sont les internautes, via le website du Rallye de Suède et différents réseaux sociaux, qui avaient choisi certains duels, comme Loeb/Ogier, Hirvonen/Latvala ou Ostberg/Tidemand. Nous, nous avons suivi cette Superspéciale derrière les baies vitrées du restaurant surplombant la piste, où plus de 400 repas ont été servis aux VIP et autres partenaires de l’événement.
La spéciale-spectacle elle-même (1,90km) a été remportée par Sébastien Loeb, suivi de Novikov et Latvala (+0,5s), puis de Hirvonen et Ostberg (+0,7s). Sébastien Ogier (9e) a cédé 2,5s en tapant un mur de neige. « Il y a un truc qui ne va pas avec l’arrière-droit de ma voiture, » a-t-il lâché au Point Stop.
from best-of-rallylive
Pedrosa takes home top honours in Sepang test, as Marquez suffers his first crash
Dani Pedrosa took home top honours in all three days of MotoGP testing at Sepang. His 2.00.100 lap this morning remained untouched even he cut short his time on track, because he had completed his scheduled testing programme. He spent the morning working on engine braking, balance and weight distribution he also had the chance to test the two new hard compound Bridgestone tire, which made the much hated chatter return- which was the bane of the Repsol Honda team last season- with both Casey Stoner and Pedrosa fiercely opposing the introduction of the spec front tire.
“We can leave Sepang with a good feeling, because we had good lap times on all three days. We were able to put in a lot of laps and, above all, try out some important things with the engine and the bike weight to adjust to the three kilos more for this season - dictated by the new rules. Today we focused on rear tyres, in particular the new Bridgestone hard compound. It is similar to the old one with a little more grip in some areas, but it also creates more chatter. We finished the test well and hope to continue like this in the following ones,” said Pedrosa.
After two plus three days on the RC213V, Marc Marquez can return home to Spain as very happy and competitive rookie, with the talent to stay with veterans of the caliber of his team mate and Jorge Lorenzo. Despite losing the front of his Honda and suffering a small crash, Marquez was able to set his best lap today (2.00.636) and also complete a 20 lap race simulation.
“I am very happy with the results that we have had from these three days, above all because I gradually got more consistent with my times. This was what we were looking for from this test. Day by day we improved our times, but this is secondary really. The important thing is that we made our first race simulation, which has helped me to understand the class and the bike better and his given us a lot of information for the next test. We also had a first crash, which luckily was fairly light. I lost the front on the brakes, but I was unhurt and the overall verdict on the test is still very positive,” commented Marquez.
via TWOWHEELSBLOG
Jorge Lorenzo ends Sepang with stunning pace, Rossi very happy with 3rd
Jorge Lorenzo may have finished the three day MotoGP test at Sepang always behind rival Dani Pedrosa, but the reigning World Champion had a much more stunning race pace - his trademark - constantly lapping in the very low 2.01s and in the high 2.00s, with no one capable of even touching him - not even Pedrosa who couldn’t maintain the same rhythmn.
“I think these three days have been positive for us. We tried many things and some of them were good. We need to reconfirm again in another track but here we were able to improve a little bit. I was able to make a simulation this afternoon, the first one I’ve done in Sepang in my GP career. I felt strong physically, mentally and riding so it was good. The other riders are also really strong so it promises to be an interesting season,” said Lorenzo.
Valentino Rossi is leaving Sepang much more sure of himself, which is a big confidence booster.The Italian however is still playing it low key, admitting that he could come close to his team mate in one hot lap, but could not yet sustain the massacrating rhythmn and has yet to find the complete confidence that Lorenzo has, and that he is still a little behind in his training preparation. Rossi tested the 2013 version of the M1 and it was this bike that let him obtain his best lap time of the day which is faster than the previous version and more stable.
Rossi said, “I’m very happy, all three days were very good. We worked hard on the bike and improved day by day. The third day was the best, we were able to stay less than half a second from pole position and the lap time is higher which is interesting. Today we finished third in the standings which is theoretically the front row so I’m very happy with this first test.”
via TWOWHEELSBLOG
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