Pontus: Sweden’s rising star…/Pontus, la relève suédoise

 With locals P-G. Andersson, Patrik Flodin and Patrik Sandell all absent from the 2013 Rally Sweden’s entry list, Värmland and Swedish rally fans will be pinning their hopes on 22-year old Pontus Tidemand (Ford Fiesta RS WRC).

 

En l’absence de PG Andersson, Patrik Flodin et Patrik Sandell, le jeune Pontus Tidemand (22 ans) porte les espoirs du Värmland et de toute la Suède ce week-end au volant de sa Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 

 

 

 

Best-of-RallyLive talked about the young Pontus during last year’s Rally Sweden when he made his WRC debut driving a Skoda Fabia S2000 (18^th overall, seven stage class wins). The rest of the season saw him focus on the WRC Academy which he finished in third place, behind Evans and Suarez. This time round, the young Pontus has decided to step up to the sport’s premier class…

Thanks to backing from several Värmland businesses, he has entered a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, the same car as his father-in-law Henning Solberg! Maud, who is the mother of one and the wife of the other, will no doubt spend the weekend biting her fingernails…

Pontus is the son of Tomas Tidemand, a former rally and rallycross driver, so he was unsurprisingly bitten by the motorsport bug at a tender age. He could drive by the time he was four and made his competitive debut in Crosscart at the age of 12, before competing in the Junior Rally class at 16 in a Volvo Original 940. After a year of circuit racing in the JTCC, Pontus made his proper rally debut driving a Subaru Impreza before winning the Subaru Cup the following year. His first win at national level came in 2011 at the wheel of his father-in-law’s Ford Fiesta S2000.

Pontus now has his sights set on the world title and this weekend sees him behind the wheel of a WRC car (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) for the first time, with Mikkelsen's former co-driver Ola Floene calling out the pace notes. The new pairing competed together for the first time on late-January’s Tractive Winter Sprint, which they won.

 

On avait déjà parlé de Pontus au Rallye de Suède 2012 où il avait débuté en Mondial au volant d’une Skoda Fabia S2000 (18^e, 7 victoires en spéciale). La suite de sa saison fut consacrée au Championnat WRC Academy qu’il a terminé à la 3^e place derrière Evans et Suarez.

Cette année, le jeune Suédois de 22 ans passe à la catégorie supérieure : grâce au soutien de plusieurs entreprises de la région du Värmland, Pontus dispose ce week-end d’une Ford Fiesta RS WRC, la même voiture que son beau-père Henning Solberg ! Autant dire que Maud, la maman de l’un et l’épouse de l’autre, devrait se ronger les sangs…

Fils de Tomas Tidemand, un ancien pilote de Rallye et de Rallycross, Pontus est né avec un volant dans le berceau. Il conduisait déjà à 4 ans avant de débuter en compétition (Crosscart) à 12 ans, puis en Junior Rally à 16 ans sur une Volvo Original 940. En 2009, après une saison d’apprentissage sur circuit en JTCC, Pontus a disputé son 1^er rallye sur une Subaru Impreza avant de gagner la Subaru Cup l’année suivante, puis de remporter son 1^er rallye national en 2011 sur la Ford Fiesta S2000 de beau-papa.

Pontus est grand désormais (1,88 m), assez grand pour vivre son rêve de devenir Champion du monde des Rallyes. Alors, il débute ce week-end dans la cour des grands au volant d’une Ford Fiesta RS WRC avec l’ancien copilote de Mikkelsen, Ola Floene, à ses côtés. Le nouveau tandem s’est formé fin janvier autour d’une victoire au Tractive Winter Sprint.

with best-of-rallylive

LIBERTY WALK + A VENT + A DOOR = INSANITY

Lamborghini is unquestionably one of the most fascinating car manufacturers around, with a brand identity unlike any other. You’d be hard pressed to come across someone who hasn’t heard of them or who couldn’t do a crude drawing of their favorite Lambo, yet very few people will ever actually own one. Their reputation therefore is based almost entirely on hearsay and the strength of their design. Strangely, the same could largely be said of Japan’s now-famous bull tuner, Liberty Walk.

Yes, Liberty Walk is a name as synonymous with the JDM scene today as companies like Mugen, Nismo and TRD, yet almost nobody owns a single part from them. Of course some of the reason is that the starting price for one of their LB Performance kits is around $25k, but even if you could afford the kit, you’ve got to own a Lambo to bolt it to first.

Even a few years ago, saying “Liberty Walk” out loud would just sound like some engrish jibberish, but today it will conjure images of wild exotics with even wilder body kits. So how is it then, that a such an obscure product of Japan could go from an underground tuning brand to a worldwide phenomenon in such a short amount of time?

In reality there are probably a myriad of acceptable answers, but I’d like to think that, aside from a large helping hand from our very own Dino, it was the strength in their design that brought their rise to popularity. It’s one thing to make a very extreme looking car appear even crazier, but it’s another thing entirely to do it with style and class.

Right about now, I know some of the naysayers will be thinking “oh yea, a metallic vinyl wrap, really classy” but hear me out. Obviously the outlandish exterior finish was done to draw as much attention to their product as possible when it was debuted at Tokyo Auto Salon. They took the same formula applied to their SEMA Murcielago, which proved hugely popular, and applied it to Lamborghini’s latest offering.

What they didn’t do was go over-the-top-typical-in-your-face-tacky like you’d normally associate with a modified Lamborghini. For example there’s no tri-tone pleather interior reupholstery or five entertainment screens popping up from everywhere. Likewise the out-of-round-color-matched-ultra-low-performance-24″-wheels are also missing.

In fact, if you really get down to brass tacks, the LB Performance brand has really made a name for itself by not really modifying Lambos. I’ve often heard people criticize that their cars “barely have anything done to them” or that they’re simply “a Lambo with a body kit and wheels,” both of which are very true statements.

Yet to the contrary, I’ve also heard many folks tell me “come on man, it’s a Lambo, it’s already a badass car stock” or “it really doesn’t need much.” Again I can whole-heartedly agree with both of those statements as well. Hell if I had the cash to afford an Aventador, I don’t think I’d really want to do much more than what LB Performance has to offer, if I’m honest.

But considering I could barely afford the tune-up bill for such a vehicle, that’s fortunately a problem I don’t need to spend much time contemplating! That’s right, sadly I too fall into the latter category of people who will likely never own a Lamborghini, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy them.

And one cold winter night last month, enjoy a Lamborghini I did. After spending an entire action-packed afternoon with Dino, which included hitting Tsukuba Circuit and doing some Touge driving, this Aventador would complete the triple-crown of the day. The plans were simple; we’d intercept the beast in downtown Tokyo as it left Auto Salon en route to its home in Owariashi.

At some point before midnight, the exact time I cannot recall, the car finally appeared and was unloaded from the trailer. Dino had the perfect spot all sourced out and I have to credit him largely for the success of the set. Once we finally got the car in place all I could do was stand there staring while pinching myself.

It was yet another of those moments in my Speedhunting life where everything seemed surreal. A Lamborghini in what appeared to be an abandoned Tokyo… this surely was a dream. Eventually the bitter cold would snap me out of it and once I came back down to earth I realized that we weren’t really alone either. In fact, as I was taking this shot there were four other car photo shoots happening simultaneously in the square!

Having spent much of my career working around obstacles, sharing such a location was a very easy problem to solve as I simply picked views that would alleviate the congestion. For example, if you move the camera lower to the ground you can use the car to block out the Land Rover J-Lug Magazine photoshoot that’s happening on the other side.

Eventually we decided to leave the square to make room for others and headed towards an equally interesting back alley, but even here we weren’t safe. It was in this corridor that we met a very excited M6 enthusiast who couldn’t have been happier to have made our, and the Aventador’s, acquaintance!

The man excitedly popped out of his car and asked if he could take a couple of photos. Just seeing the joy that the car created by simply existing was profound. This guy would spend the next ten minutes frantically circling the car taking photos from all different angles before doubling back again for another pass. He told us that he was going to put them on his Minkara page, which is basically a JDM car domain.

After shooting that night I had a new appreciation for both the power of a supercar and the Japanese people’s enthusiasm for all things automotive. On one hand, there is no way that such a creation could have come from any country other than Japan, but on the other, it probably wouldn’t be so openly appreciated anywhere else either.

As we drove up and down the main strip in Roppongi, I couldn’t help but be reminded of something I heard once on an episode of Top Gear (I think). It was a quote I surely can’t recite verbatim, but in a nutshell the idea was that cars like this are like works of art and that they shouldn’t be locked away in a garage, but rather placed in the street where the public can appreciate them as much as possible. After seeing and feeling the affect of just such a scenario I’d have to agree – even if you can’t afford one, just being in the presence of a Lamborghini is a moment you’ll never forget.

LB☆PERFORMANCE Lamborghini LP700-4 Aventador

ENGINE

Naturally aspirated 6.5L V12; J-Wolf exhaust system w/ electronic valves

SUSPENSION / CHASSIS

Liberty Walk low-down suspension

WHEELS / TIRES

20×9″ +25 (f) / 21×13″ +59 (r) iForged wheels; 255/30-20(f) / 355/25-21 (r) Pirelli P-Zero Rosso tires

BODY

LB☆PERFORMANCE Aventador body kit (includes front and rear bumper, front canards, side skirts, rear diffuser, rear wing)

More car features on Speedhunters

Winter Marathon Rally 2013

The Winter Marathon Rally 2013 was held 24-27 January at Madonna di Campiglio in the Dolomites of Italy. A field of more than 120 historic car teams braved the reliability trial that is as charming as it is difficult, owing to the harsh winter weather.

Set against the stunning backdrop of the mountains, the 25th annual Winter Marathon saw the 1965 Morris Mini Cooper S of Antonino Margiotta and Bruno Perno take the overall victory, with second going to the 1940 Lancia Aprilia of Aliverti-Maffi and third place for the Lancia Aprilia of Giuliano Cane and his wife Lucia Galliani.Fourth place went to the 2012 winning team of Ezio and Francesca Salviato (1939 Lancia Aprilia), while Franco Spagnoli and Giuseppe Parisi came home with fifth place in their 1932 Fiat 508 S Balilla Sport.

The Winter Marathon is open to automobiles built prior to 1969, with entries as varied as the pre-war 1925 Bentley 3-Litre, 1932 Fiat Siata 508 S Balilla Sport, 1936 Invicta S-Type and 1938 Jaguar SS100 or the post-war 1953 Fiat 8V, 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider, 1957 BMW 507, 1960 Jensen 541R, 1965 Volvo PV544 and a wide selection of Porsches and Triumphs, among others. In total, more than 20 marques were represented at this year’s rally.

Another notable entrant at the 2013 Winter Marathon was the ‘factory’ Giulia TI Super, specially prepared to tackle this winter contest, from the Alfa Romeo Historic Motoring collection. The Giulia TI Super of 1963 is the most rare and prestigious of the Giulias, the ‘ready-to-race’ version, of which 501 examples were produced, almost all in “Biancospino” (hawthorn) colour, with the Quadrifoglio emblem on the sides and tailgate and with a ‘slimmed down’ body to further enhance its outstanding performance. The ‘TI Super’ was particularly suited to road racing, with among its most significant records is the outstanding victory at the ‘Tour de France Auto’ of 1963 with Masoero and Maurin.

Winter Marathon Rally 2013 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture and description)

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Winter Marathon Rally 2013 – Results

TAG Heuer Barozzi Trophy
1. Margiotta – Perno, 1965 Morris Mini Cooper S
2. Belometti – Cordioli, 1932 Fiat 508 S Balilla Sport
3. Fontanella – Malta, 1955 Porsche 356 A Coupe

MotorStorica Trophy
1. Gennaro – Giacomello, 1938 Jaguar SS100
2. Belometti – Cordioli, 1932 Fiat 508 S Balilla Sport
3. Spagnoli – Parisi, 1932 Fiat 508 S Balilla Sport

(See Winter Marathon 2013 – Complete Results)

[Source: Winter Marathon; photo: Pierpaolo Romano 2013]

via sportscardigest

Ducati Alstare reveals 1199 Panigale livery

Ahead of the next pre-season World Superbike test to be held at Phillip Island, Ducati Alstareafter their good-bye video to Suzuki, has taken off the wraps off the livery that they will sporting this season on Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini’s Ducati 1199 Panigale R.

The Alstare Panigale livery reflects the classical red of the Ducati marque and also introduces four of their main sponsors, Energy Trading International (an Italian energy company that also backs MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone in Pramac Racing), FIAMM Group (batteries), FICC (energy drinks) e TIM (ICT phone company).

I can only be pleased and optimistic with a team like this, and a bike of this level, with our two riders and a team of friends and sponsors that will support us throughout this demanding season.The challenge that awaits us is not an easy one but thanks to our partners and the trust Ducati puts in us we will find the strength and the incentive to tackle the new season. I thank everyone who believes in us; we will do all we can to repay such passion and respect,” said team principal Francis Batta.

via TWOWHEELSBLOG