BILL CLAVE’S RETRO MOTORSPORT PLANES

There’s nothing like a cross between vintage aircraft and vintage auto racing to get our attention here at Silodrome. These fantastic designs are the work of Bill Clave, his goal was to set about creating a hybrid between those vintage racing cars that we all love so much and classic aircraft.

According to my appalling mathematics, we could all make these planes a reality if he had somewhere in the region of $17,000,000 – $82,000,000 USD and some free weekends. Who’s with me?

See more of Bill’s work here.
Via Motor Sport Retro.

from SILODROME

Ford Fiesta R5 test / au volant de la Fiesta R5

To mark the introduction of the Ford Fiesta R5, M-Sport invited a handful of European journalists to sample the newcomer even before the completion of its homologation process. Last Wednesday, some 10 writers were given a chance to put the car through its paces in the northwest corner of England. Their numbers included Miika, the Finnish member of the Best-of-RallyLive team.

Pour lancer la Ford Fiesta R5, M-Sport avait invité quelques journalistes européens à essayer la nouvelle bombe avant son homologation. Mercredi dernier, Miika, le Finlandais de BestofRallyLive, était donc au nord-ouest de l’Angleterre… 

Team boss Malcolm Wilson regards the Fiesta R5 as one of his favourite cars. So far, his company M-Sport has attracted 18 customers for the new machine, and that’s even before its first public appearance at the end of the month when Thierry Neuville will drive the new Ford as course car on Belgium’s Ypres Rally.

“I have to say it is the car I am most excited about,” said Wilson, “and not just because of what these guys have produced. I really believe this car will take the sport a step closer towards where it needs to be”.

After Tuesday evening’s formal presentation, the following day brought me a chance to have a little fun in the car.

I wasn’t alone in the cockpit, however, since I had a familiar face sitting alongside to me. Despite his recent prolonged absence from the WRC, Matthew Wilson has been keeping extremely busy. In addition to his work on M-Sport’s Bentley GT racing project, he has also been actively involved in the Fiesta R5’s development programme, and the team has completed approximately 7,000 kilometres in testing since the beginning of the year.

It was reassuring to have Matthew in the right-hand seat to assist me round the one-mile track at Carlisle airfield where M-Sport traditionally goes to shake down its cars before each round of the WRC.

After a couple of laps at speed, I start to receive some gentle coaching: “Miika, this is a first-gear corner – take it a little cautiously now – feel the power…,” he reminds me.

And off we go. The all new Fiesta R5 accelerates hard as I do my best to keep it under control with my unaccustomed hands. Indeed, the rear-right wheel strays slightly onto the grass as I perform a smooth power-slide into the following left-hander…

All too soon, the enjoyment comes to an end, just as I am beginning to find the ideal braking points. Obviously ;-).

Unsurprisingly, the others are just as eager as I was to have their turn, and I can’t blame them. The only thing that made me sad was the fact that I didn’t have the necessary €180,000 to take a Ford Fiesta R5 back home with me to Finland!

Malcolm Wilson considère cette Fiesta R5 comme l’une de ses voitures favorites. Et pour cause… Aujourd’hui, 18 clients ont manifesté le souhait d’acquérir cette nouvelle auto, avant même sa première apparition publique à la fin du mois au Rallye d’Ypres.

 « Je dois avouer que je suis très heureux de ce projet », nous a dit Malcolm Wilson, « et pas seulement parce que mes gars ont fait du super boulot. Je pense vraiment que cette voiture va emmener la discipline là où elle doit aller. »

Après la présentation officielle mardi soir,  Miika a pu prendre le volant de la nouvelle Ford Fiesta R5 le lendemain. Il n’était pas seul dans le cockpit, néanmoins, puisqu’un visage familier était installé à ses côtés.

Malgré une longue absence en WRC, Matthew Wilson a été très occupé ces derniers temps. Outre son rôle dans le projet M-Sport / Bentley GT, il a été très pris par le développement de la Fiesta R5 qui a parcouru quelque 7000 kilomètres d’essais depuis le début de l’année.

« La présence de Matthew à ma droite fut rassurante sur ce circuit de Carlisle, long d’1,6 km, où M-Sport effectue généralement le Shakedown de ses voitures avant chaque manche WRC. 

« Après quelques tours plutôt rapides, Matthew m’a gentiment rappelé à l’ordre : « Eh, là, c’est un virage en 1^ère, cool… » La nouvelle Fiesta R5 accélère très fort, elle est très joueuse… La seule chose qui m’attriste, c’est de ne pas avoir les 180 000 € pour la ramener chez moi ! »

- Miika

Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi happy with Aragon test

from Twowheelsblog

After finishing on top of the timesheets in the official post-race test in Barcelona on Monday, Jorge Lorenzo continued his perfect record during the private test at the Motorland Aragon circuit today.

Lorenzo was able to lap under Casey Stoner’s 2011 lap record by almost four tenths of second and was 0.358 faster than the enfant prodige that goes by the name of Marc Marquez.

With no new real parts to test, only reconfirming the ones that he tested at Catalunya, Lorenzo did 53 laps working on set-up changes and evaluated Bridgestone’s new tire

“Compared to normal I’ve been stronger today. At this track normally I suffer many problems in setting up the bike and getting the bike to work like in other tracks. This time from the beginning I have been very competitive with a lot of confidence. Also I think I am in very good shape so I have taken profit of it. I could also test a new tyre to put myself in a qualifying situation and I did a very good lap time. We are just testing very little things but it is better than nothing,” said Lorenzo.

Despite ending up fourth and almost a second adrift from his team mate, Valentino Rossi seemed very happy with the outcome of his Aragon test. Apparantly his squad has finally found a solution his hard breaking issues which could also help him improve in qualifying.

“First of all we modified a bit the setting and also the front fork and now I feel more confident in braking, I can brake deeper and stop the bike in a better way. For me this is the biggest improvement. After this we tried the swing arm like Jorge has it, a little bit more stiff which I like. We tried some other small things; at the end we made a good package that gives me a really good feeling, especially in braking. I’m so happy because until today I didn’t have this feeling in braking, I am always in a bit of trouble. I can’t wait for Assen to understand if this is also improved at other tracks. It is important for the qualification lap because you have to push more in braking. This result is especially important here in Aragon as this is not one of my best tracks. I have not made great races here yet but the pace today and the lap times at the end make me very happy,” reported Rossi.

ou coucher ce soir ??