un petit tour ??

Enduro: Meo and Nambotin renewed their titles / Meo et Nambotin à nouveau titrés

Two months prior the final round of the 2013 World Enduro Championship in France, Antoine Meo (KTM) and Christophe Nambotin (KTM) both renewed their titles by winning the E1 and E3 class in Greece. Matthew Philips (Husqvarna Michelin) and Alex Salvini (Honda) will have to wait the French GP in St Flour, but both are leading their respective Junior and E2 class quite easily to be confident before the last round.

Avant même la finale du championnat du Monde d’enduro prévue dans deux mois en France, Antoine Meo (KTM) et Christophe Nambotin (KTM) ont tous deux reconduit leurs titres Mondiaux en s’imposant en Grèce dans les catégories E1 et E3. Pour Matthew Philips (Husqvarna Michelin) et Alex Salvini (Honda), il faudra patienter jusqu’à St Flour, une épreuve qu’ils aborderont nantis d’une confortable avance en Junior et en E2.

Antoine Meo (KTM) didn’t need to win again to secure his fourth consecutive title, but the Frenchman wanted to get this title with panache and claimed his fifth double win of the season in Greece! With a total of eleven on twelve possible wins, Antoine is stronger than ever and leads the Enduro scene. He beats twice in Greece his teammate Cristobal Guerrero (KTM), while Juha Salminen and Matti Seistola (Husqvarna Michelin) had both a tough weekend; twice fourth Matti is only two points behind Juha in the standings, and the final round in France will be open between the Finn riders.

Alex Salvini (Honda) is closer to his first ever World title, as he equalled reigning E2 champion this weekend and beats all his other rivals. Winner on Saturday for the second time this year, Pierre Alexandre Renet (Husaberg Michelin) lost the win on Sunday for three tenths of a second! Runner up and then winner, Salvini is now strongly leading his closest rival by thirty three points before the French round; Renet is the new runner up, as Ivan Cervantes finished only eighth on Saturday. We’ll have great racing in France for the runner up position, as Renet, Cervantes and Johnny Aubert (KTM) are tight within eleven points.

Winner of all the races since the third GP in Spain, Christophe Nambotin (KTM) also secured his title with a double win this weekend. The Frenchman got some help from fellow countrymen Mathias Bellino (Husaberg Michelin) and Fabien Planet (Sherco Michelin) very fast this weekend; Mathias got two other podium results with a third and a second position, while Fabien did his best performance this season with a second and a fifth place on his 300 Sherco. In their battle for the second position in the series, Aigar Leok (TM) beats Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg Michelin) and has now ten points more than the Swedish rider.

In the junior class Matthew Philips (Husqvarna Michelin) increase his leadership over Giacomo Redondi (KTM), but had to share the top results with Loic Larrieu (Husaberg Michelin) who got his first ever win during his sixth attempt in the WEC.

The final round of the series will take place in St Flour (France) on September 7^th and 8^th.

Antoine Meo (KTM) n’avait pas forcément besoin de victoires pour décrocher son quatrième titre consécutif, mais le Sudiste a tenu à y mettre la manière en signant son cinquième doublé de la saison ! Vainqueur de onze des douze journées, Antoine est au sommet de son art et règne sur l’enduro Mondial avec brio. Il s’est imposé en Grèce à son équipier Cristobal Guerrero (KTM) par deux fois son dauphin, Juha Salminen et Matti Seistola (Husqvarna Michelin) connaissant une baisse de rendement ; deux fois quatrième Matti n’est plus qu’à deux points de Juha qui n’a pu entrer dans le top cinq ce weekend, et la finale s’annonce âpre entre les deux Finlandais.

Alex Salvini (Honda) a fait un grand pas vers son premier titre en E2, en faisant jeu égal avec le champion du Monde en titre. Vainqueur samedi pour la seconde fois cette année, Pierre Alexandre Renet (Husaberg Michelin) a raté le doublé pour trois dixièmes de seconde dimanche ! Second puis vainqueur, Salvini aborde l’ultime ligne droite avec trente trois points d’avance sur Renet qui a profité de la contre performance d’Ivan Cervantes pour accéder à la seconde place du Mondial. La finale s’annonce disputée pour la place de vice champion, Renet, Cervantes et Johnny Aubert (KTM) n’étant séparés que par onze points.

Intouchable depuis le troisième GP de l’année en Espagne, Christophe Nambotin (KTM) a enchainé avec un quatrième doublé ce weekend et a donc reconduit son titre E3. Le Français a bénéficié d’un sérieux coup de main de ses compatriotes Mathias Bellino (Husaberg Michelin) et Fabien Planet (Sherco Michelin) très en verve ce weekend ; Mathias monte à deux reprises sur le podium avec une troisième et une seconde place, alors que Fabien réalise sa meilleure performance de l’année avec une seconde et une cinquième place sur la 300 Sherco. Dans leur duel pour la place de vice champion, Aigar Leok (TM) a pris l’ascendant sur Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg Michelin) et abordera la finale avec dix points d’avance.

Chez les juniors Matthew Philips (Husqvarna Michelin) a consolidé son leadership face à Giacomo Redondi (KTM), tout en partageant les honneurs avec Loic Larrieu (Husaberg Michelin) qui a signé son premier succès en Mondial dès son sixième enduro.

La finale du Mondial se jouera à St Flour (France) les 7 et 8 septembre prochains.

Classements provisoires :

E1 : 1.Meo (FRA, KTM), 231 (champion); 2.Salminen (FIN, Husqvarna Michelin), 169 ; 3.Seistola (FIN, Husqvarna Michelin), 167 ; 4.Remes (FIN, TM), 143 ; 5.Guerrero (ESP, KTM), 124….8.Boissière (FRA, Sherco Michelin), 94…10.Oldrati (ITA, Husaberg Michelin), 85 ; etc…

E2 : 1.Salvini (ITA, Honda), 223 ; 2.Renet (FRA, Husaberg Michelin), 190 ; 3.Cervantes (ESP, KTM), 183 ; 4.Aubert (FRA, KTM), 179 ; 5.Guerrero (ESP, KTM), 121 ; 6.Mena (ESP, Husaberg Michelin), 116 ; 7.Santolino (ESP, Husqvarna Michelin), 108 ; etc…

E3 : 1.Nambotin (FRA, KTM), 230 (champion) ; 2.Leok (EST, TM), 171 ; 3.Ljunggren (SUE, Husaberg Michelin), 161 ; 4.Correia (POR, Beta), 143 ; 5.Bellino (FRA, Husaberg Michelin), 113….7.Planet (FRA, Sherco Michelin), 99 ; etc…

Juniors : 1.Philips (AUS, Husqvarna Michelin), 215 ; 2.Redondi (ITA, KTM), 186 ; 3.McCanney (GBR, Gas Gas), 151 ; 4.Roman (ESP, Husaberg Michelin), 149 ; 5.Larrieu (FRA, Husaberg Michelin), 134 ; etc….

Vidéos :

Jour 1 :

Jour 2 :

Lotus to make C-01 motorcycle with 200hp engine

from TWOWHEESBLOG

British automaker Lotus is officially getting into the motorcycle business. The company famous for its racing cars and luxury automobiles has teamed up with former Volkswagen Group designer Daniel Simon, Germany’s Holzer Group and auto racing team Kodewa to form Lotus Motorcycles.

The compay was established to design and build the first motorcycle of the iconic car manufacturer. The bike will be named Lotus C-01 and according to the press release, it will reflect a combination of lifestyle, design and high end technology and manufactured with materials like carbon, titanium and aerospace quality steel (produced by RPC GmbH) and feature a 200 horsepower engine.

The Lotus C-01 will be designed by Daniel Simon. Simon, is a former designer for Bugatti Automobiles, has lately been responsible for some of the most sophisticated concept vehicles in Hollywood film history.

Amongst his most recognizable contributions are the ‘Lightcycle’ in the 2010 Disney motion picture ‘Tron: Legacy’ and the ‘Bubbleship’ used by Tom Cruise in the recent Universal Sci-Fi hit ‘Oblivion’. The German was also designing the famous black and gold livery of the Lotus LMP2 sports cars.

The designer says: “With the Lotus C-01, we have only one ambition: to create a unique state-of-the-art machine that carries its brutal forces with elegance and style, a high-tech monster in a tailored suit. The C-01, with all its top notch components and materials, is first and foremost emotional, heartbreaking, at times playfully retro, and always clearly a Lotus. Lotus is a glamorous name with a rich history, and the C-01 celebrates it proudly: the shapes of the marvelous Lotus 49 were a main inspiration, and all color schemes pay homage to iconic Lotus racing liveries, such as the dashing black and gold. The intersection of past and future never fails to fascinate, and so does the unique idea of the C-01.”

In the next few weeks, images of Lotus Motorcycles will be released and will give a first insight into what to expect from the new Lotus C-01.

And we can expect that the C-01 will be very, very expensive …

SUZUKI GN400 CUSTOM

By James McBride | Silodrome

This 1981 Suzuki GN400 is one of those increasingly rare custom motorcycles that was built for under $1,000—without actually looking like it was built for under $1,000. The donor bike was an old GN400 thumper that old friends Chris Errecart and Adam Bendig found on Craigslist; it wasn’t running, but it looked to be in salvageable condition. So they bought it for 200 clams and loaded it into the minivan.

Once the bike was back in the garage, the ten-week build process began. As with most customs, the first step was to strip the bike back to its bare essentials and toss anything that wasn’t needed. The frame was then detabbed and painted with Dupli-Color Bed Armor, a water-based, rubberized polyurethane coating designed to protect truck beds.

The engine was tweaked and the stock airbox was discarded in favour of a pod filter (which required the re-tuning of the carburetor). The front forks were internally lowered 3.5 inches and raised up the triple-tree to allow the addition of clip-on handlebars.

The seat unit was hand-made using sheet metal from Lowes, which was then padded with five layers of yoga mat and upholstered in a classic diamond pattern. The stock rear shocks were replaced with one-inch longer all-black units from MikesXS, and the stock instrument cluster was replaced with a 2.5-inch unit from Drag Specialties.

The tires were then added with a Firestone ANS 5.0-16 at the back and a Dunlop K70 4.5-18 up front. All of the electrics are now mounted to the underside of the seat pan, and the battery was replaced with a very small, sealed lead acid unit to keep the minimalist look.

It’s great to see sub-$1,000 custom bikes being built in enthusiasts’ garages—with the staggering number of cheap old motorcycles still available on Craigslist and eBay, low cost bikes are something I’d love to see catch on.

The finished GN400 is ridden almost daily by Adam and he has some road trips planned that will test the mettle of that yoga-mat saddle. He says that the bike is as reliable as gravity and he’s out on the B-roads whenever his understanding wife and three kids will allow.

All of the images here were taken by the remarkably talented Adam Bendig. He also shoots cars, motorcycle races, mountain bike races and just about everything else you can imagine. If you’d like to see more of his work, his website is worth a visit.

James McBride runs Silodrome, a website focussed on Gasoline Culture—covering cars, motorcycles, boats, gear, clothing, tools, films, gadgets and much more.

fromBIKEEXIF