Walker fights back to win Day Two of Romaniacs

KTM factory rider Jonny Walker kept his podium hopes alive on Friday with another strong ride in the wilds of the Carpathian Mountains on Day three of the 2013 Red Bull Romaniacs.

Walker, the young British extreme rider finished the stage fit and fighting sandwiched between overall leader Graham Jarvis and in front of Alfredo Gomez, second overall after Day Two. Overall results for Day Three will be released later tonight. Walker also gained about five minutes on Friday on the leader Jarvis and still has a chance of repeating his 2012 effort and finish on the podium.

As Thursday’s stage winner, Walker was charged with opening the track on Friday. He went out fast and stayed at the front of the pack for the first half of stage. A small navigational error in the second half cost him the lead but he still gained an important five minutes on Jarvis at the end of the day.

Team manager Julian Stevens said Walker was fresh, feeling good and looking forward to the final day. “This is the tenth anniversary of the Romaniacs and I think tomorrow will be a very difficult day, “Stevens said. “But Johnny is happy and feeling great and many of the other riders are very tired after these hard days of riding.”

Veteran Romaniac and KTM rider Chris Birch of New Zealand is hanging in with the top riders and finished in sixth place on Day Three. UK KTM rider Paul Bolton finished fourth.

Not so lucky was KTM factory rider Cristobal Guerrero of Spain. He was close behind another rider on a very fast section when the rider in front overlooked a ditch and crashed. Unable to avoid him, Guerrero too crashed and both riders were taken to hospital for checks. Stevens said indications were that Guerrero’s injuries were not serious.

Teammate Ivan Cervantes retired after Day One following a small injury. He wanted to continue but he had to keep in mind that there is still one round of the Enduro World Championships to go. The Spanish rider has promised to return to contest the Romaniacs in 2014.

Unofficial Results Day 3
1, Graham Jarvis, UK, Husaberg 06:01:17
2, Jonny Walker, UK, KTM 06:05:06
3, Alfredo Gomez, Spain, Husaberg 06:24:23
4, Paul Bolton, UK KTM 06:29:30
5, Andreas Lettenbichler, Germany, Husqvarna 06:31:47

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RED BULL ROMANIACS DAY 1

KTM factory rider Jonny Walker put up a valiant effort to struggle back to fifth place on the opening day of the notoriously difficult Red Bull Romaniacs Extreme Enduro in Romania on Wednesday after finishing on the podium after Tuesday’s ultra-tough prologue.

Overall winner of the day was the very experienced Graham Jarvis, followed by Andreas Lettenbichler while Alfredo Gomez was listed provisionally third.

Second out into the rough and tumble of the mountains around Sibiu, the 22-year-old Walker got away to a great start but some distance into the race got caught up in a tree, hurt his arm and in the process misplaced his GPS device, essential for navigating. He got back into the race, found his rhythm once again and was trailing the leaders by about 11 minutes at the refueling point and well back in the running for a good result.

But today was not Jonny’s day and around five km from the finish he ran out of fuel and for the last 30 minutes plus had to push his bike at considerable cost to his energy levels. That he hit the finish in fifth was testament to his toughness on a day when even the most experienced had their problems. Walker now has around a one-hour deficit on the leader with three more days to go.

“I pushed hard and then crashed off the side of a bank. I got going again with Lettenbichler but ran out of fuel before the service. I must have pushed my bike for about 3km until I managed to get some fuel from an Expert rider. When I got going again I managed to get back to fifth.” Walker told reporters.

But if Walker found it tough going on the opening day of competition, he was not alone. Some 40 riders started in the professional class, the elite and most skilled competing, but only eight were on the list of the provisional results. KTM’s Ivan Cervantes and Cristobal Guerrero were accounted for but both not included in the provisional results. Veteran Romaniac Chris Birch of New Zealand took time out for a cooling off swim in one of the rivers and finished sixth provisionally.

Provisional Results Pro Class Day One (of 40 starters, only 8 finishers)
1, Graham Jarvis, UK, Husaberg
2, Andreas Lttenbichler, Germany, Husqvarna
3, Alfredo Gomez, Spain, Husaberg
4, Ben Hemingway, UK, Beta
5, Jonny Walker, UK KTM

- See more at: http://blog.derestricted.com/racing/red-bull-romaniacs-day-1/#sthash.ogZw5zBq.dpuf
from derestricted

Loris Baz auctions helmet to help Alessia Polita

Alessia Polita suffered a career ending accident at Misano Circuit last month, during the second qualifying session during the fifth round of the Italian Superstock 600 championship.

The 27-year old Alessia (who is the sister of Alex Polita), lost control of her Yamaha YZF-R6 at turn 16 - and it was the same corner where Wayne Rainey crashed in 1993 that left him paralyzed - and the same cruel destiny also happened to the two-time Italian female champion, who is now paralyzed, after sustaining a fracture and spinal cord injuries on her 12th vertebra during the accident.

Alessia has received numerous visits from riders, including Chiara Fontanese and Troy Bayliss, and during the Assen GP, several riders decided to put a sticker of her racing #51 on their helmets or fairings, as did her boyfriend, Superstock rider Eddi La Marra, who wanted to win the Imola round and dedicate the victory, but he crashed out at the Acque Minerali during the 9th lap.

A number of Superbike riders also had Alessia stickers on their bikes, like Kawasaki’s Loris Baz. The Frenchman has decided to help Polita by auctioning one of his Shark Race-R Pro customized helmet on e-Bay in order to raise funds for the newly formed Lady Polita Onlus (foundation) in order to help her in her rehabilitation.

The helmet graphics were designed by Baz and he has used this helmet in the Phillip Island, Aragon and Assen rounds of the 2013 championship.

If you’re interested in owning Baz’ helmet and helping Alessia, just click here and check out the Lady Polita Facebook page.

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

Spa Summer Classic 2013

Classic car enthusiasts gathered during the weekend of June 14th until June 16th at Spa-Francorchamps for the annual Spa Summer Classic, a great event organised by the Roadbook Organisation. Over 500 classic cars, 10 different races, including touring cars, GT’s and single seaters found their way to the Ardennes rollercoaster.

By © Marcel Hundscheid / www.speed-o-graphica.com

The BRAVO organisation from Belgium has been existing for more than thirty years organizing events for historic cars. In 2008 BRAVO decided to set up a Belgian national historic championship known  as the Belgian Historic Cup open to touring cars and GT’s up to 1976.

Historic Motor Racing, Spa Ardennes Challenge and the Crosslé Racing Drivers Club combined their grids into a vast field of 1966-71 closed prototypes, sports cars, GT cars and touring cars as well as a number of Crosslé 9S sports racing cars. The Crosslé Company, originally founded in 1957 is the oldest constructor of customer racing cars in the world.  The company has built close to 1000 cars over the and won countless championships.

The Classic Sports Car Club was set up in 2001 presenting CSCC Swingin Sixties, a series open to sports cars, touring and GT’s produced during the ‘60s. Over the weekend of lot of Triumph, MG and Austin Healey models found their way to Spa as well as some TVR’s, Porsches, BMW etc. Another combined grid managed by the Classic Sports Car Club came from the Inter-Series Cup and the French HTCC Le Group 1 (Historique Tourisme Champion Car). This serie was initiated in 2003 by a driver who revived the Group 1 category featuring all kinds of touring cars and GTs.

Fans of Caterham/Lotus Seven type cars had their own race within the combined grid of the Magnificent Sevens race series managed by the Classic Sports Car Club and the French Trophée Lotus. Frenchman Jean-Paul Couilliot relaunched the Trophy Lotus Seven in 1987 as it became the Trophée Lotus Seven from 2005.

The Monoposto Racing Club from Great Britain and the French Trophée Formule Ford Kent combined their grids into a large field of classic single seaters, featuring F3, Formula Ford and some very fast Jedi single seaters.

The Historic Sports Car Club from the UK presented the Guards Trophy GT and Sports Racing Championship. This serie is open to GT and sports racing cars built before 1966. An invitation class for pre ’69 sports-racing, GT and sports-prototypes is also included. Several Chevron B6’s and B8’s as well as a bunch of Jaguar E-Types to name just a few.

Fastest cars on track during the weekend were the single seaters from the French Trophy F3 Classic. A nice field of Ralt RT1’s and RT3’s, different Chevron and March chassis as well as bunch of different Martini’s coupled with pre-1995 Formula Renaults. Classic liveries from the ‘80s featuring the March of Nigel Mansell, the Ralf of Andrea de Cesaris and many others claimed the legendary Ardennes rollercoaster.

Finally touring cars and GTs from the French ASAVE Challenge GT-Tourisme & Trophée Maxi 1000 as well as F.I.S.C. Legendary Circuits claimed the track. Like during earlier versions of the Spa Summer Classic, it was an event not to be missed and we’re already looking forward to the next edition in 2014.

(scroll down below the results for more photos)