Two-day test at Suzuka / 8 Heures de Suzuka : deux jours d’essais

The majority of the 63 teams entered for the 36th 8 Hours of Suzuka, round two of the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC), took part in last week’s two-day official test (Tuesday and Wednesday). Their numbers included BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent, GMT 94 and YART.

La majorité des 63 équipes inscrites à la 36ème édition des 8 Heures de Suzuka, deuxième épreuve du Championnat du monde d’Endurance FIM, a participé mardi et mercredi derniers à deux journées d’essais officiels. BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent, le GMT 94 et le YART avaient fait le déplacement.

Both days were upset by wet weather, and the fastest time (2m8.194s) was posted by Aoki/Tsuda for the event’s four-time winner Yoshimura Suzuki (1978, 1980, 2007 and 2009). The pair will be joined for the race by the Australian British Superbike rider Josh Brookes.

MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Honda was second (2m8.734s), followed by Team Kagayama (Suzuki) whose exceptional line-up of Kagayama, Schwantz and Haga produced a 2m8.794s. It was the official return of 49-year old Kevin Schwantz, the 1993 500cc world champion, to the circuit where he collected his first ever 500cc victory in 1988.

The best-placed permanent EWC team, YART (Michelin), was fourth. The N°7 Yamaha, which claimed a record-breaking pole-winning time in 2012, will be in the hands of a new line-up this season (Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Josh Waters and Broc Parkes).

After finishing third in 2012, GMT 94 (Michelin) was pleased with its effort of 2m9.590s. “We found a good pace and our time compares well with the 2m10.7s which was our best lap last year,” notes team manager Christophe Guyot. “We’ve come on well thanks to our work which focused essentially on the engine settings. We will need to optimise the compromise between power output and fuel consumption because we lacked power last year.”

BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent (Michelin) was 11^th (2m10.114s) with Erwan Nigon et Damian Cudlin who are competing Germany’s IDM series this season but who are back with the Michael Bartholemy-run squad for the Japanese race alongside Sylvain Barrier. Although they are no strangers to Suzuka, the two former riders had to rediscover the bike in endurance trim, while Sylvain Barrier concentrated on learning the track. “We did some good work with Michelin as well as on the bike’s set-up. It’s a pretty good result and we were fast in the rain,” says the sporting manager Nicolas Dussauge.

Michelin, too, was pleased with the two days, despite the conditions which were very different from those teams will probably face during the race. Even so, the riders were able to try the French firm’s rain tyres. Different choices have been selected for the race itself and the final selection will be decided after free practice and qualifying.

Also of note was the absence of SERT and the 14^th fastest time (2m11.746s) by the two-time winning F.C.C. TSR Honda, despite the lack of Jonathan Rea and Ryuichi Kiyonari.

The teams will be back in action for free practice on July 25. The 2012 8 Hours of Suzuka will start at 11:30am local time on Sunday, July 28.

La pluie est venue perturber ces deux journées d’essais officiels. Vainqueur à quatre reprises des 8 Heures de Suzuka (1978, 1980, 2007 et 2009), Yoshimura Suzuki, emmené par Aoki et Tsuda, a signé le meilleur temps en 2.08.194. Le duo sera rejoint pour la course par le pilote australien engagé en British Superbike, Josh Brookes. MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Honda est crédité du second temps en 2.08.734. Le Team Kagayama (Suzuki), alignant un trio exceptionnel composé de Kagayama, Schwantz et Haga, se classe troisième en 2.08.794. Agé de 49 ans, Kevin Schwantz, champion du monde 500cc en 1993, fait son retour officiel à la compétition sur le circuit où il a décroché sa première victoire en 500cc en 1988.

Première équipe permanente, le YART (Michelin) est quatrième. La Yamaha n°7, auteur d’une pole position record en 2012, sera confié à un équipage inédit cette saison, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Josh Waters et Broc Parkes.

Troisième en 2012, le GMT 94 (Michelin) est satisfait de sa cinquième place en 2.09.590. « Nous avons roulé dans un très bon rythme, 2.09.5 contre 2.10.7 au mieux en course l’an passé »  souligne Christophe Guyot, team manager. « La progression est très intéressante. Le travail a essentiellement porté sur les réglages moteur. Nous devons améliorer le compromis entre puissance et consommation car l’année passée nous manquions de puissance. »

L’équipe BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent (Michelin) réalise le 11^ème temps en 2.10.114. Erwan Nigon et Damian Cudlin, engagés en IDM cette saison (Championnat Superbike Allemand) sont de retour avec l’équipe de Michael Bartholemy aux côtés de Sylvain Barrier. Même s’ils ont déjà participé à la course japonaise, les deux pilotes ont redécouvert la machine d’endurance alors que Sylvain Barrier s’est concentré sur l’apprentissage de la piste. « Nous avons beaucoup travaillé sur les pneumatiques Michelin ainsi que sur le setting de la moto  Le résultat est plutôt concluant, nous nous sommes montrés très rapides sous la pluie » reconnait Nicolas Dussauge, manager sportif.

Du côté de Michelin, on est également satisfait même si l’on reconnait que les conditions rencontrées lors de ces essais seront certainement différentes de celles de la course. Les pilotes ont eu l’occasion de tester et valider les pneus « pluie ». Différents choix pneumatiques ont été retenus pour la course et devront être affinés lors des essais libres et qualificatifs à la fin du mois de juillet.

A noter l’absence du SERT et le 14^ème temps (2.11.746) du double vainqueur en titre, F.C.C. TSR Honda, privé de Jonathan Rea et Ryuichi Kiyonari.

L’intégralité des équipes se retrouveront le 25 juillet pour les essais libres. Le départ des 8 Heures de Suzuka sera donné le dimanche 28 juillet à 11.30 (heure locale).

01- Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – Tsuda/Aoki – 2’08.194
02- MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – Takahashi/Haslam – 2’08.734
03- Team Kagayama – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – Kagayama/Schwantz/Haga – 2’08.794
04- Monster Energy Yamaha YART – Yamaha YZF R1 – Nakasuga/Park – 2’09.402
05- Yamaha France GMT94 Michelin – Yamaha YZF R1 – Checa/Foray – 2’09.590
06- Team JP Dog Fight Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – Fujita/Kimura – 2’09.700
07- Honda Team Asia – Honda CBR 1000RR – Tamada/Kamaruzaman – 2’09.705
08- TOHO Racing with Moriwaki – Honda CBR 1000RR – Yamaguchi/Itoh – 2’09.860
09- MotoMap Supply – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – Konno/Teramoto – 2’09.889
10- Honda Suzuka Racing Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – Hiura/Kitaguchi/Yasuda – 2’09.915

Motorcycle Girl 085

Two highly desirable ladies. Actress Charlotte Poutrel and a Brough Superior SS101.

Spotted on The Vintagent.

Custom motorcycle clothing and gear available at 100MPH.com.au

EL PLYMO: SWEDISH FOR LOWRIDER

We can’t always trust our initial assumptions, can we? My first thought when I saw Emanuel Sandén’s 1946 Plymouth Deluxe was that a Swedish dude built himself a rat rod lowrider – a flat black one at that.

I chalked it up to a foreign caricature of American style, an assumption that’s not too far fetched. But I also knew Emanuel was one of the guys behind the wicked Hemizon we featured a couple of months ago. There had to be more to this build than I was seeing at first glance.

Maybe I’m jaded by so many people jumping on the rat rod bandwagon; take any bodystyle, paint it flat black, install some shock-value accessories and call it a build. So when I learned that El Plymo was chopped in the ’60s and still wore its original paint and bodywork, I realized that I had perhaps been shortsighted.

El Plymo isn’t a caricature or a passing fad at all. It’s a true survivor, and one that Emanuel has breathed new life and style into.

Looking at the rough bodywork, it’s easy to judge. Just know that those welds are original and untouched, laid down with an oxyacetylene rig by a hotrodder in Sweden over 50 years ago. Most of us can’t claim that kind of authenticity, can we?

As I noticed the switchbox on the dash, my next thought was ‘Please don’t have airbags…’

I breathed another sigh of relief when I saw the back lifted. Clearly this thing was juiced.

Emanuel took it a step further and installed legit parts – two old school Fenner Stone pumps with solenoids off a Swedish big rig.

He’s also running two electrical systems in the car, the normal 12v one plus a 24v system just for the hydros. The car can recharge the 24v system without needing to plug in each night – clever.

It didn’t take much to push the chopped Plymouth into lowrider land – just some hydros and wires really. The wheels are 13-inch gold plated Daytons, because as Emanuel says, “An old school lowrider must have 13s!”

It’s interesting to me that he went after the lowrider style with this build. With a barn-find like this I would have been tempted to build a period kustom. Even more interesting though is that he built the car some 10 or 11 years ago. Clearly Emanuel is (and has been) building cars in his own style and not by whatever the current trend happens to be.

This hand-painted logo caught my eye and I had to ask about it. Loosely translated it means Swedish Original Destroying Association, Emanuel’s answer to the ‘problem’ of old guys who only restore cars to original.

In case you’re still not clear about his feelings on old cars, there’s this decal on the window. 

As an American who also loves historic custom cars, it’s sometimes jarring to see such blatant Americana displayed in foreign builds. I guess I take for granted the culture and history we have at our disposal, but to see a guy go to such lengths to bring the style to his own country is an excellent reminder.

Emanuel wanted to make sure we knew that he drives his car too. Of course he cruises it locally; wouldn’t we all?

He’s not afraid to hop in and road trip El Plymo either though. In fact he’s taken it as far as Spain, crossing through a number of other countries on his way.

Now keep in mind this is in an old vehicle, one which he built from the ground up, plus it has adjustable suspension. Driving this car through multiple countries requires two things: passion and confidence in your own mechanical abilities.

If you’re going to take long road trips you’ll probably want a tried and true SBC of course.

Emanuel didn’t do much to the engine, but I do see an electric fan with a shroud to direct air through the radiator.

That switchbox we saw earlier was made from a sculpture Emanuel found somewhere. 

He’s also added old school flame throwers to the exhaust by welding spark plugs into the pipes and fattening up the fuel mixture. Not so much a lowrider thing, but this car is a fusion of lowrider and kustom anyways.

Since the body was a time capsule when Emanuel found it, he’s left all the original brightwork in its place.

Shaving any badges or moldings would require a full repaint, ruining the character of the car – out of the question. 

The chrome trim helps show the lines against the dull paint too.

After spending some time to learn about El Plymo and chat with Emanuel I realized what a legit custom car this really is. Shame on me for thinking it was just another rat rod… 

…and bravo to Emanuel Sandén for being a customizing visionary. I mean really, who scores an original, chopped barn-find and then puts a lowrider spin on it, in a country where a lowrider scene barely exists at all? I guess Emanuel does!

Words by Keith CharvoniaInstagram: SpeedhuntersKeithkeith@speedhunters.com

Photos by Paddy McGrath

Hard Enduro in Romania – Red Bull Romaniacs 2013 – Event Recap -

Check out the best action of the Red Bull Romaniacs 2013! Winning the fourth and final day of racing at the Red Bull Romaniacs, Graham Jarvis cemented himself as the most successful rider in the ten-year history of the event by collecting his fourth victory.

Going into the final day of racing with a healthy lead, Jarvis looked almost assured of the win. But knowing that anything can happen in Hard Enduro, the Brit maintained his unrelenting pace. Setting off first on the road, Jarvis stayed out front for the entire day.

Entering the finishing arena in Dealul Gușteriței, the Husaberg rider breezed his way up the near vertical hill climb before riding into the winner’s enclosure as this year’s Red Bull Romaniacs’ champion.

For more Hard Enduro visit: http://redbull.com/motorsports

- See more at: http://blog.derestricted.com/racing/hard-enduro-in-romania-red-bull-romaniacs-2013-event-recap/#sthash.j8VBpizr.dpuf