Marc Marquez edges out Pedrosa in FP2 at Indianapolis

After taking the top of the timesheets in FP1, Marc Marquez was also the fastest rider during the second free practice at Indianapolis. The MotoGP rookie hammered out a best lap in 1.39.502 pipping his team mate Dani Pedrosa by +0.080s, but it was his race pace that was brutal, all in the middle to high 1.39s, that no other rider was able to constantly repeat.

The Hondas work exceptionally well on the Indianapolis circuit, especially on the slower corners in the second sector as Stefan Bradl took the third spot - making it a Honda 1-2-3, and he was just +0.179s adrift from his former Moto2 rival, despite suffering a crash in the opening minutes of the session.

Jorge Lorenzo was the lead rider of the Yamaha’s he too was also to break into the 1.39s, but his pace wasn’t as effective as Marquez’ as he was fourth fastest loosing most of his time in the final sector as did Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi, who were fifth and sixth respectively, with the Italian almost six tenths from the Repsol Honda rider.

Right behind Rossi, was Alvaro Bautista who seems to be strangely ‘tied’ to the Yamaha rider. Bradley Smith had an excellent session as he move up to 8th, shaving off almost six tenths from this morning and finishing ahead of both Ducati riders, Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian however was a little more than one second adrift.

Aleix Espargaro and an impressive Danilo Petrucci with their CRT machines were 11th and 12th and ahead of Pramac Ducati riders Ben Spies and Andrea Iannone. Between the two sessions Spies admitted that he is not having any pain or arm pump, just some muscle pain on his legs, while Iannone is having strength issues with his shoulder.

Karel Abraham was back on track after his huge highside this morning, after bruising his shoulder and ankle and he finished 22nd.

Twelve minutes into the session the red was waved due to safety conditions - a cone was knocked over at the end of the straight.

2013 MotoGP Indianapolis FP2 results:

01- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’39.502
02- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.080
03- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 0.179
04- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.263
05- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.311
06- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.582
07- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 0.585
08- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.738
09- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 0.931
10- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.050

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

Britt Ekland – When you call

In his roles as a villain and a womaniser, Michael Caine has broken many women’s hearts. Here’s our choice of his playmates – beautiful women who have fallen for the anti-hero’s characters.

Ekland’s performance in ‘Get Carter’ went down in film history. Playing Anna, Caine’s beautiful Swedish lover, she takes part in one of the hottest sex scenes in movie history – over the phone.

Eva Renzi - Love in West-Berlin 

Eva Renzi, aka Samantha Steel, seduces the British Secret Service agent Harry Palmer in the film ‘Funeral in Berlin’. Born in Berlin, Enzi was a rising German star in the 1970s. Tragically, she died from lung cancer aged only 60.

Jane Asher - Tragic Love

A red mane of hair and intensely blue eyes: Jane Asher’s romantic looks offer another ‘trophy’ for heartbreaker Alfie’s collection of broken hearts. But their break-up is something Alfie (played by Caine) comes later to regret. 

Miss Piggy – Animal love

If there’s one lady who’s shown herself more than Caine’s equal when it comes to breaking hearts, it must surely be Miss Piggy – playing the wife of Scrooge’s employee Bob Cratchit, to Michael Caine’s Scrooge, in the Muppet’s version of A Christmas Carol. The actor once said in an interview that she – Miss Piggy – was his only true love. Sadly, the porcine object of his affections did not return his affections.

Photos Getty Images

Oschersleben 8 Hours: SERT to start from pole / 8 Heures d’Oschersleben : le SERT conserve la pole

SERT will start Saturday’s Oschersleben 8 Hours, penultimate round of this year’s FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC), from the front of the grid. The defending champion held firm with an average time of 1m26.897s, despite pressure from BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent (Michelin). The Michelin-equipped YART and GMT 94 Yamahas fell back a place to third and fourth.

Le SERT s’élancera demain de la pole position des 8 Heures d’Oschersleben, avant-dernière épreuve du Championnat du monde d’Endurance FIM (EWC). Les champions du monde en titre ont su résister au retour de BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent (Michelin) en signant la meilleure moyenne en 1.26.897. Les deux Yamaha-Michelin du YART et du GMT 94 reculent d’une place et se qualifient en troisième et quatrième positions.

Erwan Nigon (1m26.987s) and Damian Cudlin (1m26.677s) were on form on the N°99 BMW-Michelin, although their efforts were insufficient to dislodge the N°1 Suzuki from the top of the timesheet. The two riders topped their respective sessions and both managed to squeeze below the 1m27s mark.

BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent fell just 0.163s short of the pole winners. It took a time by Julien DaCosta that was marginally quicker than Thursday (1m26.877s) to hand SERT its second consecutive pole at Oschersleben.

Broc Parkes recorded today’s fastest lap (1m26.570s) but that didn’t prevent YART-Michelin from dropping to third with an average for its three riders of 1m27.168s. Yesterday, Parkes established a new endurance racing lap record for the German venue (1m26.147).

Despite improvements by Kenny Foray (1m27.650s) and Maxime Berger (1m28.094s), GMT 94-Michelin also fell back a notch to fourth (1m27.758s), but the top-four teams were covered by less than a second.

Bolliger Team Switzerland defended fifth on the grid (1m28.314s), ahead of five Superstock bikes. Suzuki Junior Team was sixth (1m28.514s), chased by Team Louit Moto 33-Michelin (1m28.540s). DG Sport Herock, AM Moto Racing and Penz13.com Franks Autowelt Racing Team rounded off the top 10.

The Superstock battle promises to be exceptionally close, with the five fastest machines separated by just half-a-second.

Honda TT Legends (1m29.224s) failed to move up the order and will start from 11^th.

The riders can look forward to warm weather and sunshine for the entire eight-hour race. The warm-up session will start at 8:45am tomorrow (Saturday), and we hope you will join us to follow the 2013 Oschersleben 8 Hours live at www.motoracinglive.com from 1:00pm!

Les améliorations significatives d’Erwan Nigon (1.26.987) et de Damian Cudlin (1.26.677) au guidon de la BMW-Michelin n°99 n’auront pas suffi à déloger la Suzuki n°1 de la pole position. Les deux pilotes ont cependant bouclé les meilleurs tours de leur session respective en passant sous la barre des 1.27. BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent est deuxième à seulement 0,163 seconde des polemen.

Un tour à peine plus rapide que la veille en 1.26.877 de Julien DaCosta permet au SERT d’accrocher une seconde pole consécutive sur la piste d’Oschersleben. Même si Broc Parkes est crédité du meilleur temps absolu de cette seconde session en 1.26.570, le YART-Michelin recule d’une place et partira de la troisième position avec une moyenne d’1.27.168. Broc Parkes avait établi hier un nouveau record de la piste en endurance en 1.26.147.

Malgré l’amélioration de Kenny Foray (1.27.650) et Maxime Berger (1.28.094), le GMT 94-Michelin perd également une position sur la grille de départ et se retrouve quatrième (1.27.758). Les quatre premières équipes, toutes prétendantes à la victoire, se tiennent en moins d’une seconde.

Bolliger Team Switzerland conserve sa cinquième place (1.28.314) devant cinq teams engagés en Superstock. Le Suzuki Junior Team se classe sixième (1.28.514) devant le Team Louit Moto 33 – Michelin (1.28.540). DG Sport Herock, AM Moto Racing et Penz13.com Franks Autowelt Racing Team complètent le Top 10. La course s’annonce serrée dans cette catégorie où une demi-seconde sépare les cinq premières équipes.

Pas d’amélioration pour le Honda TT Legends qui pointe à la 11^ème place (1.29.224).

Le soleil et des températures estivales devraient accompagner les pilotes tout au long des huit heures de course. Le warm-up est programmé à 8h45. On se retrouve sur www.motoracinglive.com à partir de 13h00 pour suivre ensemble l’intégralité des 8 Heures d’Oschersleben. Soyez au rendez-vous !

Yamaha XS650 - Kott Motorcycles

Written by the builder, Dustin Kott from Kott Motorcycles.

Years ago I rode a 1972 XS650, also known as the XS2 from Los Angeles, California to Sturgis, South Dakota. I was wearing a cheap rain suit from Walmart in the pouring rain going at least 100 MPH to dodge the inclement weather. When I stopped at a gas station some locals took one look at me and said "you were going so fast that your damn clothes are tearing off! You passed us like we were standing still!" These are my memories of the infamous XS650 made famous by the legendary Kenny Roberts.

I decided to take on this project when it rolled into the shop because at the time when I owned my XS I simply did not possess the skills and knowledge to re-purpose it into a more sleek and refined machine. As a shop we have come to be known for our renditions of the Honda CB series so taking on a Yamaha was a testament to actively breaking paradigms of what is expected.

The XS650 has the reputation of being the 'best Triumph that Triumph never made'. This being said, the Japanese mimicked the overall stance, footpeg position, tank design, and general engine shape. Without a closer look, the two are easily mistaken for one another. In paying homage to the parallel twin look that is so synonymous with English motorcycles, the great Norton Commando was the main influence in the design of this machine. 

In order to create a more aggressive stance and fluidity of frame lines a Yamaha XS750 triple tank was fitted to the frame with some necessary tank mount alterations. With the factory indentations and the positioning of the hand crafted rearset plates, rider position was improved. 

The steel constructed seat pan and cowl copied and repeated the indentations of the tank for the sake of continuity, and created an ideal "pocket" so as to not have the rider slide off the seat under the torque of the 650 twin. In maintaining the inspiration of the English twin, extensions were added to the single header pipes for each cylinder and kicked up at a more aggressive angle per retro race machines of the era. Handling was considered with the fitment of shouldered and re-laced aluminum wheels, Hagon rear shocks, new fork springs and replaced swingarm bushings. 

An extra drilled rotor and caliper was added to the front end in order to optimize braking power and to assist the older technology of the rear drum brake. Under close scrutiny, those who are familiar with the XS 650 frame will see numerous modifications made to accommodate rearset positioning and beautification.

As mentioned beforehand, the Norton Commando was emulated in many ways in order to  create a more well balanced and repurposed machine. The most noteworthy influence was in the jet black paint scheme that incorporated a hand-striped gold line to accentuate the shapes and shadows present on the bike.

To see the bike in action, check out the vid below...

[Photography by Alex Martino]

via PIPEBURN