Jorge Lorenzo dominates opening practice at Brno

It was warm and sunny this morning at the fast and flowing Brno circuit for the first MotoGP free practice just a week after the Indianapolis GP - and the second race of the triple header.

Jorge Lorenzo was fast right off the bat - and his lack of training didn’t seem to hinder him any as he lead the entire first session. The Yamaha factory rider posted a best lap in 1.56.698 after several laps done easily in the 1.56s.

Dani Pedrosa strangely enough was also fast taking the second on the timesheets - he usually is a little slower on Friday morning but this time he was +0.343 from Lorenzo. Cal Crutchlow was third and the adventure with thieves who tried to break into his and Colin Edwards motorhomes didn’t affect him one iota, as he was just 0.017s from the Repsol Honda rider.

Indy winner Marc Marquez was fourth fastest, followed by Valentino Rossi who was already more than half a second adrift from his team mate. The Yamaha riders still do not have the seamless transmission, but they do have a two-day test at the track done earlier this month.

Alvao Bautista was sixth with Stefan Bradl in seventh. The LCR Honda rider has to recover some confidence after his three crashes at Indianpolis. Andrea Dovizioso was the fastest Ducati rider in 8th but he was more than 1.2 seconds from Lorenzo, but he was doing a comparative test with two different frames.

Bradley Smith was 9th followed by a trio of Ducatisti, Nicky Hayden, Andrea Iannone and Michele Pirro who is replacing Ben Spies - who underwent a double shoulder surgery yesterday.

Lukas Pesek who was not supposed to be racing this weekend, because of sponsorship problems is instead present, after reaching an agreement with Iodaracing - even if the money still has to arrive - and he concluded his session in 25th.

Bryan Staring crashed his Gresini machine with just a minute left in the practice, but he luckily wasn’t hurt and was left in 24th.

IDM Superbike champion Martin Bauer made his debut in MotoGP as a wildcard with Suter/BMW fielded by Austrian Remus Racing team, and he 22nd.

2013 MotoGP Brno FP1 Results:

01- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – 1’56.698
02- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.343
03- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.360
04- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.422
05- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.545
06- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 0.912
07- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 0.996
08- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.232
09- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.249
10- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.332

After SS3: a change of leader in Germany / Changement de leader

A time-consuming off by Sébastien Ogier on SS3 (damaged front-left wheel) has handed first place to team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala (Polo R WRC/Michelin). The stage’s winner, Thierry Neuville, follows in third place (+5.8s).


Sébastien Ogier a perdu sa place de leader après une touchette (roue avant gauche endommagée) dans l’ES3. Jari-Matti Latvala (Polo R WRC/Michelin) est en tête du rallye devant Thierry Neuville (+5s8) vainqueur de cette spéciale.

The second day of the 2013 ADAC Rallye Deutschland took crews to the vineyard-cloaked slopes of the meandering Mosel Valley between Kenn and Bernkastel-Kues. The green vines, heavy with maturing grapes, provided a stunning contrast to the grey-blue sky.
We found a place to park in the middle of one vineyard, just up the hill from the village of Küsserath which competitors crossed six kilometres after the start of SS3. They then looped back to the same picturesque hamlet for the middle part of the stage before continuing to nearby Trittenheim after 22.95km of competitive driving.
The views here for spectators were superb and, as often in this region, panoramic. To our right, we could see a fast downhill section out of a forest before a left-hand turn over a small stream. Behind us was a sequence of tight hairpin corners as the narrow road swept through the neatly aligned rows of vines.
For our viewing point, we chose a fast left-right kink a little further along the steep hillside. By our calculations, the N°8 VW Polo of the championship leader was late and, when it finally came into view, it seemed strangely slow for a World Rally Car. Ogier had switched on his hazard-warning lights and, after passing in front of our feet, left a lingering burning smell in the air. “I made a mistake under braking and went straight on,” admitted the Frenchman who dropped more than two-and-a-half minutes in the incident.
The new leader is Latvala who appeared in front of us almost immediately and, soon afterwards, succeeded in overtaking his unfortunate team-mate on the stage. However, the fastest time on the morning’s first test went to Thierry Neuville (Ford Fiesta RS WRC/Michelin) who is only 5.8s behind the Finn. The two factory Citroëns aren’t far behind, either, since Dani Sordo (+15.4s) and Mikko Hirvonen (+28.7s) are now third and fourth respectively.

La deuxième journée de l’ADAC Rallye Deutschland se déroule entre Kenn et Bernkastel-Kues dans les coteaux escarpés bordant les méandres de la Moselle. Les vignes feuillues et verdoyantes se détachent sur un fond de ciel gris-bleuté.

C’est justement au milieu des ceps alourdis de grappes que nous sommes garés, pile au-dessus du village de Küsserath que les concurrents vont frôler une première fois après six kilomètres de course dans cette ES1. Ils reviendront tout près du hameau à mi-spéciale avant de filer vers Trittenheim pour l’arrivée après 22,95 km.

Le point de vue est spectaculaire et multidirectionnel. A droite, une descente rapide dans la forêt avec un changement de direction gauche en contre-bas. Derrière nous, plusieurs épingles au milieu des vignes dans un dédale de chemins étroits.

C’est un gauche-droite rapide que nous avons choisi un peu plus loin, à flanc de coteau. Mais la VW Polo n°8 se fait attendre et lorsqu’elle surgit enfin du gauche, c’est à une vitesse étrangement lente pour une World Rally Car. Elle est en « warnings ». Des étincelles s’échappent de la roue avant gauche et une odeur de brûlé accompagne le passage de l’ex-leader Sébastien Ogier. « J’ai raté un freinage et tiré droit dans les vignes », avouera le Français à l’arrivée qui se retrouve à 2min26s au général.

Jari-Matti Latvala est déjà là. Le Finlandais ne va pas tarder à doubler son équipier et prendre la tête du rallye malgré le meilleur temps réalisé par Thierry Neuville (Ford Fiesta RS WRC/Michelin). Le Belge n’est qu’à 5s8 du leader. Les Citroën sont à l’affût avec Dani Sordo à 15s4 et Hirvonen à 28s7.

Unique Packard wins ‘Best of Show’ at 2013 Pebble Beach Concours

A one-off Packard 1108 Dietrich Convertible Victoria from 1934 has claimed the coveted ‘Best of Show’ award at the 2013 Pebble Beach Concours.

A 1934 car, the winning Dietrich Victoria was one in a small series of ‘semi-custom’ Packards, but stood apart from its brethren thanks to its cherry-picked features. Not only is it one of the rare ‘Vee-windshield’ cars, but it also has the distinctive twin-strip fenders of the LeBaron Dual Cowl Phaetons, making it unique. Enthusiasts consider 1934 to be a vintage year for Packard production: the mighty V12 had matured, and 1935 was to see a downturn in quality standards.

Owners Joseph and Margie Cassini are no strangers to Pebble’s ‘Best in Show’ award, having previously won it in 2004 with their 1938 Horch 853A Cabriolet. This year, the recently restored Packard also took the title of ‘Most Elegant Convertible’.

Photo: Rolex/Tom O’Neal

Project # 2 : Brown Sugar by Pure Motorcycles