Rally Australia 2013 ; Victory in Australia, but no title for Ogier / Victoire sans titre pour Ogier

WRC
Although Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (VW/Michelin) won this weekend’s Coates Hire Rally Australia, they failed to wrap up the 2013 world title when Thierry Neuville (Ford/Michelin) rescued second place and pocketed two bonus points on the Power Stage!

Sébastien Ogier et Julien Ingrassia (VW/Michelin) ont remporté le Coates Hire Rally Australia, mais pas encore le titre mondial 2013 car Thierry Neuville (Ford/Michelin) a terminé deuxième et marqué deux points dans la Power Stage !

 

 

A score of 19 stage wins from 22 saw Sébastien Ogier dominate the 10^th round of the season and he even appeared to be heading towards the 2013 Drivers’ world title. However, that reward was snatched from his grasp by the result of the Power Stage (‘Shipmans, 29.44km) which brought the weekend’s action to a close.
To clinch the crown in Australia, Ogier needed to win both the rally and the Power Stage, with Thierry Neuville failing to finish second overall AND second on the Power Stage.
At the start of the ultimate test, Ogier enjoyed a lead of 1m4.1s over Mikko Hirvonen, with Neuville trailing a further 25.2s adrift in third place. In keeping with the weekend’s trend, the VW driver dominated the stage, but Hirvonen had a problem with one of his rear wheels, and the delay was enough to hand second place to Neuville!
Ogier’s team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala (4^th) also had a wheel-related problem and was unable to prevent Neuville from collecting the second best time on the Power Stage. As a consequence, Ogier was deprived of the title by one point!
The Power Stage also dealt a knock-out blow to Kris Meeke (Citroën, wheel damage) who had re-joined on Sunday morning under the Rally2 ruling. Mads Ostberg (Ford) ended up in fifth spot, ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen (VW) and Evgeny Novikov (Ford). Nathan Quinn (Mini) celebrated his first outing in a World Rally Car by collecting eighth place.
Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (Ford/Michelin) picked up his third victory of the year in the WRC-2 class and has moved to the top of the championship’s provisional standings. Ukraine’s Yurii Protasov (Ford) led for a while but was delayed by an ‘off’. He still finished second, though, ahead of Yazeed Al-Rahji (Ford) who also figured in the lead at one point. Hayden Paddon (Skoda) overcame electrical trouble to claim fifth place



.En remportant 19 spéciales sur 22, Sébastien Ogier a totalement dominé cette 10^e manche de la saison et semblait filer vers le titre de champion du monde 2013. Mais tout a basculé dans la Power Stage, Shipmans (29,44 km), dernière spéciale du rallye.
Pour être sacré ce week-end, Ogier devait gagner le rallye et la Power Stage, et Thierry Neuville ne devait pas terminer deuxième du rallye et de la Power Stage.
Au départ de cette Power Stage, Sébastien Ogier comptait 1min04s1 d’avance sur Mikko Hirvonen et 1min29s3 sur Thierry Neuville. Le Français a dominé cette dernière spéciale, mais Hirvonen a connu un problème de roue arrière et abandonné sa 2^e place du classement général à Thierry Neuville.
De son côté, l’équipier d’Ogier chez Volkswagen, Jari-Matti Latvala (4^e), a lui aussi connu un problème de roue et n’a donc pu s’intercaler : Thierry Neuville a signé le deuxième meilleur temps de la Power Stage, privant Ogier du titre mondial pour un petit point !
Cette Power Stage a aussi éliminé définitivement Kris Meeke (Citroën, roue arrachée) qui était reparti en Rally2 après une sortie de route samedi. Mads Ostberg (Ford) a terminé à la 5^e place devant Andreas Mikkelsen (VW) et Evgeny Novikov (Ford). Pour son premier rallye au volant d’une World Rally Car, Nathan Quinn (Mini) a pris la 8^e place.
Le Qatari Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (Ford/Michelin) a remporté sa 3^e victoire de la saison en WRC-2 et reprend la tête du championnat. L’Ukrainien Yurii Protasov (Ford) fut leader en milieu de rallye avant une touchette. Il termine deuxième devant Yazeed Al-Rahji (Ford) qui occupa également la tête, jusqu’à une touchette. Hayden Paddon (5^e, Skoda) a connu des ennuis électriques.

Goodwood Revival Dress Code: What’s your fancy?

What would Goodwood – the most glamorous weekend in the classic calendar – be without the dressing up? Choosing an appropriate outfit for the relevant racing era is one of the great pleasures; or, for those who leave it to the last minute, there’s always the Goodwood shop...

Autumn is approaching and with it this weekend’s Goodwood Revival. The unique charm of this motorsport party is that not just the racing cars, but also the drivers, the mechanics, the caterers – and of course the spectators – are dressed to suit the events of yesteryear. To be a genuine part of the event, rather than simply a spectator, visitors slip with wit and imagination into outfits which bring the Forties, Fifties and Sixties back to life. If you don’t adopt the Revival dress code, you won’t be turned away at the gate, but it’s a big part of the fun – against the backdrop noise of throaty engines, big bands and rock ’n’ roll.

But what to wear, when you join Lord March at his race circuit? To help out those in sartorial confusion, Goodwood has produced a small guide titled ‘Dress and Style at the Goodwood Revival’, covering the three suitable decades of fashion. Men, for example, might choose the Ivy League look, adopting 1950s U.S. college fashion, or be inspired by James Dean – complete with leather jacket and roll-up jeans. Ladies, meanwhile, might desire to be anything from a starchy matron in hat and gloves, to the naughty girl of 1960s Carnaby Street or perhaps a film star of the black and white era. For last-minute help, you can always turn to Goodwood’s online boutique (though even that is a little late for this year – but plan ahead for 2014, why not!). Here you will find slightly eccentric, quintessentially British creations, along with seamed stockings and hats – or for men who long to be covered in oil stains, there’s always the practical option of plain white mechanics’ overalls. Have a Glorious Goodwood!

Photos: Classic Driver, Goodwood Revival 

The right styles for the Goodwood Revival can be found at the Goodwood Online Store.

Moto GP ; Marc Marquez comfortable with record breaking lap, as Pedrosa still has grip issues

Marc Marquez gently brushed off a comment that Casey Stoner said in a interview with Motosprint regarding the the fact that ‘Marquez likes to humiliate his rivals’ to blast Stoner’s 2011 Misano record into smithereens and take his sixth pole position of the season.

Marquez said that his crash in FP4 didn’t dent his confidence on bit as he but he did admit that the huge gap between himself and his rivals isn’t ‘realistic, a hot lap is one thing, but a race is another and he thinks he can’t escape so easily.

“I’m very happy with this pole position, as we had a really good hot lap,” said Marquez “It’s a shame about the small crash that we had in practice this morning, which was completely my fault. I did a stupid mistake! “When I released the front brake at the very last part, then I moved my finger to open the gas and I touched the front lever a little and lost the front. But the important thing is that I know where I made the mistake.

“In qualifying I felt very comfortable every time on fast laps and was able to put in some quick times. Maybe for one lap the pole distance is a lot, but I do not think it is a real gap for the race. Jorge has a very good pace, Valentino will also be tough to beat, because it is his home race and he has been very strong in practice. I’m sure that he will be fast tomorrow, as will Dani who had some problems in qualifying. The aim is to get a good start, try to ride in the lead group at the front and pick up more world championship points. I have a good pace, but I don’t think I can go alone at the front. I will see after warm-up and especially how I feel in the race. Then I will make my plan.”

Dani Pedrosa still hasn’t found a solution to his grip issues and believes that his problems may stem from the tires or from the track surface, even if tried switching to second bike and with other tires.

Unable to explain the situation the Repsol Honda veteran became nervous and couldn’t find the concentration, so he qualified fourth.

“We had a bit of luck to take fourth on the grid, because we have been having problems with all the rear tyres that we have used,” said Pedrosa. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but I didn’t have any grip in any of the sessions today. In the final free practice session we changed the tyres twice, then in qualifying we again switched to new rubber, but there was never a good response. We don’t know if the problem is with the tyres, with the bike or with the track surface.

“In the final moments we made another change and suddenly I had some grip again, and it is thanks to this that we were able to take the fourth fastest time - although this position was certainly short of our aims for today. For tomorrow, however, we are confident that we can get a good start and have a good race.”

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

noir et blanc