MotoGP Aragon paddock and brolly girls

The Aragon MotoGP will probably be remembered more for the incident on lap 6 between Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, when the rookie made contact with his team mate’s rear wheel in an attempt overtake him and take second and severed a sensor cable that disabled Pedrosa’s traction control system.

While the Race Direction will be making a decision on whether to apply any sanctions on Marquez during next week’s Sepang round, and the Repsol Honda rookie needs just 62 points in the next four races to take home the championship title and equal Kenny Roberts, who won the GP title in his rookie season in 1978, and considering that the Spaniard has been on the podium 13 times in the last 14 races, the odds of his winning the crown are very much in his favour.

Since the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix is scheduled for the next week, we’ve decided to tide you over until then with a photo gallery of just some of the long haired sexy Spanish paddock senoritas that graced the Aragon race track grid last weekend.

Enjoy the pics.

via TWOWHEELSBLOG

2013 ISDE Day 5

KTM factory rider Antoine Meo of France put on an impressive display of riding on the KTM 300 EXC on Friday to finish the penultimate day of Sardegna ISDE 2013 as the lead overall rider and also topped his E3 class.

Team France continued to lead both the World Trophy and the Junior Trophy helped by Meo and KTM factory teammate Johnny Aubert.

With the week-long ride on the Italian island of Sardinia drawing to a close KTM Enduro Factory Team Boss Fabio Farioli said Meo had been impressive and ‘incredibly fast’ on the penultimate day of the competition. “Antoine (Meo) rode a great two last laps. He was incredibly fast and Johnny (Aubert) is also doing a good job,” he said. Aubert is currently third in E2 while KTM factory teammates Ivan Cervantes and Cristobal Guerrero of Team Spain are running overall third and first in E2 and E1 respectively.

J.Edmunds photos.

Team France are poised to take the World Trophy and now have over 14 minutes lead over Team USA. Team Italy is now third after Team Australia incurred a five-minute penalty to knock it down to fourth overall. France are followed by Italy, Britain, USA and Sweden in the Junior Trophy.

On Saturday riders face a final motocross test to settle the final outcome of this centenary edition of the ISDE, the oldest annual event on the FIM calendar. Riders run in reverse order, the highest ranking going off last on the final day.

ISDE Sardinia Results

Day Five Results
E1 Class Day Five
1, Lorenzo Santolino, Spain Husqvarna
2, Thomas Oldrati, Italy Husaberg
3. Cristobal Guerrero, Spain, KTM
4, Thasseus Duval, US Honda
5, Jeremy Joly, France, Honda

E1 Day Five Progressive
1, Cristobal Guerrero, Spain, KTM
2, Jeremy Joly France, Honda
3, Lorenzo Santolino, Spain Husqvarna
4, Thomas Oldrati, Italy Husaberg
5, Redondi, Italy KTM

E2 Class Day 5
1, Alex Salvini, Italy, HM Honda
2, Pela Renet, France, Husaberg
3, Johnny Aubert, France, KTM
4, Daniel Milner, Australia, Yamaha
5, Taylor Robert, USA, Kawasaki

E2 Class after Day 5
1, Daniel Milner, Australia, Yamaha
2, Pela Renet, France, Husaberg
3, Johnny Aubert, France, KTM
4, Taylor Robert, USA, Kawasaki
5, Ivan Cervantes, Spain, KTM

E3 Class Day 5
1, Antoine Meo, France, KTM
2, Mathias Bellino, France, Husaberg
3, Mike Brown, USA, KTM
4, Aigar Leok, Estonia, TM
5, Manuel Monni, Italy, KTM

E3 Class after Day 5
1, Antoine Meo, France, KTM
2, Mathias Bellino, France, Husaberg
3, Mike Brown, USA, KTM
4, Chris Hollis, Australia, KTM
5, Manuel Monni, Italy, KTM

Overall (all classes) after Day 5
1, Meo
2, Milner
3, Renet
4, Aubert
5, Robert
6, Cervantes



World Trophy: 

1, France, 20:48.22.52 (Pela Renet, Jeremy Joly, Johnny Aubert, Antoine Meo, Rodrig Thain, Fabien Planet)
2, USA, 21:02.41.95 (Mike Brown, Kurt Caselli, Thaddeus Duvall, Charlie Mullins, Zach Osborne, Robert Taylor)

3, Italy, 21:06.22.34 (Albergoni, Oldrati, Salvini, Monni. Philippaerts, Balletti)

4, Australia, 21:11.02.82 (Joshua Green, Chris Hollis, Glenn Kearney, Matthew Phillips, Joshua Strang, Daniel Miller)

5, Spain, 21:14.32.64 (Lorenzo Santolino, Cristobal Guerrero, Ivan Cervantes, Victor Guerrero, Mario Roman, Oriol Mena



Junior World Trophy: 

1, France, 12:43.55.75 (Swan Servajean, Kevin Rohmer, Loic Larrieu, Mathias Bellino

2, Italy, 12:49.53.88 (Rudy Moroni, Giacomo Redondi, Nicolo Mori, Gianluca Martini)

3, Britain 12:53.01.09 (Steve Holcombe, Jack Rowland, Jamie McCanney, Daniel McCanney)

4, USA, 113:00.35.41 (Grant Baylor, Kailub Russell, Andrew Delong, Jessie Groemm)

5, Australia, 13:L03.46.35 (Ben Burrell, Lachlan Stanford, Scott Keegan, Thomas McCormick

Leg 2 - 2013 WRC Rallye de France

End of Day 2: Now it’s Latvala’s turn to lead! / Etape 2 : Et maintenant, Latvala !

Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen/Michelin) won this evening’s super-special in Mulhouse to become the fourth different driver to top the leaderboard in Alsace. Early leader Thierry Neuville fell from contention on SS11, but the provisional top three – Latvala, Sordo and Ogier – are covered by just 1.5 seconds with one day remaining! Pontus Tidemand is the 2013 FIA Junior WRC Champion

Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen/Michelin) a remporté la dernière spéciale du jour et devient le quatrième leader différent depuis le départ du Rallye de France-Alsace. Les quatre premiers du classement général – Latvala, Sordo, Ogier, Loeb – se tiennent en cinq secondes. Le Suédois Pontus Tidemand est Champion du monde Junior 2013*

The World Rally Championship has accustomed us to some thrilling fights at the sharp end in recent months. Some observers might suggest that has only been possible because superhero Sébastien Loeb is no longer part of the championship. But here we are in the Frenchman’s back garden, on asphalt and, judging by the speed he showed on Friday morning, he is clearly match fit, yet we’ve got one of the closest multi-driver scraps we have seen at this level for a long, long time.

Indeed, with one day of the 2013 Rallye de France-Alsace and 65 competitive kilometres remaining, four drivers still stand a very realistic chance of taking the top prize when the rally ends tomorrow afternoon (Sunday).

Jari-Matti Latvala put Volkswagen/Michelin in front for the first time this week thanks to victory on the Mulhouse super-special (SS14) which concluded today’s competition. He was understandably delighted at the Stop Control but acutely aware that three exceptionally gifted drivers are lined up behind him, with only 1.5s covering this evening’s podium…

“It’s really fantastic to see this fight,” he said. “I’ve never been involved in anything this close before. The conditions have been very difficult, but I haven’t made any mistakes. That’s the main thing. Perhaps I’ve even been a little too cautious at times…”

Despite being passed by the Finn, Dani Sordo (2^nd, Citroën) said he’d had a great day, while Sébastien Ogier (3^rd, VW) can hardly believe he is still in contention after the terrible start he made to the rally on Friday. Fourth-placed Sébastien Loeb (Citroën, +5.0s) reminded us that he was “still in the fight”, despite having been slightly distanced, although he hasn’t been entirely happy with the handling of his Citroën since this morning.

And while this foursome looks forward to an exciting showdown on Sunday, you have to spare a thought for Ford’s Thierry Neuville. Merely hours ago, he seemed to be in control with a 13-second cushion at today’s midday break. When action resumed this afternoon, however, his chances were annihilated when he span and punctured on SS11, conceding practically a minute-and-a-half to his pursuers.

Given the big gap which separates the leading pack from the rest of the field, he is still fifth overall – a little more than a minute down – but his only real chance of redemption will be if the fierce fight up front produces some collateral damage…

Today’s run hasn’t produced any changes to the order in the WRC-3 or WRC-2 classifications, with Citroën drivers Quentin Gilbert and Sébastien Chardonnet still in front in the former, and the WRC-2 pace-setter Robert Kubica (Citroën) still comfortably clear of Ford’s Elfyn Evans.

Coincidentally, it was 12 months ago that Evans clinched the FIA Junior title that would serve as an important springboard for his career. Today’s result in the Junior battle –which ended after SS14 – has handed the 2014 crown to the Welshman’s successor, 22-year old Pontus Tidemand from Sweden.

Le Championnat du monde des Rallyes FIA nous a habitués à quelques belles bagarres ces derniers temps. Certains disent que c’est parce que Sébastien Loeb n’est plus là. Faux : le nonuple champion du monde est de retour en WRC ce week-end, qui plus est sur ses terres et sur asphalte… Et la bagarre est extraordinaire depuis le départ entre quatre ou cinq pilotes et trois constructeurs différents.

Il reste une étape dans cette 11^e manche de la saison et 65 kilomètres chronométrés, et quatre pilotes peuvent encore prétendre à la victoire demain après-midi.

Jari-Matti Latvala s’est hissé en tête grâce à son meilleur temps dans la Superspéciale de Mulhouse (ES14), la dernière du jour. Le Finlandais était forcément ravi au point stop, même s’il savait que trois autres concurrents étaient groupés en cinq secondes derrière lui !

 « Cette bagarre est vraiment fantastique. Je n’ai jamais été mêlé dans un tel match à quatre auparavant. Les conditions étaient difficiles aujourd’hui, mais je n’ai pas commis d’erreur. C’est le plus important. J’ai même été parfois trop prudent. »

Bien que débordé par le Finlandais, Dani Sordo (2^e, Citroën + 0s4) était satisfait de sa journée, alors que Sébastien Ogier (3^e, VW, +1s5) pouvait à peine croire qu’il était en lice pour la victoire après une première journée « catastrophique ».  Sébastien Loeb (4^e, Citroën, +5s) est lui aussi en course pour une dernière victoire en WRC, même s’il a semble-t-il un peu galéré avec les réglages de sa Citroën DS3 WRC aujourd’hui.

Derrière ce quatuor qui jouera la gagne demain, on n’oublie pas Thierry Neuville (Ford/Michelin) qui a mené l’épreuve une bonne partie de la journée. Mais le Belge a perdu le leadership dans l’ES11, la première spéciale de l’après-midi, après un tête-à-queue et une crevaison, lâchant presque une minute et demi à ses adversaires. Thierry Neuville est cinquième avec une bonne minute d’avance sur ses poursuivants.

Pas de changement en WRC-2 et en WRC-3 où Robert Kubica et Quentin Gilbert sont bien installés en tête. Il y a un an, Elfyn Evans, actuellement 2^e de la catégorie WRC-2, remportait le championnat du monde Junior. Cette année, c’est le Suédois Pontus Tidemand (22 ans) qui va coiffer la couronne mondiale après avoir remporté sa 5^e victoire de la saison.

*sous réserve de la publication officielle des résultats par la FIA