WSBK : a double whammy for Sykes at Magny-Cours / doublé de Sykes à Magny-Cours

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) took a step closer to the 2013 World Superbike title by winning both races at the penultimate round at Magny-Cours, France. The Supersport win went to Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki), but the crown went to Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha).

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) a fait un pas supplémentaire vers le titre en remportant les deux courses de l’avant-dernière manche du championnat du monde Superbike (WSBK) à Magny-Cours (France). En Supersport, la victoire est revenue à Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki) alors que Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha) coiffe la couronne.

The year’s penultimate meeting was marked by treacherous weather conditions which played a key role at Magny-Cours.

Tom Sykes claimed his eighth pole position of the season before taking a lights-to-flag win, although the race was shortened by four laps following the fall of Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini Kawasaki).

Thanks to a flying start, Sykes wasted no time in pulling out a handsome lead over his chasers, with the exception of Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team)who managed to stay on the leader’s heels for the first few laps before the Frenchman decided to settle for second spot. Third place went to his team-mate Eugène Laverty who is also still in the running for the title.

Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) came fourth, ahead of Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) and the surprising Michele Pirro (Team Ducati Alstare) who was making his world class Superbike debut.

Sykes produced a similar performance in Race 2 to collect his third double whammy of the year. Once again, he got away cleanly and went on to take an unchallenged win ahead of his two remaining championship rivals.

The two Aprilia riders, who were incapable of matching the Briton’s pace, engaged in their own duel for second place before being caught out by a rain shower on the final lap. Laverty and Guintoli both pitted but still managed to pick up second and third places which were their positions after Lap 21, the only lap that all the surviving riders completed.

Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) was fourth, ahead of Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet), Vincent Philippe (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) – an excellent stand-in for Leon Camier – and Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet).

Sykes’ triumph extends his championship lead to 37 and 38 points over Laverty and Guintoli with one round to come at Jerez, Spain, in two weeks’ time.

In the Supersport clash, second place sufficed for Sam Lowes to clinch the 2013 crown. He only needed a point at Magny-Cours to wrap up the championship, yet he challenged winner Sofuoglu all the way to the finish

Cet avant-dernier round de la saison a été marqué par des conditions météorologiques difficiles où la pluie a tenu le premier rôle.

Auteur de sa huitième pole position de la saison, Tom Sykes a été intouchable en menant de bout en bout la première course qui prit fin prématurément au 19^ème tour sur les 23 prévus suite à la chute deMark Aitchison (Team Pedercini Kawasaki).

Prenant le meilleur départ, Sykes a creusé rapidement l’écart sur ses adversaires hormis Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team)qui a lui a tenu tête dans les premiers tours. Mais le Français a dû s’incliner et se contenter de la deuxième place. Son coéquipier, Eugène Laverty, également en lice pour le titre, a terminé troisième. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) a pris la quatrième place devant Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) et un surprenant Michele Pirro (Team Ducati Alstare), sixième de sa première course en Mondial Superbike.

Sykes a récidivé en seconde manche en signant son troisième doublé de la saison. Prenant le meilleur départ, il s’échappe dès les premiers tours et se retrouve seul en tête distançant ses deux rivaux pour le titre.

Incapables de suivre le rythme imprimé par le Britannique, les deux pilotes Aprilia Racing Team se sont battus en duel pour la seconde place mais se sont fait piéger par une averse dans le dernier tour. Laverty et Guintoli ont pu néanmoins repartir pour rentrer aux stands et ont respectivement terminé aux seconde et troisième places, selon le classement du 21^ème  tour, le dernier tour bouclé par l'ensemble des pilotes encore présents en piste.

Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) a pris la quatrième place devant Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet), Vincent Philippe (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), excellent remplaçant de Leon Camier, et Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet).

Grâce à ce nouveau doublé, Sykes conforte son avance au classement et abordera la dernière manche du championnat dans deux semaines à Jerez avec respectivement 37 et 38 points d’avance sur Laverty et Guintoli.

En Supersport, une deuxième place a suffi à Sam Lowes pour être sacré une épreuve avant la fin de la saison. Alors qu’il n'avait besoin que d'un seul point pour coiffer la couronne mondiale, Lowes a réalisé une superbe course et s'est battu pour la victoire jusqu'à la fin laissant la première place à Sofuoglu.

Prochaine et dernière manche : Jerez, Espagne, 20 octobre  

KTM 690 ENDURO R BY ROLAND SANDS

I met a motojournalist the other day who reckoned the KTM 690 Enduro R is the best bike he’s ever tested. He liked it so much, he bought one for himself.

The design of the Austrian machine is strong and distinctive, but for some, the ‘KTM look’ is an acquired taste. So here’s an alternative, courtesy of Roland Sands Design. And being a former racer, Roland couldn’t resist giving the 66 hp, 305 lb bike a performance boost too.

With a seat height of almost 36 inches, the 690 Enduro R is a fiendishly difficult bike to reconfigure. But somehow, this one works. The bodywork is all-new, hand-fabricated from aluminum, with paint by Chris Wood of Airtrix. He’s retained the signature KTM orange in a classy stripe.

KTM is renowned for its extensive Powerparts catalog, and RSD have plundered it to boost engine output. An EVO 2 tuning kit was installed (including a race-profile cam and K&N filter) along with a smattering of lightweight ancillary parts. The exhaust is RSD’s own ‘Slant’ design, customized to fit the single-cylinder engine.

The stock rims are 21” at the front and 18” at the back, but RSD have fitted 17” ‘Morris’ wheels with a custom nickel anodizing effect. The forks are from a 690 Duke, shortened and revalved by Race Tech.

The swingarm, styled to match the looks of the trellis frame, is hand-fabricated and hooked up to a custom Race Tech shock. The tires are Dunlop Q3 Sportmax street/trackday hybrids. And to eradicate any remaining doubt about the performance focus of the KTM, the rider now hangs on to clip-ons from Graves Motorsports.

There can’t be many customs that could handle the twisties with as much aplomb as this one. And parked up, it’d stop the traffic. I’m sold.

Keep track of the latest Roland Sands builds via his company website and Facebook page.

from BIKEEXIF

Maserati Khamsin: Angular art

Some 40 years ago, Bertone revealed a successor to the Maserati Ghibli at the 1972 Turin Salon. The Khamsin, named after an Egyptian desert wind, was an edgy, angular car – with some surprising details...

It seems almost as if Marcello Gandini alone wrote the history of 1970s Italian sports cars 

It was the work of Marcello Gandini: a man who, alone, seems almost to have written the history of 1970s sports cars. In the spring of 1973, his futuristic prototype for the Lamborghini Countach would amaze the public in Geneva, but the first shock came in the autumn of 1972, with his design for the new Maserati GT in Turin. Giorgetto Giugiaro’s sensual Maserati Ghibli was a curvy child of the 1960s, while Gandini’s successor was styled far more sharply, closer to the new ideal of the wedge shape. Particularly eye-catching was the Khamsin’s rear glass, allowing – as with the Lamborghini Espada – a clear view of the owner’s leather luggage.

A trick - with help from colleagues at Citroën

The aesthetic aims of the Maserati Khamsin were technically not easy to implement. The big V8, the work of Maserati engineer Giulio Alfieri, could only be forced under the flat bonnet by a trick from colleagues at parent company Citroën: the steering gear was placed in front of the engine, which could then be slid backwards – and that in turn helped the weight distribution and hence handling of the Khamsin. Other differences from the Ghibli included independent rear suspension instead of the live axle, power steering from the Citroën SM, and a five-speed manual or a three-speed automatic gearbox.

Egyptian desert storm

In 1973, the first production model of the Khamsin was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show and, a year later, the first Khamsins were delivered. By 1982, almost 430 had been built. The real gift to sporty drivers was the 320HP 4.9-litre twin cam engine, giving it the sort of performance worthy of its desert storm name. The Khamsin could take on the best of them, including sports cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Porsche, but it wasn’t always easy to keep the GT under control – the hydraulically operated steering and brakes were other-worldly, to say the least. 

Style suited to Milan, Paris and the Côte d'Azur

But the Khamsin isn’t really about hot-blooded competition on the highway. It’s more a car for rapid, stylish travel, whether for shopping in Milan, a business trip to Paris, or a long weekend on the Côte d'Azur. With your luggage on view to the world.

Photos: Jan Baedeker

This wonderful green 1977 Maserati Khamsin is well known among Trident enthusiasts, having been voted the audience’s favourite car at the  ‘2012 Khamsin Quaranta’ meeting at Chateau de Gilly. It is currently with Lutziger classic cars, for sale  in the Classic Driver Market.

‘75 BMW R75/6 - Kingston Customs

You've got to admit, when it comes to balls-to-the-wall cool shit, the Germans definitely punch above their weight. They kicked the modern world off to a great start in 1885 with the car, and they pretty much haven't looked back since. Computers, rockets, jets, helicopters, the machine gun and of course the motorcycle; all realised by our industrious little Deutsch buddies. Which brings us to our latest feature bike. It's not only based upon one of the nicest bikes to ever come out of Germany, but it's been suitable modified by one of the country's premier custom bike builders. A perfect storm of mutterland genius? We'd like to think so. Introducing the latest build form Kingston Customs - their bobbed ‘75 R75/6.

“I've always wanted to create a BMW in a Kingston style,” says Kingston's leiter, Dirk Oehlerking. “BMWs of this era have a completely independent and unique species that really appeal to me. In my head, I could see a sleek, flat custom bobber with a look that is really sleek and minimal.
 To build great bikes you need a vivid imagination, creativity, perfect technique and above all you need passion. The bikes I have been building for decades always have my personal touch. I try to make the bikes unique by adding my own personal touches.”

“So then one day I had a BMW R75/6 1976 in front of me - or more correctly, I found one in at a local BMW dealer. The bike was built in 1976 and it's condition was pretty good, as were the mechanicals. I had the vision to build a bobber, and now I had to make it a reality. I started with a full engine rebuild and glass bead blast. I then cleaned up the frame and re-welded the shock mounts.

Next I moved onto the wheels, which were also blasted and then respoked. Then the seat, which I made especially to fit the frame, as well as myself. Then the discs were punched and I added a few other Norton accessories to it, which I've detailed below. The speedo was particularly difficult to place, but one I'd chose the Yamaha tank, the placement was pretty obvious. I finished it off with a set of Metzelers with a ME 33 100/90-19 on the font and a ME 77 4,00-18 at the back. Then she goat a coat of paint - I want something classic and thought that a dark red with gold striping would do the trick... and I think it really did.”

“Other finer points include rear Sachs Hydrocross 420mm shocks, a complete rewire, an exhaust from Norton, a rear fender from us, a tank from a Yamaha 50cc SF, a Bates headlight and Tarozzi footpegs. We all really hop your readers like it. As for the future, our next projects are an NSU, a Triumph and a Honda CX 500 Turbo, with a new turbo from a Smart car.”

We don't know about you, but that's just about the best use of a Smart car since some lunatic popped a Hayabusa engine into one. Can't wait to see the results - stay tuned for the full story when Dirk's done.

via PIPEBURN