After SS15: Latvala ahead of Mikkelsen / Après ES15 : Latvala devant Mikkelsen

With this evening’s super-special in Karlstad sill to come today, Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin) is on top in Sweden, 4.8s clear of team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen. The rally’s last day (Saturday) will also be the longest…

With two legs completed, Nordic drivers dominate the provisional Rally Sweden leaderboard which is led by a Finn, chased by two Norwegians and another Finn. They appear to have recovered control of the event which has only escaped them twice in 62 editions. That said, Sébastien Ogier, who was in front until an ‘off’ on SS8, was fastest on all this afternoon’s tests. “In rallying, being fast isn’t enough, though. I took my eye off the ball this morning and I’ve learnt a lesson,” reasoned the Frenchman who has fought back to 10^th and who has his sights set on sixth place.

His Volkswagen team-mates Latvala and Mikkelsen have been locked in a thrilling duel for supremacy today. On this afternoon’s rough, snow-free stages, the Finn was frequently faster than the Norwegian youngster but lost half his cushion on the Hagfors super-special: “I’m having trouble on these technical stages and I don’t know why. We’ll try to sort it out at service tonight. It’s important to look after our tyres in these conditions. Tomorrow will be a long day, so we will need to stay concentrated.”

Mads Ostberg successfully defended his footing on the podium from the threat of Mikko Hirvonen who was blocked by Robert Kubica. “I was warned that the road was blocked ahead, so I slowed down and they brought their car back on the road right in front of me,” related Mikko. “Robert set off again with his co-driver running alongside and us behind! I lost around 10 seconds, but we wouldn’t have passed Mads anyway.”

“We found ourselves in snow walls twice this afternoon,” explained the Pole. “The first was on SS12 and we were very lucky. Then, on SS14, the rear of my car stepped out and came to a stop in a pile of wet snow. A big ‘thank you’ to the Polish spectators who pushed us free!”

After Lesjofors 1 which saw the elimination of Thierry Neuville this morning (suspension), the second visit to the same test saw his Hyundai i20 WRC team-mate Juho Hanninen retire after hitting a rock. The two Korean cars will re-start in the morning under the Rally2 ruling.

Kris Meeke (6^th, Citroën) is being pursued by Pontus Tidemand (7^th, Ford) who has closed to within 16s, although he is now only two seconds in front of his stepfather Henning Solberg (8^th, Ford)!

In the WRC-2 fight, Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Ford/Michelin) has gone 1m38.7s clear of Ketomaa, while Estonia’s Karl Kruuda (Ford) is now third, ahead of Fredrik Ahlin (Ford). Yurii Protasov (Ford) broke his steering this morning and a wheel rim this afternoon, and Lorenzo Bertelli (Ford) has been delayed by suspension and hydraulics issues.

Saturday’s action features eight stages totalling 147km before the finish in Karlstad.

Avant la Superspéciale de Karlstad, le Finlandais Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin) est leader du Rallye de Suède avec 4s8 secondes d’avance sur son équipier Andreas Mikkelsen. Demain, la dernière étape est la plus longue du rallye.

Un Finlandais, deux Norvégiens, un Finlandais occupent le haut du classement après deux jours de course. Les Nordiques ont repris le pouvoir sur ce rallye qu’ils ont remporté 60 fois en 62 éditions, même si Sébastien Ogier, leader avant sa touchette dans l’ES8, a démontré sa supériorité en réalisant tous les meilleurs chronos cet après-midi. « En rallye, il ne suffit pas d’être le plus rapide. Je me suis un peu relâché ce matin, et voilà, c’est une bonne leçon. » Le Français est remonté à la 10^e place et vise désormais le 6^e rang final.

Les deux autres pilotes Volkswagen, Jari-Matti Latvala et Andreas Mikkelsen, sont lancés dans un superbe duel pour la victoire. Cet après-midi, sur des pistes défoncées par le 1^er tour et dépourvues de neige, le Finlandais a régulièrement devancé son jeune équipier, mais il a ensuite perdu la moitié de son avance sur la seule Superspéciale d’Hagfors. « Je galère dans ces spéciales techniques et je ne sais pas pourquoi. On va essayer de régler ça à l’assistance. Tout est une question de gestion des pneumatiques dans ces conditions. Demain est une longue journée et il faut rester concentré. »

Mads Ostberg a préservé sa 3^e place cet après-midi face à Mikko Hirvonen, gêné par Robert Kubica : « On m’a fait signe que la route était bloquée, j’ai ralenti et ils ont remis sa voiture sur la route juste devant moi », racontait Mikko. « Robert est reparti, son copilote courait à côté et on roulait derrière ! J’ai perdu une dizaine de secondes. Mads serait devant nous de toute façon… »

« On est allé deux fois dans les murs de neige cet après-midi » résumait le Polonais : «  la 1^èrefois dans l’ES12, on n’a vraiment pas eu de chance. La seconde, dans l’ES14, on a encore perdu l’arrière de l’auto avant de s’arrêter dans un mur de neige bien mouillé. Merci aux spectateurs polonais qui nous ont remis en piste. »

La spéciale de Lesjofors a eu raison des deux Hyundai i20 WRC : après Neuville ce matin (suspension), Juho Hanninen a lui aussi tapé une pierre et a dû abandonner. Les deux Coréennes devraient repartir demain en Rally2. Kris Meeke (6^e, Citroën) est désormais menacé par Pontus Tidemand (7^e, Ford) revenu à 16s, lui-même chassé par son beau-père Henning Solberg (8^e, Ford) qui n’est plus qu’à 2s !

En WRC-2, Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Ford/Michelin) compte désormais 1min38s7 d’avance sur Ketomaa. L’Estonien Karl Kruuda (Ford) est passé 3^e devant Fredrik Ahlin (Ford). Yurii Protasov (Ford) a cassé un bras de direction ce matin et une jante cet après-midi, alors que Lorenzo Bertelli (Ford) a connu des ennuis de suspension et d’hydraulique.

Demain, la dernière étape comprend 147 km chronométrés et huit spéciales avant l’arrivée à Karlstad.

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TOP 5 TRIUMPH THRUXTONS

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

Not too long ago we featured our favorite Triumph Scramblers. Today we turn our attention to the Scrambler’s café racer-styled sibling, the Thruxton.

Named after the British Thruxton racing circuit, it was added to Triumph’s modern classics line in 2004. Like the Scrambler, it’s based on the Bonneville with subtle styling changes—most notably a removable rear seat cowl, rearset foot controls, an 18-inch front wheel and twin upswept megaphone mufflers. It was initially released with clip-on bars, but these were later changed to ‘Ace’ style units, complete with bar-end mirrors as standard equipment.

Out of the box, the Triumph Thruxton is a great looking café racer—guaranteed to turn heads, with little to no modification required. Still, there’s always room for improvement. So we’ve picked out five builders who have managed to take a great motorcycle and make it exceptional.

As always we’d love to hear your thoughts. Would you ride a stock Thruxton, or would you pick one of the five below?

Kiddo Motors This ultra-crisp, 2005 model Thruxton from the Barcelona shop is probably one of my all-time favourite Triumphs. Not only does it have a great stance and a minimal, tasteful colour scheme, but it’s also kitted with some rather trick parts. The spoked wheels are a proprietary tubeless system from Alpina Raggi, while the handlebars and clamps are Easton’s unique EXP system. Kiddo installed a 904cc big-bore Wiseco kit, Keihin FCR 39mm flatslide carbs and a two-into-one exhaust from Triumph specialists British Customs. They also rewired the Thruxton and fitted a keyless Motogadget m-Lock ignition. The suspension’s been upgraded too—with Öhlins rear shocks and Andreani/Öhlins cartridges in the forks—and the brakes are from Beringer. [More about this bike |Kiddo Motors]

Mr Martini T-Type Nicola Martini has over 20 years’ experience working with Triumph. It should come as no surprise, then, that another one of his gorgeous bikes has made it into our list. Mr Martini’s treated this Thruxton to a host of top-drawer components—starting with a 988cc big-bore kit from Wiseco. There’s Öhlins suspension at both ends, as well as 17” Marchesini wheels and Brembo brakes. Exhaust specialists Zard fabricated a full system specifically for this project, with the intention to make it openly available at a later stage. The bodywork is new, with a shortened subframe to accommodate the new saddle, and tailor-made side panels that give this British motorcycle a distinctly Italian look. Italian magazine MotoSpecial had an opportunity to ride the ‘T-Type’ and reported noticeable increases in power, comfort, handling and braking. [More about this bike | Mr Martini]

Speed Merchant Based in California, Speed Merchant produce bolt-on parts for Triumph modern classics and Harley-Davidson Sportsters. This sharp-looking Thruxton street tracker features selected parts from their catalogue, plus a few one-off items. It was put together by Brawny Built—the company of Brandon Holstein, who forms one third of the Speed Merchant team. SM parts include the finned stator and sprocket covers, and the 1” ‘Speedbar’ handlebars which have been stepped to run 7/8” controls. The exhaust system is completely custom-made, and the carbs have been swapped for Keihin FCR units. The tail section, complete with grab rail and leather seat, is also custom, and sits on a modified subframe. Up front, the Thruxton rides on inverted Marzocchi forks, with Öhlins shocks at the rear. Completing the tracker-inspired theme is the front number board. [More about this bike]

British Customs Triumph aftermarket specialists British Customs are constantly taking their builds back to the drawing board—it’s an essential part of their process when it comes to developing new products. This Thruxton started out as a project for season two of Café Racer TV. It soon found its way back into the workshop though, where the team started by re-installing the stock 2-into-2 exhaust headers with their own Predator mufflers for a classic look. They also added their Café Racer seat, with a built-in Lucas tail light, and the stock Triumph side covers. The right hand side cover was modified with a wire-mesh cutout, showing off the K&N air filter. Even though the Thruxton’s suspension had already been upgraded, British Customs wanted to try out Hagon’s Nitro 440 shocks—so those were fitted. The rebuild also gave them the opportunity to refine their chain guide design—a part that they weren’t entirely happy with before. With too many parts to list, ‘Café Racer Deux’ is a perfect showcase for British Customs’ products and expertise. [More about this bike]

Wrenchmonkees #32 I find it hard not to love the Wrenchmonkees’ builds. They have a raw, honest aesthetic that is often emulated, but seldom replicated. The owner of this bike wanted a matte, naked, no-nonsense bike with improved handling and power. The Wrenchmonkees slimmed the bike’s lines down by fitting a Kawasaki Z750B tank—left unpainted. Shorter-than-stock Bitubo shocks were installed at the rear and the forks lowered, all to improve the Thruxton’s stance and handling. A custom seat and new battery box were built, and the front end cleaned up with a 6.5” headlight, Tarozzi clip-ons and a Motogadget speedo. By fitting K&N filters and Supertrapp mufflers, and re-jetting the carbs, the Wrenchmonkees managed to squeeze an additional 12Nm of torque from the stock motor, with a run on the dyno showing 61hp at the rear wheel. [More about this bike | Wrenchmonkees]

Last week’s Top 5 covered the Yamaha SR500.

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