Ogier in front after four rounds / Ogier mène au tiers

With practically a third of the 2014 WRC completed, Sébastien Ogier has pulled clear at the top of the Drivers’ standings. In the Manufacturers’ battle, Volkswagen Motorsport has amassed almost twice as many points as Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi.

As in 2013, Ogier was slightly off the mark with his tyre choices to begin with in Portugal. Yet once an efficient set-up had been found, and with his car running on soft-compound Michelin S2s, there was no beating the Frenchman. He eased ahead for good after the weekend’s longest and toughest stage (Santana da Serra, SS9) and then extended his lead thanks to some perfect tyre management on Saturday afternoon. Smart tyre management also helped him to take maximum points on Sunday’s Power Stage.

Latvala’s error on Friday has allowed Ogier to pull out a handsome gap in the Drivers’ championship. The VW pair was split by a single point before the weekend, but the hapless Finn now faces a deficit of 29 points. Indeed, he appears to have trouble with the springtime period. In 2013, he was handicapped by his Polo R WRC’s front differential in Portugal, and the year before that he was forced to skip Argentina after a skiing accident. This year, he threw away his chances in Portugal – and also perhaps for the 2014 title – with a crash while lying second after SS4, fourth-tenths behind his team-mate.

After his two ‘offs’ in Mexico, Andreas Mikkelsen was under strict orders in Portugal where a slow start saw him end Day 1 in eighth place, behind Henning Solberg. He bounced back to pass his fellow Norwegian the next day before losing ground again with a power steering problem on SS11. Three fastest times helped him to pass back ahead of his compatriot on the last day.

Mads Ostberg (Citroën) met his objective by finishing on the podium. Unlike last year, though, the Norwegian never challenged for the lead, although he successfully shrugged off pressure from Hyundai’s Dani Sordo and claimed a stage on Sunday. Meanwhile, Kris Meeke crashed for the seventh time in five starts in the other Citroën DS3 WRC, a score beaten by Ford’s Robert Kubica who has now made 10 mistakes in five rallies!

It’s been a long time since we last saw Mikko Hirvonen looking so combative. The last time he had led a WRC event was Rally Finland in August 2013, but he completed the first leg in Portugal as the overnight leader. Ford’s Finn was soon passed by Ogier the next day, however, partly because of higher tyre wear. His team-mate Elfyn Evans was the first WRC driver to make a mistake (on SS4), but he restarted to continue his apprenticeship on Saturday and ultimately collected the fourth-best time on ‘Santana da Serra 2’.

Meanwhile, Ott Tanak gave another glimpse of his speed and even challenged for the lead early on. He was third overall (+11s) when a big crash on SS10 – at the same spot that caught out Latvala in 2009 – saw him throw it all away.

Hyundai Motorsport was unjustly rewarded for its good run in Portugal where Sordo secured the i20 WRC’s first world class fastest time on SS2 to appear briefly in front, 13 years after Kenneth Eriksson led for Hyundai in New Zealand in 2001. Unfortunately, the three Korean cars were all affected by differential/transmission problems. In the end, Thierry Neuville (one fastest time) and Juho Hanninen were seventh and eighth.

Finally, top runs from Henning Solberg and Martin Prokop allowed the Ford privateers to mix it with the factory drivers and finish fifth and sixth overall. 

Voilà près d’un tiers de la saison WRC 2014 déjà écoulé et Sébastien Ogier a fait le break au championnat Pilotes. Côté Constructeurs, Volkswagen Motorsport compte près du double de points que Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi.

Comme en 2013, Sébastien Ogier s’est un peu fourvoyé dans sa stratégie de pneumatiques en début d’épreuve. Mais une fois les bons set-up trouvés et les bonnes gommes montées (soft), le Français fut irrésistible. Il a pris l’avantage dans Santana da Serra (ES9), la plus longue et la plus difficile spéciale du rallye, avant de creuser l’écart grâce à une gestion de pneus parfaite samedi après-midi. C’est aussi une bonne gestion de ses pneus Michelin S2 qui lui a permis de remporter les trois points de la Power Stage dimanche matin.

Seb a profité du faux pas de son équipier Latvala pour faire le break au championnat Pilotes. Un point séparait les deux pilotes VW avant ce rallye. Ogier en compte désormais 29 d’avance, soit une victoire bonifiée. Décidément, le printemps est une bien mauvaise période pour le Finlandais. L’an passé, il était pénalisé par le différentiel avant de sa Polo R WRC. Il y a deux ans, une chute de ski après le Portugal lui a fait rater le Rallye d’Argentine… Cette année, cette sortie de route au Portugal, alors qu’il était 2^e à 4/10^e de son équipier après l’ES4, pourrait être rédhibitoire pour la conquête du titre.

Après sa double cabriole mexicaine, Andreas Mikkelsen avait des consignes strictes au départ du Portugal. Le Norvégien est parti sur un rythme lent, trop peut-être, pour conclure la 1^ère étape en 8^e position seulement, derrière Henning Solberg. Mieux le lendemain, il a repris son compatriote avant une panne de direction assistée (ES11). Andreas est repassé devant Henning dimanche après deux 3^e meilleurs temps.

Mads Ostberg (Citroën) a terminé sur le podium ; c’était son objectif au départ. Contrairement à l’an passé, le Norvégien n’a jamais pu se mêler à la lutte pour la victoire, mais il s’est maintenu entre la 6^e et la 3^e place. Il s’est détaché de Dani Sordo samedi avant de remporter une spéciale dimanche. Son équipier Kris Meeke a connu un 7^e retrait sur sortie de route/touchette en 5 rallyes disputés sur la Citroën DS3 WRC. Dans le genre, il est battu par Robert Kubica (Ford) avec 10 erreurs en 5 rallyes !

On n’avait pas vu Mikko Hirvonen en aussi bonne forme depuis belle lurette ! Le Finlandais n’avait plus mené un rallye WRC depuis août 2013, chez lui, en Finlande. Il a bouclé la 1^èrejournée en tête après un meilleur temps (ES7). Le pilote Ford n’a pu résister à Ogier bien longtemps le lendemain, en partie à cause d’une usure de pneus trop importante par rapport à son adversaire. Son équipier Elfyn Evans fut le 1^er pilote WRC à se faire piéger (ES4). Il a heureusement pu repartir en Rally2 pour poursuivre son apprentissage. A noter un 4^e temps dans Santana da Serra 2.

Malgré sa violente sortie de route samedi matin, là où Latvala avait été piégé en 2009, l’Estonien Ott Tanak a une nouvelle fois été remarquable au volant de la Ford Fiesta RS WRC, s’immisçant dans le match pour la victoire. Il était 3^e à 11s du leader avant sa sortie de route (ES10).

Hyundai Motorsport n’a pas récolté les fruits d’une belle course. Dani Sordo a offert le 1^ermeilleur temps mondial à l’i20 WRC (ES2) et pris la tête de l’épreuve. Hyundai avait déjà mené un rallye WRC : en Nouvelle-Zélande 2001 avec Kenneth Eriksson. Hélas, des soucis de différentiel/transmission sont venus perturber la fin de course des trois voitures. Thierry Neuville (1 meilleur temps) et Juho Hanninen ont terminé 7^e et 8^e. Très belles prestations des pilotes « privés » Ford Henning Solberg et Martin Prokop qui ont donné le change aux pilotes officiels et terminé 5^e et 6^e. 

Military Vehichle on Snow Trials, 1970's

Saro Centaur multi-role tracked military vehicle (based on Land Rover chassis) on snow trials in Norway. Shows AMF (Allied Mobile Force) and MVEE (Military Vehicle Experimental E...) crests.

motos fourmis !

Message sur le mur by Auto Planet.

ELLASPEDE R65

Having just complained that we don’t get enough builds from Down Under, this lean and tasteful R65 airhead popped into our inbox from Bruce, a bike built in collaboration with Ellaspede in Brisbane. …We’ll let Bruce tell you the story in his own words.

I always viewed BMW bikes as bikes for old guys, but something happened that I had no control over, I got old. Well, this isn’t strictly true. I got older, that’s true, but I kept seeing some cafe’d BMWs that I thought looked off beat and cool at the same time. Particularly a La Corona build off a couple years back.

I also wanted a German stablemate for the BMW E21 coupe that I’ve owned for many years. I settled on a R65 mono, partly because I think that cafe racers should be of a modest capacity, and partly because the smaller R series bikes were a little cheaper. A 1987 R65 was found local for the right price and it was in fairly good condition

I tore it down and dropped off the rolling chassis into Ellaspede with a a bunch of parts, a brief and an idea of what I wanted the finished bike to look like. They fabricated the rear subframe and battery box to suit the Nitroheads seat, took off all the unnecessary brackets and dropped the front end by 45mm by modding the top tree. They also sorted the mudguards and fabricated the headers that have 12” Dime City Cycles stainless mufflers keeping the noise to a socially friendly level.

Ellaspede are a Brisbane based shop founded by Steve and Leo who are both industrial designers, Located in the hip West end of Brisbane, they bring unique talents and unique eyes to bike builds. I actually went to school with Steve and it was only fitting to work with them on this build. I’ve owned many bikes, but this was to be my first custom build.

Back together, everything looks right! Tear it back down and off to paint. A few mates in the auto collision industry offered to paint it for me at their shop. Over a weekend and a couple of days the Hotrod black was applied, along with the custom colour for the wheels.

Back home for reassembly, then back to the shop for wiring and firing. Gearbox was rebuilt locally by a BMW fanatic, and he also found some bits and pieces for it to finish it off.

From buying the bike, to finishing the build took just 8 months and I am super stoked on how it turned out. I’ve put over 500km on it since it’s rebuild and I’m impressed by the low down grunt of the opposed twin and it’s unique character. It’s low, loud, and slices through the city traffic with ease. Is that Nitroheads seat comfortable? Not really. But motorcycling isn’t about comfort is it? I love the minimalistic look of the mono’s rear end. The fabrication work by Ellaspede is beautiful, as is the paint laid down by my good friends.

Bruce looks pretty pleased with the Bavarian line-up in his garage, and rightly so. Thanks very much for sharing with all of us here at the Bike Shed Bruce. See more from Ellaspede on their website.