CAFÉ RACER 76

WTCC : RACE 1 – Loeb remporte une course détrempée / LOEB WINS SOAKED RACE

Sébastien Loeb remporte sa deuxième victoire en WTCC à l’issue d’une course 1 difficile sur le Slovakia Ring, d’abord neutralisée au 7e tour à cause de la pluie, puis interrompue deux tours plus tard en raison du déloge qui s’est abattu.

Le Français a profité d’un excellent départ depuis la 2^e place pour prendre le meilleur sur le poleman José-Maria Lopez.

En dépit des conditions, le duo a mené une course dépourvue de la moindre erreur et offert à Citroën un nouveau doublé. Norbert Michelisz (Honda) complète le podium devant les Chevrolet RML de Coronel, Chilton et Morbidelli, puis les Honda de Monteiro et Tarquini.

Huff a pour sa part déroché les points de la 9^e place pour LADA, Yvan Muller coupant la ligne au 10^e rang après avoir écopé d’un drive through pour un départ anticipé.

Enfin, pour sa véritable première apparition en WTCC, etr Fulín (Campos Racing) s’est imposé en TC2T au volant de sa SEAT après que John Filippi ait échoué dans le bac à gravier durant la période de neutralisation.

Moments clés

Tour de formation : Kozlovskiy est victime d’une fuite d’huile dans les stands et ne peut se présenter sur la grille.
Départ – Loeb prend le meilleur envol et se présente en leader au premier virage devant Lopez, Michelisz, Muller (qui recevra un drive through pour départ anticipé), Chilton, Coronel, Morbidelli et Huff.
Tour 1 – Engstler et Thompson sortent dans le virage n°1 mais parviennent à repartir
Tour 3 – Muller observe sa pénalité et retrouve la piste au 14^e rang. Borković sort large dans le virage n°6 et Bennani en fait de même pour l’éviter.
Tour 4 – Fulín dépasse Di Sabatino et prend les commandes du TC2T. Borković sort de nouveau dans la Turn 6 et endommage l’arrière gauche de sa carosserie.
Tour 5 – López se rapproche de Loeb ; Muller déborde Bennani pour le gain de la 12^e place, Coronel déloge Chilton du 4^e rang. Filippi prend le meilleur sur Di Sabatino pour la 2^e place en TC2T, puis sur Fulín pour le leadership. Di Sabatino est ensuite dépassé par Engstler.
Tour 6 – Valente souffre d’aquaplaning en ligne droite. Huff attaque Tarquini qui conserve sa 8^e place.
Tour 7 – La pluie s’intensifie et la voiture de sécurité est déployée.
Tour 8 – Filippi stoppe dans les stands après avoir visité le bac à gravier.
Tour 9 – Le drapeau rouge est brandi. La course ne repartira pas.

Sébastien Loeb took his second WTCC win in a dramatic Race 1 at the Slovakia Ring that had to be neutralized with the safety-car in lap 7 because of the heavy rain and was red-flagged two laps later.

The Frenchman benefitted from an excellent start from P2 on the grid to overtake team-mate and poleman José María López. A faultless race by the two, despite the conditions, gave Citroën another 1-2. Third was Norbert Michelisz (Honda) ahead of the Chevrolet RML cars of Coronel, Chilton and Morbidelli, with the Honda cars of Monteiro and Tarquini right behind. Rob Huff took the points of ninth for LADA and Yvan Muller finished tenth after having to serve a drive-through for jump start.In his first real WTCC appearance, Petr Fulín (Campos Racing) imposed his SEAT among TC2 cars, after John Filippi went into the gravel during the safety-car period.

Key momentsFormation lap - Kozlovskiy experiences an oil leak and pits; it will not start Start – Loeb kicks off better and takes the lead ahead of López, Michelisz, Muller (who will get a drive-through for jumping the start), Chilton, Coronel, Morbidelli and Huff.Lap 1 – Engstler and Thompson go out at turn 1 but continue.Lap 3 – Muller serves the drive-through and rejoins 14^th. Borković goes side-ways at turn 6 and Bennani goes wide to avoid him.Lap 4 – Fulín passes Di sabatino and takes the lead in TC2. Borković is again off at T6 with some body damage in the rear left.Lap 5 – López is now getting closer to Loeb; Muller passes Bennani for 13^th. Coronel passes Chilton for 4^th after a short fight. Filippi passes Di Sabatino for 2^nd in TC2 and shortly after takes the lead from Fulín. Also Engstler passes Di Sabatino.Lap 6 – Valente is suffering aquaplaning on the straight. Huff attacks Tarquini for 8^th. Lap 7 – As rain increases, the safety-car is deployed. Lap 8 – Filippi stops in the pits after an excursion into the gravel.Lap 9 – The race is red-flagged and will not resume.

SPIRIT OF THE 70S BLACKIE

When it comes to applying some well-engineered, performance-focused, retro-cool to modern day bikes Spirit of the Seventies have yet again put their stamp on another Triumph build, with their latest variation on the scrambler theme, “Blackie”. Re-inventing Triumphs with the Spirit, er, spirit, on such a regular basis doesn’t seem to be effecting the quality or originality of the work, in fact Tim & Kev are just getting better and better at it. Experience with what works and what doesn’t makes it easier for the guys to get it right first time so they can focus on the style, and the customer’s brief.

Tim from Spirit picks up the story. “Ryosei came to us initially with for some fairly minor changes, but the project snowballed once work started and soon it became a fairly full-on build. Ryo commutes through central London and he was after a couple of specific upgrades to help with the often wet and pot-holed streets, namely suspension and braking.”

Spirit builds always look retro cool, but they’re are no simple styling exercise. Old school looks don’t have to mean old school manners… “The Ohlins twinshocks have been set up for Ryo, as have the forks, and the front brake was upgraded to a Brembo unit (calliper and disc) courtesy of Norman Hyde. The wheels were powder coated in our signature satin black and fitted with Continental Trail Attacks.”

The guys also paid plenty of attention to power and the right gearing for town use. “We refreshed the running gear with Renthal sprockets and a Tsubaki chain, and a full Arrow system allowed the bike to breathe more. Bob Farnham carried out some air box modifications and dyno work to boost power further and the bike is now putting out over 10bhp more than stock.”

“We shortened the frame rails and fitted our Shorty seat unit, upholstered by Glenn Moger. The cut and shut mudguard has a Posh rear light mounted to it and Oberon indicators are mounted front and rear. We relocated the the ignition and reg/rec, drilled and pc’d the chain guard, sprocket covers, fake carb caps, Spirit mudguard and headlamp etc and fitted various LSL parts from the headlamp brackets to the bars. Oberon risers and levers are complemented by Oury grips.”

Spirit of the Seventies’ visual signature is always the paint, and whatever the build spec or brief their work is unmistakable. “The paint was taken care of by D-Luck’s.”

“The Motogadget speedo tested us, the newer Triumphs require the use of a healer, supplied by Motogadget to enable it to work, you have to bypass the bike’s immobiliser. It wasn’t quite as simple as anticipated and there was a lot of time and money lost while we tried to sort it out but we got there in the end.”

So, how fast does she go, mista? “I’ve ridden the bike through London myself and came to the conclusion that it’s pretty much the perfect city bike, it’s got a relaxed riding position, plenty of grunt and makes enough noise to let people know you’re there.” …and why Blackie? “Kev named the bike after Clapton’s favourite guitar”

Ok, so it’s just another ‘stunning’ Triumph from Spirit of the Seventies, but are we bored yet? No. Just very jealous. See loads more from BSMC Co-Founders, Spirit of the Seventies on their Bike Shed Pages or on their Website, and you can see this bike at the BSMC III in a couple of week’s time.

DeBolex Engineering - Custom Bike Builders

DeBolex is a Custom Bike Build outfit producing high-quality cafe racer / brat style machines. Designer Calum's philosophy is to build one-off bespoke machines which capture the style and aspirations of the customer.