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Djerba Vintage Rally: New "back-to-the-roots" rally for Bikes&Quads in Tunisia.

Rally, Raid, Travel, Ride. The range of the events related to off-road "adventure" background is too wide, and the events so many. The contents of these events are all based on the original event that gave the start to the evolution of it, but they reproduce just minimally the original spirit.

"Djerba Vintage Rally" cuts-off this trajectory of uncertain and "misleading" evolution and sets the goal of a return to the origins of "species", in order to permit its participants to live those travel and “competition” scenarios that were the soul of the adventure. To do this, it traces the lines of a substantially new and original event with a strong call to "Ancient times", to Legend.

"Let’s ban the new competition bikes and let’s go with the Dantan bikes, no more sophisticated tools and navigation systems, away from all the comforts accessories, but not necessary, to go to find the basic elements of an authentic and genuine adventure-journey in the spirit of the original Rally-Raid," the organizers describe the event.

"And so also put away the racing component as we understand it today. Rally was created to bring an adventure to life. Today, this "philosophy" is repeated in an event that has all the features of the authentic Rally, but is dedicated to an audience of amateurs. And for Desert Racing legend lovers."

Maps, compass, manual odometer, essential road book and not scrambled. Navigating back to being subjected to the use of simple tools and old bikes and return the absolute protagonists of an Age.

In this way the Djerba Vintage Rally wants to replay faithfully the spirit of the first, adventurous Rally, and make understand how you could get in trouble in the first African rallies, even for a small mistake in the interpretation of the road-book, for the approximate mileage provided by the instrument of the time, or the limits of the bikes that often were not the most appropriate for a way to travel that at that time had never existed.

Djerba Vintage Rally brings back to reality those unforgettable moments and that way of living the adventure of the great journey in the big rally, through the proposal of an event that is able to renew and translate on the level of reality that dream whose testimonies are only now, in the old videos.

The scenario of the 1st Djerba Vintage Rally is Tunisia, with a program of 6 stages over the Gateway to the Sahara, from November 15th to 23rd 2014. All information about the rally you can find at the official website here [ DJERBAVINTAGERALLY.IT ]. 

’07 Buell Ulysses XB12X – Studio Motors

 Written by Ian Lee.

Nothing ever really goes to plan. The multitude of options available to us at any one time makes it hard to know where we will end up. Unless it’s time to go to the pub, because that is a given. This indecisiveness through an excess of options affects the custom motorcycle world as well, with culture/drivetrain/performance/bike styling choices making it hard to settle on one result. This is what happened with today’s feature bike, the latest offering from Indonesian bike builders Studio Motor. Over the course of the build process the engine capacity tripled in size and gained a nationalist motif, all while staying true to the café racer spirit. Built from the ground up using Indonesian ingenuity in the face of a limited custom bike scene, Studio Motor knows certainly knows the best options when it comes to bringing a bike to life. Ladies and Gentleman, we’d like to introduce you to ‘The Patriot’.

The bike was initially commissioned by a cafe racer fan, who had the plan of utilising a Honda CB350 twin engine in the build. After much discussion, it was decided a Harley sourced V-twin would make for a much more favourable option due to it’s “tremendous sporting power”. The layout for the bike was adjusted accordingly, and a blueprint for a full café racer style bike to be wrapped around the American V-twin. Building on previous experience, a ‘featherbed’ style chassis style was to be utilised. One inch seamless pipework laid the groundwork, and was overlaid with 1.5mm galvanised plate in the form of cafe racer inspired bodywork. The fuel tank is of a 60s TT aesthetic, the main influence being the Norton TT fuel tank from the period.

Helping to give the bike it’s sporting stance, the front end is fitted with a set of 41mm telescopic forks, donated by a Honda CF400SF. At the rear sits a set of 13 inch Sportster shocks, customised to suit the more aggressive riding style the bike would be subjected to. Rim choice for both front and rear is TK Japan, shod in Coker Diamond tread rubber. Tire specifications on this build are 18×4 on the front, and 18×4.5 on the rear, giving that awesome balloon profile that café racers desire. To ensure the custom machine pulls up in a hurry, brakes all round are Nissin cylinder equipped.

Happy with the factory output of the Buell XB12R powerplant, the boys from Studio Motor decided to leave the internals alone. The custom air filter and exhaust system, fashioned inhouse at the workshop, is more focussed on improving the engine note at speed rather than motivating the bike itself. To ensure the rider is able to carry out the cafe racer riding position (and to stop their right foot from cooking), a pair of rearsets was mounted to the machine. Finally, the whole package was painted by Comet Studio in the colours of the Indonesian flag. Using Sikkens paint products, the finish is a beautiful composite of Indonesian nationalism and 60s flair.

With the build concept moving away from the original intention to create a small capacity small scale bike, the change to a 1200cc bruiser was a choice for the better. The ability to produce a frame to suit the V-twin helped with the build as well. A proud workshop with a patriotic attitude and ability to carry out the majority of work themselves, has allowed Studio Motor to create something beautiful. With the build finished, there is only one thing left to do, and it is best summed up by Studio Motor themselves: “Let’s do the ton, brother!”

WTCC Moscow Raceway : Citroen domine

Course 1 : López remporte une quatrième victoire

José Maria López a décroché une impressionnante victoire lors de la première des deux courses de la manche russe du FIA WTCC.

L’Argentin a été brièvement sous la pression de Gabriele Tarquini au départ de la course, mais une mésentente entre Tarquini et Monteiro qui a mené à un léger contact lui a permis de s’installer confortablement en tête après le premier virage.

Sébastien Loeb prend la 3^e place, à 2/10 de seconde derrière la Honda de Tarquini, tandis que le champion du monde en titre Yvan Muller a ravi la 4^e place à Tom Chilton dans le dernier tour.

Ma Qing Hua, le dernier venu chez Citroën, a inscrit ses premiers points en WTCC en terminant à la 6^e place. Rob Huff obtient le gain de la 10^e place pour LADA.

En TC2T Franz Engstler remporte une nouvelle victoire, devant son coéquipier Pasquale di Sabatino.

Moments forts :

Départ – Tarquini essaye de prendre l’avantage au départ mais il est percuté par Monteiro et perd de son élan. Lopez peut ainsi prendre le large. Loeb passe à la 3^e place.

Tour 1 – Huff dépasse les Chevrolets de Borković et Valente pour le gain de la 11^e place. Muller passe à la 4^e place.

Tour 2 – Tarquini est sous la pression de Loeb pour la 2^e place. Borković manque son freinage en fin de ligne droite et touche son coéquipier Valente. Les deux voitures sont contraintes à l’abandon.

Tour 3 – Ma dépasse Michelisz pour la 7^e place. Dans le même temps, Huff double Bennani pour la 10^e place.

Tour 4 – Monteiro et Muller sortent un peu large à la sortie du virage 15, Chilton passe en 4^e position. Monteiro retombe au 7^e rang, derrière Muller et Ma.

Tour 5 – Pas de changement en tête. Lopez dispose d’une avance de deux secondes sur Tarquini et Loeb.

Tour 8 – Coronel prend l’avantage sur Michelisz pour la 8^e place sur la ligne de départ/arrivée. En TC2T, les deux BMW Engstler sont en tête. Au virage 15, Misiulia rate son freinage et perd la 3^e place de sa catégorie.

Tour 16 – Muller dépasse Chilton pour la 4^e place au virage 1. Lopez inscrit sa quatrième victoire de la saison.

Course 2 – Ma entre dans l’histoire du sport automobile

Ma Qing Hua, le quatrième pilote d’usine Citroën, vient d’écrire une page de l’histoire du sport automobile, en devenant le premier pilote chinois à remporter une course dans un championnat du monde FIA.

Grosse déception en revanche pour le leader du WTCC José Maria López. L’Argentin a callé sur la grille de départ pour finalement abandonner. C’est la première fois cette saison sue le pilote Citroën ne marque pas de points. Les voitures d’usine Honda n’ont pas non plus été à la fête. Gabriele Tarquini et Tiago Monteiro ont tous les deux déclaré forfait pour des soucis techniques alors qu’ils se battaient en vue d’une place sur le podium.

Le pilote privé Honda Mehdi Bennani sauve la mise pour le constructeur japonais en terminant à la 3^e place. Dans la catégorie TC2T, la victoire revient de nouveau à Franz Engstler.

Temps forts :

Grille de départ – La voiture du poleman Valente n’est pas correctement en place à cinq minutes du départ. Il écope d’un drive through.

Trour 1 – Ma manque son départ et retombe à la 3^e place derrière Michelisz. Valente prend la tête. López calle sur la grille et se retire de la course. Muller essaye de remonter mais sort de la piste après un contact, il se retrouve 9^e.

Tour 2 – Ma et Michelisz se disputent la 2^e place. Huff et Kozlovskiy entrent en contact et le pilote russe est contraint à l’abandon.

Tour 4 – Ma et Michelisz poursuivent leur bataille. Ils peuvent prétendre à la tête de la course dans la mesure où Valente doit encore effectuer sa pénalité. Loeb sort large du virage 1 et concède une place à Muller.

Tour 5 – Les trois Honda de Bennani, Tarquini et Monteiro et la Chevrolet de Chilton se suivent de près en 4^e, 5^e, 6^e et 7^e positions. Monteiro pousse un peu Chilton et gagne une place.

Tour 6 – Muller dépasse Bennani et Monteiro à l’entrée du deuxième virage.

Tour 7 – Valente effectue sa pénalité et Ma s’empare de la tête de la course. Léger contact entre Morbidelli et Loeb dans la ligne droite. Tarquini abandonne à cause d’un problème de direction assistée.

Tour 8 – Muller s’installe en 2^e position aux dépens de Michelisz en bout de ligne droite. Valente prend la 10^e place à Münnich.

Tour 10 – 1.2 secondes seulement séparent Monteiro, Bennani, Coronel et Loeb, aux 4^e, 5^e, 6^e et 7^e positions.

Tour 11 – Abandon de Huff, tandis que Borković prend l’avantage sur Thompson pour la 13^e position.

Tour 12 – Monteiro abandonne.

Tour 14 – Loeb est sous pression de Chilton pour le gain de la 6^e place.

Tour 16 – Coronel touche Michelisz, ce qui permet à Bennani de prendre la 3^e position. Coronel est 4^e. Loeb et Chilton dépassent Michelisz dans le dernier virage. Ma remporte la course, devant Muller.