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    jeudi 19 juin 2014

    24 Hours of power: We join Porsche at Le Mans


    For the first time in 16 years, Porsche was back at La Sarthe. It should have been a spectacular occasion – but sadly neither of the two Porsche 919 Hybrids made it to the end of the 24-hour race. Yet Le Mans was still a success for Stuttgart, as J. Philip Rathgen reports…
    The sun is shining on the Le Mans circuit. Only the ladies and gentlemen in their fireproof suits resent the growing warmth as, almost one and a half hours before the end of the toughest endurance race in the world, the second Porsche retires with gearbox problems. It joins the #20 Porsche in the pits, a car which had been vying for the lead against Audi just a few hours before on Sunday morning. At this moment, with both Porsche 919 Hybrids out of the race, the ‘Return to Le Mans 2014’ mission seems to have failed. But has it really? Far from it! Even if Porsche has been unable to finish its first Le Mans race after fifteen years of absence, the two four-cylinder Hybrid racers are definitely the crowd favourites – far surpassing the popularity of their VW Group colleagues from the Audi Motorsport team. But back to the start.

    Moderate tension

    It's Saturday, 14:22 hours. Only with difficulty do the team mechanics push the futuristic race cars of the LMP1 class through the pit-lane crowds to get to the grid. The tension is overwhelming. Nerves are stretched to breaking point. With shrill whistles, the pit marshals help to assemble the race cars and herd the two Porsche 919 Hybrids to their starting places on the grid. There is an even greater pressure on the two LMP1 Porsche team cars, #14 and #20, than on the Le Mans Audi team and its fierce competitor from the Far East, Toyota, because there are such strong expectations of Porsche. The marque desperately wants to claim its 17th overall victory at the greatest endurance race in the world and, since 2011, team manager Fritz Enzinger and his colleagues have been working hard on their ‘Return to Le Mans’ project. Now, just before the start, the tension is not just written on their faces, but also in their body language, Enzinger clenching and unclenching his water bottle. As we approach the start of the race, we ask what he’s feeling. Enzinger smiles: "Moderate tension".

    High Noon at 15:00 hours 

    'Moderate tension' is clearly felt throughout the 107-strong Porsche team. In qualifying, the two Porsches did extremely well to position themselves at two and four on the grid, behind the two racing cars from Toyota and closely followed by the Audis. As the French commentator announces the two Porsches over the loudspeakers, spontaneous jubilation breaks out among the 250,000-plus spectators. One of the Porsche mechanics looks anxiously at his watch: there are still 10 minutes to go. Nervously, he chews gum, as did Steve McQueen in the legendary film ‘Le Mans’. The highly complex four-cylinder engine of the Porsches – the smallest in the LMP1 class – and their transmissions have not yet run for 24 hours. But there is no time to worry. The last notes of the title music from Kubrick's ‘2001 - A Space Odyssey’ fall to silence and, at exactly at 15:00 hours, the race begins. The countdown is on and the Porsche team manages a good start, but the top dogs from Audi immediately bare their teeth and attack.

    Twilight of the gods

    Slowly, the veil of night falls over the 13.6km Le Mans track. This blue hour seems to cast a spell over the spectators. Tirelessly, for more than seven hours, the race cars have been lapping the high-speed circuit. In the Porsche pit garage the atmosphere is intense: the mood of the team has recovered after an earlier fright, when Romain Dumas’s car suffered a defect in the fuel supply. But that was quickly rectified, the Frenchman on the Porsche team, in car #14, making it back out of the pits successfully after a quick stop. The team is currently satisfied with the state of affairs, because Timo Bernhard has briefly taken the lead with the other Porsche, #20.

    The night is long

    It’s 3am and an icy wind blows through the paddock. In the Porsche pit garage calm has returned, interrupted only every 13th lap for a fuel stop, fresh tyres or a driver change. When the signal is given, the masked men and women work as one, and those who have just recently been asleep on one of the folding chairs in the garage are now giving 100 per cent. There is not much talk as the telemetry data is analysed and, on the team radio, the driver informed of the situation. Both Porsches are proving themselves in the race and, bar some minor problems, the 919s are showing themselves to be very reliable runners. Every minute, every mile, every lap increases the chances that Porsche will be successful in this 24-hour race. But now, with 12 hours gone, the digital countdown of time remaining seems to run much slower than it did in the first half.

    Shock in the morning

    The Porsche teams continue their run of good luck through the night and into the morning, but Audi is now in the lead. This reflects the experience of the 12-times Le Mans winner. But then comes the shock: less than two hours before crossing the finish line, while running in third place, the #20 Porsche with Webber at the wheel returns to the pits with engine problems. It soon became clear that the car would not be returning to the race. The mood is at once extremely tense in the Porsche camp: some mechanics are not willing to give up, and try everything to get the car back on track – but without success. Now all hopes are on the #14 car, in which Marc Lieb is currently running in seventh place. In the Porsche pits no one is sitting down: all are following the action on-screen. But then something desperately unfortunate happens: with just one and a half hours of the race still to go, car #14 comes in for an unscheduled pit stop. Feverishly, the mechanics work to find the fault but with every minute in the pits, the Porsche is falling further behind. After 25 minutes, the truth is clear: for #14, too, the race is over.

    Huge disappointment, two hours before the end

    The disappointment is huge and hard to bear. But Porsche has proved that the 919 can run reliably, at high speeds, for very long distances. And is it not exactly this mix of drama and joy that fuels the legend of Le Mans? This year’s race was a ‘cliffhanger’ – and we can’t wait for an even more exciting race next year. 
    You an find hundreds of modern and classic Porsches for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

    Yamaha RD400 by Motohangar



    RD400_mhf009_1
    Written by Martin Hodgson.
    As the 2-stroke era of road bikes began to come to an end as the 1970’s excess collided with the red tape of the 80’s, most manufacturers let the smoke filled air slowly disappear. Honda had long since had the CB range, the triples of Kawasaki and GT Suzuki’s it had been confirmed would be no more. But Yamaha wanted one final shot at refining its wild RD range and the 400 model would be the perfect salute to reed valve filled delirium. So when decades on, the owner of this ride saw what MotoHangar of Virginia had created with their “Best in Show” 2-stroke, The Honduki, he knew exactly where to turn.
    RD400_mhf009_2
    The RD400 falls under MotoHangar’s “Moto2” package of build and customisation and includes a full frame off restoration. Stripping the bike back to a bare frame allows a builder to ensure no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of Automotive Nirvana. With the frame bare it is shaved of everything it doesn’t need and readied to accept the new components. Despite its handling prowess the RD400 factory shocks are known to fade quickly so a set of NOS Assault rear shocks are fitted to keep the rear tire planted. Famed for its ability to take a corner in go kart like fashion the front suspension is lowered 1inch and adjusted to match the rear without upsetting the natural balance.
    RD400_mhf009_3
    The superb handling of the RD is only surpassed by the grin inducing thrust and scream of the 2-stroke twin. The now rebuilt, detailed and painted engine restores the look and performance of the engine to its tacho needle snapping best.  But while Yamaha had built a true 2 pot screamer they undid all their good work with a huge air box and sound sapping exhaust. MotoHangar took care of the problem fitting K&N air filters to the induction side and those stunning JL expansion chambers give the RD the bark to match its bite!
    RD400_mhf009_4
    No frame off resto project would be complete without taking care of the way the bike looks and the MotoHangar crew set off the racer look perfectly. The body work meets the customer’s criteria of Le Mans style vintage racer, with the coloured race stipes and classic race number. While the custom flush mounted LED tail light, LED lights mounted in triple trees and fog light style H4 powered headlight giving a one off look. Showing the level of forward planning in the build is the cleverly relocated oil filler now taking pride of place atop the tail section and the hidden ignition switch.
    RD400_mhf009_5
    With the RD cannoning out of the corners in a frenzy of RPMs the only thing taming the beast is the crossed drilled brake rotors and new Dunlop rubber. Which is exactly the way the best 2-strokes are built, everything happens in an instant; they look, sound and smell incredible as they flash by but the edge between childlike delight and disaster is a second by second proposition totally controlled by the right hand of the pilot.
    RD400_mhf009_7
    RD400_mhf009_9
    RD400_mhf009_6
    via PIPEBURN

    Moto GP : Márquez : « Je cours pour le titre, pas pour les records »


    Le Champion du Monde MotoGP™ a rappelé ses objectifs mercredi lors d’un évènement organisé par l’un de ses sponsors.

    Marc Marquez, Munich MM93 Presentation
    Marc Márquez, qui a remporté les sept premiers Grands Prix de la saison, a reconnu qu’il établissait de nouveaux records en 2014 mais a rappelé que ce n’était pas son principal objectif.
    « Plus que les chiffres et le nombre de victoires consécutives, mon objectif est de remporter le Championnat à la fin de la saison, » a déclaré le pilote du team Repsol Honda. « Je veux juste essayer de faire de mon mieux pour gagner à chaque course. Si en cours de route je signe de nouveaux records, tant mieux, mais mon objectif est de remporter le Championnat à la fin de l’année. A chaque Grand Prix, il y a beaucoup de facteurs à prendre en compte. C’est presque impossible de gagner à chaque fois mais je reste calme et j’ai confiance en moi. Samedi dernier, je n’ai par exemple pas pu prendre la pole et je me suis donc concentré juste sur la course. »
    Au Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Márquez s’est imposé suite à une superbe bagarre avec Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo et son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa, qu’il a tous les trois salués pour cette fantastique bataille.
    « Jorge a toujours eu de belles paroles quant à nos bagarres, » a ajouté Márquez. « Il avait été un exemple pour moi lorsqu’il était arrivé en MotoGP™ et avait commencé à gagner. Maintenant nous allons à Assen, l’un de mes circuits préférés, mais ce ne sera pas facile. Je n’oublie jamais que les meilleurs pilotes au monde sont sur cette grille et qu’ils ont tous remporté beaucoup de titres. »
    A l’issue des sept premières manches de la saison, Márquez a marqué 175 points et dispose de 58 points d’avance sur Valentino Rossi. 275 points sont encore en jeu sur les onze dernières épreuves de l’année.

    ROBINSON MOTORCYCLE JACKET BY UNION GARAGE NYC


    Robinson Motorcycle Jacket Union Garage 740x740 Robinson Motorcycle Jacket by Union Garage NYC
    The new Robinson Motorcycle Jacket by Union Garage NYC is a fully-armoured waxed cotton jacket designed to evoke the spirit of the gear worn by motorcyclists during the formative years of two-wheeled transportation.
    The jacket has a full range of CE­-certified D3O elbow, shoulder and back armour couple to a durable 10.10­ ounce Martexin waxed canvas shell providing excellent breathability as well as waterproofing for those times when you find yourself caught out, the interior lining is red plaid and a close look at the Robinson gives a clear indication that it’s been built very, very well.
    The Robinson is the result of a collaboration between Union Garage NYC and Vanson Leathers, each jacket is made by hand in the US by the American workers at Vanson – easily some of the finest motorcycle jacket manufacturers in the world.
    Robinson Motorcycle Jacket Union Garage Inside 740x493 Robinson Motorcycle Jacket by Union Garage NYC
    Robinson Motorcycle Jacket Union Garage Black 740x740 Robinson Motorcycle Jacket by Union Garage NYC
    via SILODROME