Chimay Open Trophy 2014 by martimotos

Rally Finland : Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin) vainqueur à domicile / home joy for Latvala

Le Finlandais Jari-Matti Latvala a remporté son second Neste Oil Rally Finland au terme d’un splendide duel avec son équipier Sébastien Ogier (2e, +3s6). Le Britannique Kris Meeke (3e, Citroën) signe quant à lui son troisième podium mondial cette saison.

Leader depuis la 1^ère spéciale, Jari-Matti Latvala comptait plus de trente secondes d’avance sur son équipier Sébastien Ogier quand un problème de frein sur la VW du Finlandais a réduit l’écart à 3s4 entre les deux pilotes Volkswagen au départ de la dernière étape.

Mais Jari-Matti voulait tellement cette victoire, pour lui et pour tous les fans finlandais sevrés de victoire à Jyväskylä depuis quatre longues années, qu’il n’a pas tremblé dimanche matin. « J’ai réussi à gérer la pression, et c’est un des gros points positifs du week-end. C’est une de mes plus belles victoires. »

Jari-Matti Latvala et Miikka Anttila ont remporté leur second Neste Rally Finland après 2010 et leur 3^e succès de la saison avec 3.6 secondes d’avance sur Sébastien Ogier, soit le plus petit écart en WRC depuis le Rallye d’Argentine 2011. Volkswagen signe sa 12^e victoire consécutive et son 5^e doublé de la saison.

Toujours très véloce en Finlande, Kris Meeke a confirmé son potentiel sur ces spéciales utra-rapides tracées entre lacs et forêts. Le pilote Citroën a constamment figuré sur le podium provisoire, à la 3^e place puis à la 2^e place devant le champion du monde sortant. Le Britannique a finalement conclu au 3^e rang, décrochant son 3^e podium de la saison (Monte-Carlo, Argentine). Son équipier Mads Ostberg se trouvait en bagarre pour la 4^e place avant de devoir abandonner (arceau endommagé).

Moins en verve qu’en Pologne, Andreas Mikkelsen (VW) a connu un début de rallye médiocre avant de s’assurer la 4^e place finale samedi face à Mads Ostberg (Citroën) et Mikko Hirvonen (5^e, Ford), vainqueur ici en 2009.

Le Finlandais Juho Hänninen avait quant à lui pris un départ canon au volant de sa Hyundai i20 WRC/Michelin dotée d’une évolution moteur. Il pointait à la 4^e place avant de partir en tonneau dans l’ES6. Relégué au 11^e rang, le Finlandais est remonté à la 6^e place finale après les ennuis de direction assistée rencontrée par son équipier Hayden Paddon (8^e, Hyundai). Le Néo-Zélandais fut l’un des hommes forts de ce rallye. Comme Ostberg, Thierry Neuville fut contraint à l’abandon (fixation de siège endommagée).

L’Estonien Karl Kruuda (Ford Fiesta S2000/Michelin) a remporté sa seconde victoire WRC-2 de la saison après la Suède. Il a hérité de la 1^ère place après les déboires de Jari Ketomaa et d’Ott Tanak (Fiesta R5) qui complètent le podium.

En J-WRC, Martin Koci (Citroën DS3 R3/Michelin) a mis fin à la domination de Stéphane Lefebvre. Le Slovaque s’est imposé devant Quentin Giordano et Molly Taylor, la 1^ère femme sur le podium d’une série mondiale depuis des lustres. Troisième victoire consécutive de San Pärn (Fiesta R2) en Fiesta Trophy devant Quentin Gilbert.

Today’s Neste Oil Rally Finland victory went to home-grown Jari-Matti Latvala after a tremendous scrap with Sébastien Ogier (2nd, +3.6s). Briton Kris Meeke (3e, Citroën) joined the VW/Michelin pair on the podium to claim his third top-three finish of the year.

After emerging in front on SS1, Latvala went on to build up a handsome lead of around half-a-minute over Ogier when a brake problem slashed the gap between the Polo duo to just 3.4s at the start of the last day.

The Finn was determined not to let this opportunity slip from his grasp, however, if only to make up for three years without a local driver finishing on the top step of the event’s podium. With plenty weighing on his shoulders, he didn’t put a step wrong today. “I managed to deal with the pressure and that’s one of the week’s big positives. This is one of my finest victories,” he said.

It was the second Rally Finland win for Latvala and his co-driver Miikka Anttila who previously popped the champagne in Jyväskylä in 2010. Their third success of 2014 also produced the WRC’s smallest winning margin (3.6s) since Argentina 2011. On top of that, it was Volkswagen’s 12^th straight world class victory and its fifth one-two finish of the season.

Once again, Meeke showed impressive speed on Finland’s ultra-fast lakeland forest stages. The Citroën driver spent the entire rally on the podium and even briefly appeared in second place ahead of the reigning world champion before settling for third spot, his third top-three result of the year after Monte Carlo and Argentina. Meanwhile, his team-mate Mads Ostberg spent much of the rally battling for fourth before having to withdraw because of roll cage damage.

VW’s Andreas Mikkelsen was less assertive than he had been in Poland and he got off to a hesitant start before securing fourth overall after an interesting fight with Ostberg and the 2009 winner Mikko Hirvonen (5^th, Ford).

In contrast, Finn Juho Hänninen got off to a quick start in his Hyundai i20 WRC/Michelin which was equipped with an evolution engine. Indeed, he was up to fourth overall when he rolled on SS6 and fell back to 11^th place. He recovered to complete the event in sixth place, helped on his way when his impressive team-mate Hayden Paddon (8^th, Hyundai) suffered power steering trouble. Like Ostberg, Thierry Neuville was prevented from continuing by the stewards (damaged seat mounting).

Estonia’s Karl Kruuda (Ford Fiesta S2000/Michelin) picked up his second WRC-2 victory of the year following his class win in Sweden. He appeared in front after fellow podium finishers Jari Ketomaa and Ott Tanak (Fiesta R5) found themselves in trouble.

The J-WRC victory of Martin Koci (Citroën DS3 R3/Michelin) stemmed the recent domination of Stéphane Lefebvre. The Slovakian finished ahead of Quentin Giordano and Molly Taylor, the first lady driver to claim a podium finish in world class motorsport for many years. Last but not least, San Pärn (Fiesta R2) claimed his third Fiesta Trophy victory, ahead of Quentin Gilbert.

WTCC Qualifications ; “ Pechito” López brille à domicile / ‘PECHITO’ LÓPEZ SHINES AT HOME

José María López n’a pas manqué l’occasion de briller devant sa famille, ses amis et fans en décrochant sa quatrième pole position de la saison à l’issue d’une qualification disputée dans la chaleur (32°C) de Termas de Rio Hondo.

L’Argentin s’est montré le plus rapide en Q2 et Q3 et s’est adjugé la pole position en 1’43’’766 pour devancer Yvan Muller et Sébastien Loeb, qui tous deux ont commis une erreur.

Derrière le trio Citroën, les Honda ont montré être en grande forme même s’ils auraient expéré un meilleur résultat à l’issue des essais libres. Le plus rapide fut Norbert Michelisz, qui a pris part à une véritable mission pour parvenir en Argentine depuis l’Europe.

Tiago Monteiro complète le Top-5, tandis que Gabriele Tarquini et Mehdi Bennani apparaissent parmi les huit premiers. Tom Chilton s’est classé meilleur pilote des Chevrolet RML Cruze, et Rob Huff s’élancera en pole position de la Course 2 grâce à sa 10^e place en Q2.

Quant à Franz Engstler, il décroche une nouvelle pole position dans la catégorie TC2T.

Q1 - Les qualifications démarrent sous une forte chaleur et Norbert Michelisz décroche le meilleur chrono dans les premières minutes avec un chrono de 1’45’’139 devant López, Chilton, Loeb et Münnich. Quelques minutes plus tard, Bennani se hisse en deuxième position, avec deux Honda en tête, donc, tandis que les voitures d’usine de Monteiro et Tarquini ferment toujours la marche, ayant avorté leur tentative. Les choses changent dans la deuxième partie de la Q1, lorsque Muller (1’44’’962) puis Lopez (1’44’’795) prennent les devants, avec Monteiro 3^e et Tarquini 5^e. Michelisz met finalement tout le monde d’accord en 1’44’’696.

Les pilotes qualifiés pour la Q2 : Michelisz, López, Muller, Monteiro, Tarquini, Bennani, Chilton, Münnich, Coronel, Huff et Valente.

Camilo Echevarría a de nouveau été frappé par un problème mécanique et n’a pu boucler qu’un tour.

Q2 - López domine dès le début de la séance (1’44’’128) devant Muller, Michelisz, Bennani et Monteiro, avant de passer sous le cap des 1’43’’. Avec un temps de 1’43’’813 dans sa deuxième tentative, il laisse Loeb à 315/1000^e et Muller à 70/1000^e de seconde. Michelisz conserve la quatrième place durant la majeure partie de la séance, tandis que la 5^eplace revient à Bennani au détriment de Monteiro. Chilton et Tarquini ne parviennent finalement pas en Q2 tout comme Bennani, Valente et Huff.

Q3 - Le dernier segment des qualifications reflète une certaine logique car l’ordre de passage coïncide avec le classement inversé de la séance. Monteiro est relevé en 1’45’’174, déçu d’une petite erreur dans le virage n°9. Michelisz est 4^e  en 1’44’’408 et Muller 2^e en 1’44’’194 à l’issue d’un tour qu’il décrit comme très prudent. Loeb prend la piste en quatrième position et échoue à 1/100^e de Muller à cause de deux petites erreurs. López prend enfin la piste en dernière position et boucle le tour parfait en 1’43’’766.

José María López didn’t miss the opportunity to shine in front of his family, friends and fans and signed his fourth pole of the season in an extremely warm (32°) afternoon in Termas de Río Hondo.

The Argentine was fastest in Q2 and Q3, eventually taking the pole in 1:43.766, beating his team mates Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb, who both did some small mistakes in their decisive attempts, by over four tenths of a second.
Behind the Citroën trio, the Honda cars showed good form although they could have hoped in better results after free practices. The fastest among the Japanese cars was Norbert Michelisz’s despite the Hungarian having missed the testing session on Friday because of an adventurous plane travel from Europe.
Tiago Monteiro was fifth, with Gabriele Tarquini and Mehdi Bennani in the top eight as well. Tom Chilton was the fastest Chevrolet RML driver, while Rob Huff, who made it to Q2 with the LADA Granta, will start from the pole in Race 2 by virtue of his tenth fastest time in Q2.
Franz Engstler repeated himself in the TC2 category, taking yet another class pole.

Q1 - Qualifying started with hot weather and Norbert Michelisz putting fastest time in the initial stages, with a time of 1:45.139, preceding López, Chilton, Loeb and Münnich. After a handful of minutes, Bennani posted the second-fastest lap, putting two Honda cars on top, whilst the works Civic cars of Monteiro and Tarquini were still lying in the last positions, having both aborted attempts. Things went back to normal in the second half of the Q1, when Muller (1:44.962) and López (1:44.795) took control, with Monteiro (3^rd) and Tarquini (5^th) finally among the top five. But Michelisz put everybody behind with a last lap of 1:44.696.
The following drivers advanced to Q2: Michelisz, López, Muller, Monteiro, Tarquini, Bennani, Chilton, Münnich, Coronel, Huff and Valente. Camilo Echevarría’s car was again plagued by misfiring problems and was able to complete only one lap.

Q2 - López dominated from the beginning (1.44.128) ahead of Muller, Michelisz, Bennani and Monteiro, before breaking the 1:43. threshold with a time of 1:43.813 on his second attempt that left Loeb 315 thousandths behind and Muller a further 70 thousandths adrift. Michelisz kept fourth place for most part of the session, with the fifth place switching from Bennani to Monteiro in the dying moments.
Chilton and Tarquini missed the cut just like Bennani, Valente and Huff; the latter winning pole for Race 2.

Q3 - The decisive part of the session had an orderly development, with the top five going on track and finishing almost in perfect reverse order. Monteiro set a time of 1:45.174, being disappointed by a slight mistake done in Turn 9. Michelisz took fourth with a lap of 1:44.408, and Muller was eventually second with a time of 1:44.194 after a lap he described as ‘too cautious’. Loeb who took the track as fourth lost a little bit over one tenth from Muller, after two small mistakes. López took the track as the last one and put in a faultless lap to take pole in 1:43.766.

‘80 Honda CB400 – Jasin Motorcycles

Seems like everywhere you look lately, there’s death and destruction all over the news. This country hates that country or some such ‘us and them’ type disaster. Makes you wonder what we could all achieve if we just got along. What if we worried less about our differences and instead we looked for more ways we could work together? Take, for instance, the Jasinski brothers from Poland. They’ve found their good Slavic selves becoming obsessed with Japanese customs done in a British café racer style with a little good ol’ American flat track thrown in for good measure. How’s that for loving thy neighbour?

“Hello again, Pipeburn. We are two brothers from Poland who really love vintage Japanese bikes. I’m Adam, and my brother’s name is Tom. You might remember our Honda CB 400 done up in Gulf colours that was on the site a while back. As you might have guessed, we prefer this model because they are pretty easy to get over here and their prices are still quite reasonable. Though that may not last much longer. This one is a 1980 model that we decided to make into our version of a café racer. We’re proud to say that it’s destined to take up residence in our own garage, too.”

While the boys are more than a little open to improving international relations, that’s not to say that they aren’t ready to give a little leg-up to Mother Polska where appropriate. Hence their choice to paint their latest creation in Poland’s national colours, red and white. And a whole heap of black, too. Let’s face it – it’s a hard combo to beat. Just ask the Red Baron. Or Santa.

“As always, we redid or repainted every part of the bike, including a new seat finished with some good quality black leather in a diamond stitch. It’s mainly inspired by café racers, but you’ll probably notice the tracker influence – especially with the ‘bars and the seat. There’s also the flat-track inspired tank decals.”

The boys handmade the gloss black air box boards and painted the rear arm to match the tank. On this they put some fairly hefty rubber boots to give the build that solid, meaty look. While they were down there they also added a custom exhaust to add a bit of go and to lovely up its sound. They also ditched the fenders in a well-proven ‘less is less’ parts selection process.

“The Honda rides so great that we can’t believe it has more than 30 years on the clocks. The engine has lotsof power. We were so impressed, in fact, that we decided to leave original filter box in place; this way we guaranteed that the bike would have a little more power in the lower rpm range; just what we wanted for around town.”

“The original CB400 isn’t that much of a looker. So every time we start a build with this model, we want to make something new and something refreshed. But mostly we want to make a bike that looks great. If you ride it and it isn’t grabbing everyone’s attention, we think that we probably haven’t succeeded.”

“That probably explains why it has so much tracker in it; a lot of people think that a café racer should be only black or better still, matt black. But we want to make a our bikes more living and vibrant. We like it, and we hope you do too.”

from PIPEBURN