MotoGP : Márquez riposte et conquiert Silverstone / Marquez takes 11th win after brilliant battle with Lorenzo

Battu pour la première fois de l’année à Brno, Marc Márquez n’aura pas tardé à retrouver le sommet du podium MotoGP™ et a battu Jorge Lorenzo dans un duel pour la victoire au Grand Prix Hertz de Grande-Bretagne. Valentino Rossi a pris la troisième place.

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) et Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) ont été les protagonistes d’un duel pour la victoire au Grand Prix Hertz de Grande-Bretagne, comme en 2013, et c’est cette fois-ci le plus jeune qui s’est imposé. 

Très bien parti de la troisième position sur la grille, Lorenzo a réussi le holeshot pour mener jusqu’au quatorzième des vingt tours de l'épreuve et distancer tous ses adversaires hormis Márquez, qui est passé en tête pour la première fois à six tours de l’arrivée. Le Champion du Monde en titre a ensuite concédé la première position à Lorenzo à deux reprises mais a immédiatement réagi après la seconde, dans le dernier tour, pour s’emparer de la victoire, sa onzième en douze courses cette année.

A plus de sept secondes des deux Espagnols, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a pris le dessus sur Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) et Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) pour s’assurer une place sur le podium au terme d’une bataille à trois qui a duré presque toute la course. Le nonuple Champion du Monde montait sur le podium de Silverstone pour la première fois et établissait un nouveau record de longévité avec un total de 246 Grands Prix en catégorie reine.

Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) a fini en sixième position, à quinze secondes de Dovizioso, devant Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) et son frère Aleix Espargaró (NGM Forward Racing), premier pilote de la catégorie Open. 

Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), qui s’était imposé à Silverstone en Moto2™ l’an dernier, a réussi sa première course MotoGP™ à domicile en prenant la dixième place, avec une confortable avance sur Yonny Hernández (Energy T.I Pramac Racing) et Cal Crutchlow (Ducati). Les derniers points sont revenus à Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar) et Alex de Angelis (NGM Forward Racing). 

Mike di Meglio (Avintia Blusens) a fini vingtième, devant Broc Parkes (PBM) et Bradley Smith (Monster Yamah Tech3), reparti des stands pour finir la course après avoir malheureusement été contraint à s’arrêter en raison d’un problème avec son pneu arrière. 

Álvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) a été le seul pilote à abandoner, suite une chute dans le dernier tour. 

En renouant avec la victoire, Márquez, premier pilote à remporter onze victoires en une saison depuis Rossi en 2005, prend encore un peu plus d’avance en tête du classement général et est désormais à 89 points de Pedrosa, 99 de Rossi et 131 de Lorenzo. Suite du Championnat du Monde MotoGP™ 2014 le 14 septembre à Misano, au Grand Prix TIM de Saint-Marin et de la Riviera di Rimini.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

The Hertz British Grand Prix saw a great battle between Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo won by Marquez as he made an immediate return to winning ways, whilst Valentino Rossi joined them on the podium.

Lorenzo took the initiative to pull out in front in the early stages but Marquez stayed with the front group and took the fight to his Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rival. Marquez had the pace to catch Lorenzo, but made two slight errors, giving Lorenzo the opportunity to retake the lead twice.

The pair battled right to the last lap, even touching at one stage and with Repsol Honda’s Marquez eventually crossing the line 0.732s ahead of Lorenzo. The result sees Marquez become the first rider since Valentino Rossi in 2005 to win 11 MotoGP™ races in a single season and also sees him return to victory after his fourth place at Brno.

Nine-time World Champion Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was chased hard for third by the experienced pair of Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team).

Rossi made it onto the rostrum but was trailed by just 0.175s by Pedrosa and 0.544s by Dovizioso. ‘The Doctor’ set a new outright record of 246 starts in the premier class of Grand Prix racing in the Silverstone contest.

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) won a battle for sixth place as his impressive rookie campaign continued. Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing), Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) and top British finisher Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) completed the top ten.

Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) was down in 12^th, whilst Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) was 22^nd after experiencing a rear end problem.

Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) crashed out towards the end of the race, ruining his quest for a top ten finish.

For full MotoGP race results from Silverstone click here.

ERC Barum Rally after SS15: Pech wins, Wiegand edges Kostka for second

Václav Pech and co-driver Petr Uhel have won Barum Czech Rally Zlín for the second time to end ŠKODA’s domination of the FIA European Rally Championship qualifier.

ŠKODA has won the event for four seasons on the bounce but Pech’s success in his MINI John Cooper Works S2000 breaks that long-running sequence.

Pech, who became Czech champion for a seventh time by winning Saturday’s leg, claims his first win in the ERC since its restructuring in 2004. He also makes it seven different winners from eight rounds of this year’s ERC.

Sepp Wiegand beat Tomáš Kostka to the runner-up spot by 0.2s in a thrilling finish. Kostka had been in front after 13 stages but an engine problem on his Ford Fiesta R5 for the final two stages slowed him down and allowed Wiegand to get back ahead.

Wiegand was unhappy after being delayed behind Robert Consani’s slowing Peugeot 207 S2000 on stage 14 but his second-place finish means he closes the gap to team-mate Esapekka Lappi in the race to become European champion. Lappi, who crashed out on Saturday, restarted on leg two and won the rally’s final stage, the 21.41 kilometres of Kudlovice.

Jaroslav Orsák just did enough to keep Jaromír Tarabus at bay in the battle for what became fourth place after they both moved ahead of Kajetan Kajetanowicz on the final stage. Click here for live results, text commentary and ERC Rally Radio.

SKABIKES CB350

Excuses bug me, and I can conjure them up as good as most. The tank might get scratched, loads of bikes get pinched around here, my clutch lever is on the way out, I’m still running my engine in, those parts I ordered aren’t here yet, the weather is no good, I don’t live in Santa Cruz….. I could go on but you’ve heard them all before and have plenty to add.

Luckily there are others out there that just get out there and ‘use what they built’.  Steve from Ontario, Canada is one such guy; we featured his CB350 a couple of years ago, and since then he has ridden through rain and shine, continuing the development of his trusty stead.

Regular hard working father-of-two Steve picked up this ’71 CB from a farm kid some years ago, before making some mild mods. He didn’t try to reinvent the wheel, take the world by storm or high five himself with self-c0ngratulatory powder coated praise; he just tweaked what he had, with the time left over from shift work and family duties, in his own garage, using the skills he picked up over the years.

And now, stacks of miles later, he’s changed a few more parts.

Apart from the powder coating, Steve has carried out all the work himself, learning along the way. The recent paint job being the hardest task to date, nearly ruined by some old dude that backed into a space, not seeing the Honda, shoving it a full car’s length back. Somehow, the bike didn’t topple; maybe bike gods do exist.

The manky wiring loom has been upgraded and tidied, powering a new dash set up. Tricky to see from these pictures but there’s a custom dash mount to support the lights and mini speedo.

From the side profile it goes to show that you don’t need to go crazy when customising your bike. Clip ons, decent paint, some powder coat and stubby exhausts is a good place to start. And if you plan on riding the thing as opposed to just taking pictures of it, perhaps avoid the wafer thin brat seat.

A bit of winter doesn’t hold Steve back; “It’s been a great dependable whip (that I have to tune every now and then of course) for in town use as I had originally intended, and, I have put a heap of miles on it. Ridden in wind, rain or shine and in temperatures ranging from -15C (yes that’s a negative and not including windchill!! :-)) to 35+ degrees C so this thing’s seen it all. -15 is my limit though. Although the motor loves that fat cold air, cables, brakes, tires……..everything starts acting weird so…….not cool”.

And his modest approach stretches to the aesthetics “I know she’s nothing much at all compared to what you guys post on your site but this one’s positive proof that, despite what many think, these things aren’t necessarily just show pieces sitting there to be looked at. They’re still racking up miles, leaking oil and getting us from A to B. The only difference is, we’ve got big smiles on our faces and bugs in our teeth. Mine’s obviously got tons that I could still do to it to either clean it up or modify it more but I avoid doing stuff just for the sake of doing it. Right now, it’s where I want it and it’s being used all the time so, for me, it’s in a good spot”.

As this story is posted, it’s the last Sunday of August; knitwear makes its way back to the top of the drawer, leaves lose their effervescent green and bikes across the Northern Hemisphere start to be banished to garages for a cotton-covered hibernation. Let’s all take a leaf out of Steve’s book and just enjoy what we’ve got, right now.

Here’s to an Indian Summer, a kind autumn and a winter of riding and tinkering.

via The Bike Shed

BMW Motorrad : R nineT Custom Project in Japan

The BMW R nineT Custom Project in Japan has been in operation for half a year now. The four custom bike builders involved in the Project have completed their machines. On occasion of BMW Motorrad Days Japan we have unveiled these fine examples of BMW R nineT customization today! If you could choose, which one would be yours? 




















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BMW Motorrad