SuperMoto : Thomas Chareyre (TM-Michelin), nouveau leader / Thomas Chareyre (TM-Michelin) takes command

En remportant les deux courses de l’avant-dernière épreuve du championnat du monde Supermoto FIM en Estonie, Thomas Chareyre (TM Racing Factory – Michelin) reprend les commandes du classement général et compte 14 points d’avance sur son principal rival, Mauno Hermunen (SHR - TM – Michelin).

Auteur de la pole position, Mauno Hermunen n’a pas réussi à concrétiser son avance et a dû s’incliner à deux reprises face à Thomas Chareyre.

Prenant le meilleur départ de la première course, Mauno Hermunen a mené les deux premiers tours avant de céder aux attaques de Thomas Chareyre. Le Français a alors enchaîné une série de tours rapides pour se forger une avance de plus de cinq secondes sous le drapeau à damier.

Qualifié en troisième position, Ivan Lazzarini (L30 Racing – Honda) n’a pas quitté cette place jusqu’à la ligne d’arrivée. Derrière, Adrien Chareyre (Aprilia Fast Wheels – Michelin), en lutte avec l’Italien pour la dernière manche du podium au classement général, a dû concéder sa quatrième place au Tchèque Pavel Kejmar (833 Racing Team – Husqvarna) à quatre tours du drapeau à damier. Le Français termine cinquième.

Mauno Hermunen a signé le meilleur départ de la seconde manche mais c’est Thomas Chareyre qui a bouclé le premier tour en tête. Le Finlandais a mené le tour suivant avant que Thomas Chareyre ne reprennent définitivement les commandes. Poussant un peu trop fort dans un virage, Hermunen est parti, une première fois, à la faute au 10^ème  tour. Il a pu repartir en cinquième position avant de commettre une nouvelle erreur cinq tours plus tard qui l’a contraint à l’abandon.

Ivan Lazzarini en a profité pour se hisser à la deuxième place et marquer des points supplémentaires dans la course au podium. Thomas Travnicek est troisième devant  Pavel Kejmar et Adrien Chareyre.

Grâce à ce doublé, Thomas Chareyre compte désormais 14 points d’avance sur Mauno Hermunen. Ivan Lazzarini a consolidé sa troisième place avec 20 points d’avance sur Adrien Chareyre. Le titre se jouera dans trois semaines en Italie.

Résultats :

Course 1 : 1. CHAREYRE Thomas (FRA-TM) 20:06.337; 2. HERMUNEN Mauno (FIN-TM) 20:11.765; 3. LAZZARINI Ivan (ITA-Honda) 20:23.887; 4. KEJMAR Pavel (CZE-Husqvarna) 20:25.907; 5. CHAREYRE Adrien (FRA-Aprilia) 20:28.033; 6. RAVAGLIA Christian (ITA-Honda) 20:29.560; ….

Course 2 : 1. CHAREYRE Thomas (FRA-TM) 20:15.298; 2. LAZZARINI Ivan (ITA-Honda) 20:18.601; 3. TRAVNICEK Tomas (CZE-Yamaha) 20:20.358; 4. KEJMAR Pavel (CZE-Husqvarna) 20:25.690; 5. CHAREYRE Adrien (FRA-Aprilia) 20:29.378;…

Classement général : 1. CHAREYRE T. 271 points ; 2. HERMUNEN 257 pts ; 3. LAZZARINI 235 pts ; 4. CHAREYRE A. 215 pts ; 5. KEJMAR 178 pts ; ….

Prochaine épreuve : Italie, Jesolo, 21 septembre

Thomas Chareyre (TM Racing Factory-Michelin) won both races at the penultimate meeting of the 2014 FIM SuperMoto World Championship in Estonia. He has consequently gone 14 points clear of chief rival Mauno Hermunen (SHR-TM-Michelin).

Hermunen failed to capitalise on starting from pole position and was beaten in both Estonian clashes by Chareyre.

The Finn led the first race for the first two laps but eventually had to let Chareyre pass. The Frenchman then posted a run of quick laps to cross the finish line with a lead of more than five seconds.

Ivan Lazzarini (L30 Racing-Honda) started from third on the grid and held that position to the flag, despite the best efforts of Adrien Chareyre (Aprilia Fast Wheels-Michelin) to finish on the podium’s third step. In the end, the latter was deprived of fourth by the Czech Republic’s Pavel Kejmar (833 Racing Team-Husqvarna) who relegated the Frenchman to fifth with four laps remaining.

Hermunen produced the best start in the second race, too, but Thomas Chareyre completed Lap 1 in front. The Finn recovered the lead next time round but Chareyre recovered the lead when Hermunen made a mistake through a turn on Lap 10. He re-joined in fifth spot before making another mistake and retiring five laps later.

Lazzarini took advantage to climb to second and earn additional points in his bid for a top-three championship finish. Thomas Travnicek was third, ahead of Kejmar and Adrien Chareyre.

Thomas Chareyre’s double whammy weekend has taken him 14 points clear of Hermunen in the championship. Lazzarini has strengthened his grasp of third place, 20 points clear of Adrien Chareyre. The title will be settled in Italy in three weeks’ time.

Final positions:

Race 1:1, CHAREYRE Thomas (FRA-TM), 20m6.337s. 2, HERMUNEN Mauno (FIN-TM), 20m11.765s. 3, LAZZARINI Ivan (ITA-Honda), 20m23.887s. 4, KEJMAR Pavel (CZE-Husqvarna), 20m25.907s. 5, CHAREYRE Adrien (FRA-Aprilia), 20m28.033s. 6, RAVAGLIA Christian (ITA-Honda), 20m29.560s. Etc.

Race 2:1, CHAREYRE Thomas (FRA-TM), 20m15.298s. 2, LAZZARINI Ivan (ITA-Honda), 20m18.601s. 3, TRAVNICEK Tomas (CZE-Yamaha), 20m20.358s. 4. KEJMAR Pavel (CZE-Husqvarna), 20m25.690s. 5, CHAREYRE Adrien (FRA-Aprilia), 20m29.378s. Etc.

Championship standings:1, CHAREYRE T. (271 points). 2, HERMUNEN (257). 3, LAZZARINI (235). 4, CHAREYRE A. (215). 5, KEJMAR (178). Etc.

Next round: Jesolo, Italy (September 21).

21 GRAMMES GUZZI RACER

In 1901 Dr Duncan McDougal, by way of measuring bodies at the moment of death, proposed that the human soul weighed just 21 grams. I disagree with Dr McDougal’s theory. I’m sure mine weighs far more as it would go some way to explaining why I look like a burst sausage in my leathers. Thankfully, for Philippe Carzo, the science and poetry of the theory inspired him to get in the workshop.

With Guzzi Le Mans of all marks becoming rarer and more expensive the relatively unloved G5 provided the perfect base. Big bore engine, Tonti frame and sporting triple discs, it’s difficult to ask for a more splendid starting point for a custom machine. However, Paolo Martin’s original design is very ‘of it’s time’ and Philippe wanted a more classic Café look.

A man of many talents, Philippe is a physiotherapist by day, but for 20 years now, has honed his fabrication skills. Be it panel beating, bronze welding, or moulding carbon fibre, Philippe has sought out and learnt from masters in each field, eager to learn their craft. This means he has been able to work on every aspect of the bike himself, bar the upholstery. The hand beaten, long and low tank is testament to his handiwork.

The thumping 1000cc engine had been rebuilt by the previous owner, providing more than adequate propulsion. While the gasses pumped out through the hand-made exhausts ‘sing like a Stradivarius’ according to Philippe! A shortend and looped rear frame hides under the alloy seat cowl contrasting with the reddish-brown leatherwork, and captured by the lens of Arnaud Viac.

A Harley Davidson 48 headlight and Tarozzi rearsets are the few parts not crafted by Philippe, and add a dash of modern. Hooked up to handmade linkages, the rearset foot controls stretch you out along the bike. A new loom was made, providing a reliable source of sparks and ensuring no Italian electrickery would call time on riding. Laser cut badges adorn the tank reminding Philippe of the soulful inspiration.

Purposely left imperfect, the frame has been left uncoated and bears the wear and tear of the bike’s life. It ties nicely to the raw metalwork, the bike is far away from a show queen and makes me to want to hop on and head for the Route Napolean. It’s been Philippe’s daily rider for 2 years now and he always enjoys being asked how old the bike is. The Guzzi’s timeless looks are now far away from the late 70’s refugee it once was.

Keep an eye out for Philippe’s next bike, an XT600 with a handbuilt aluminium frame. Can’t wait to see that!

https://www.facebook.com/21grammesmotor?fref=ts

 via The Bike Shed

DER KOSMISCHE REITER

Being a Climbing Arborist, (a man that gets paid to climb trees and chop bits off; awesome) Heiner Trapp, from Austria knows a fair bit about maintaing a two stroke engine and keeping one tuned. Having a gnarly Husqvarna chainsaw bog down on you mid cut, outstretched and hanging over a power line is nobody’s idea of fun.

Heiner is no stranger to custom bikes, having been introduced to a CX500 by a neighbour when he was just 12 years old before starting his riding life with a Kreidler RMC, in full chrome trim. Google it, I had to; If I could have had a tank like that at 16 there would have been a world shortage of Autosol. A couple of years later and nearly grown up Heiner upgraded to a Yamaha RD, the stuff of dreams and now legend. Without the money to modify back then, this legend needed revisiting.

Whilst felling trees on some old guys farm Heiner noticed an old “puke green” RD/ RZ350 YPVS, lurking in the corner of a stable. He simply had to have it, so struck a deal, carted the jalopy home and set about a design; it was to be the fast, lightweight custom he’d dreamt about as a skint teenager.

With some assistance from Austrian customiser, Bernhard Naumann, Heiner set up Tree Work Csutom to build “der Kosmische Reiter” or in less foreign, The Cosmic Rider

Bernhard was commissioned with fabricating the aluminium tank and tail section, which look mighty with the tan leather strap and Monza cap. Another bike that looks fast, stood still in the studio. The pictures here with the darker tan seat are from a previous shoot, Cosmic Rider now wears the lighter and more handsome suede version.

The engine was completely stripped and all cases and exterior faces vapour blasted and powder coated. Wössner pistons were fitted to a race spec crank, using Emil Schwarz bearings; these people have umlauts and Zs in their names so must be very fast indeed. Normal sounding Jim Lomas made the exhaust, but a quick Google suggests he is far from normal. An racer and exhaust manufacturer with a knowledge of two stroke and how to coax ponies from Yamaha twins and singles. The ECU is by Celltronic which plays its part in the 70hp dyne result.

The custom fairing provides somewhere to hide from speed robbing fresh air, if the front wheel will actually stay in contact with the road that is. Anyone who’s tried to pass a TüV in Germany or any other foreign version of th UK’s MOT will attest that EU laws are stringent and bonkers but somehow this thing is fully road legal in Austria. Heiner must have a contract doing the trees at the Department of Transport or something.

There’s something a little bit Paul Smart Ducati about the overall look of this bike with the fairing on. Dutch, fancy a go on this one and make yourself feel young again?

Youth revisited and smiles all round, Heiner is settling into a more sedate build for number two, a BMW R50 1955. Let’s see how that one turns out.

via The Bike Shed

Gumball 3000 Road Movie 2014 presented by Betsafe

The Official Gumball 3000 Road Movie takes viewers to the heart of the action across two continents in the exciting 2014 edition of the rally starting from Miami and ending at Ibiza.