Moto GP ; Márquez conclut la troisième séance en tête au Qatar

Le Champion du Monde en titre a cependant beaucoup moins d’avance sur ses concurrents qu’à l’issue de la seconde séance.

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a été le pilote MotoGP™ le plus rapide à chacune des trois séances d’essais au Grand Prix Commercial Bank du Qatar et a amélioré le temps de référence de tout juste six millièmes de seconde vendredi soir lors de la troisième séance.

S’il comptait plus de quatre dixièmes de seconde d’avance sur la concurrence à l’issue de la deuxième séance, le double Champion du Monde MotoGP™ a vu son avantage fondre en fin de soirée puisqu’il terminait en tête d’un Top 8 qui se tenait en moins de trois dixièmes de seconde.

Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda) a fini deuxième, à moins d’un dixième de Márquez, devant Andrea Iannone (Ducati), Aleix Espargaró (Ecstar Suzuki) et Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), qui complétaient le Top 5 du classement combiné.

Se trouvaient derrière eux Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Yonny Hernández (Pramac Racing) puis Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), huitième mais à seulement 0.286s du temps de référence. 

Son coéquipier Valentino Rossi et Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) figuraient eux aussi dans le Top 10 et sont par conséquent les deux derniers pilotes pré-sélectionnés pour la séance de qualifications Q2.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

Marc Marquez finished on top of the combined timesheets after a frantic end to FP3, with Cal Crutchlow claiming a sensational 2nd place.

With the combined times from all three Free Practice sessions deciding who would qualify automatically for Q2, with the top ten riders all making it through, it was once again Repsol Honda’s Marquez who ending on top of the timesheets in Qatar.

The satellite CWM LCR Honda of Cal Crutchlow (+0.096s) put in a sensational lap to end the three sessions in 2nd. Andrea Iannone (+0.170s) finished third, after losing the front at turn 2 ended any chance he had of improving on his time set early on in FP3.

Aleix Espargaro (+0.172s) put the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR into 4th, with the Movistar Yamaha’s of Lorenzo (+0.286s)  and Rossi (+0.370s) just making it through to Q2 in 8th and 9th respectively.

Hector Barbera (+0.574s) was the leading Open class rider in 11th, with Scott Redding (12th +0.625s), Maverick Viñales (13th +0.854s) and Bradley Smith (16th +0.919s) on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha some of the big names who will have to battle it out in Q1.

Loris Baz also crashed at turn 2, and was taken to the Medical Centre for an x-ray on a suspected broken finger.

MotoGP™ Q1 will take place at 20:35 local time on Saturday in Qatar, with Q2 at 21:00.

Click here for the combined results from free practice .

Mama Tried Motorcycle Show 2015

We decided to check out the Mama Tried Motorcycle Show in Milwaukee, WI this year. What a show! So many awesome people and amazing custom motorcycles. Everything from classic Harley-Davidson motorcycles to custom one of a kind choppers, bobbers, trackers, and cafe motorcycles. We will definitely be back next year!

Mama Tried Motorcycle Show 2015 - Milwaukee, WI from Jamie Gellings Media on Vimeo.

1962 Chevrolet Corvette Gulf Oil Race Car Heads to Auction

Images thanks to RM Sotheby’s by Darin Schnabel

This gorgeous 1962 Chevrolet Corvette Gulf Oil Race Car is part of the iconic Andrews Collection and will head to auction at RM Sotheby’s’ Andrews Collection sale this May with no reserve set.

Bought with a 327/360 fuel-injected motor, 37 gallon tank and RPO 687 package, this car came from the factory ready to race. Its various upgrades gave it heavy-duty brakes and air-scoops to feed them cool air, special rear shocks and a quicker steering ratio. It was purchased by Grady Davis’ Gulf Oil racing team, and they got to work preparing it for competition in the 1962 SCAA A-Production series.

When the red lights went out on its racing career, it got well and truly stuck into things. Its first race was the Daytona National in January of 1962. Dick Thompson took it straight to a second-place finish, which would be its lowest spot on the podium in 1962.

A few weeks later it was back at Daytona for the Continental 3-Hour race, where it won its class. It won its class again in the 12 Hours of Sebring with Duncan Black and M.J.R. Wylie piloting.

Dick Thompson was back in the driver’s seat for the remaining fourteen races that year, and would win twelve times.

The car would then head back to Yenko Chevrolet and be sold to Tony Denman, who continued racing it. He would place sixth in the Daytona 250-mile race, and 22nd in the 3-Hour.

Sadly, this would mark the end of the car’s racing career. At the end of the 1963 season it was converted to street specifications and sold.

It spent two decades as a street car, passing between four owners before being rediscovered by Mike Ernst.

Ernst tracked down missing racing components, reuniting the car with its original block, cylinder heads, exhaust manifold, Yenko heavy-duty suspension, Stewart Warner gauges and roll bar and restoring it to racing glory. The final touch was its original Gulf Oil livery, which it received again in 1987.

It returned to the track for the first time in more than thirty years at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, where it was driven once again by Tony Denman. During this time it received the NCRS’ first-ever American Heritage Award, amongst other recognitions of its history and condition.

Eventually Ernst sold the car to Vic Preisler, who restored it again and continued showing it both on and off the track. The car featured heavily in the 50th anniversary of the Corvette during 2003, displayed at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, the Corvette 50th Anniversary celebration in Nashville, the Los Angeles Auto Show, the Petersen Automotive Museum and the Sebring Race Corvette display. It was then inducted into the Bloomington Gold Hall of Fame.

The car saw its most recent restoration in 2007 and was purchased by the Andrews in 2008. It’s sold with a comprehensive history file, and is ready to continue its historic racing career in beautiful condition.

It’ll head to auction at RM Auctions’ Andrews Collection sale on Saturday the 2nd of May, 2015 at no reserve. For more information, head to RM Auctions website here.

Images thanks to RM Sotheby’s by Darin Schnabel

While you’re here, take a look at what’s on offer through our newly released premium content delivery service, Motorsport Retro Premium;

via motorsportretro.com

IDP MOTO – GINETTA CB500K

Bop-on back to ’50s Britain, the era of the original café racer, and you’d have found the roads and racetracks teeming with British sports cars. Evocative names like Jensen, MG, Lotus, and Triumph produced iconic 2-seater steers, renowned for their lightweight simplicity and character. Sadly, as with so many of the original British bike builders of that period, the car manufacturers followed suit. Gradually disappearing from the showrooms, becoming nothing more than an unwanted letterhead, sold-off at auction.

Back to the modern day and there are but a few fragments left. But showing how it’s done, with ambition and gusto, is Ginetta. Not only the 3rd largest manufacturer of racing cars in the world, their G40R carries the flag onto the roads, blending classic curves with modern drive-train and suspension technology.

Bought by businessman, racer and engineer Lawrence Tomlinson in 2005, he’s successfully hauled Ginetta back from obscurity, adding relevance to the company once again. Their purpose made factory outside Leeds has no whiff of man-in-a-brown-coat-wit’-‘ammer so associated with the days of old, and the race and road machines are assembled with clinical precision.

But alongside the cars, Lawrence has always had a passion for bikes: vividly remembering the buzz his 10 year old self got twisting the throttle for the first time on a Suzuki trail bike. He progressed through myriad trials bikes, onto full fat sports machinery (inducing full throttle runs to Le Mans) before trying to slow himself down by way of some classic British iron. But when the 4-Leading-Shoe front brake on his Trition just sighed and gave up after a long ride, it was time to embrace modern technology once again, but without forgoing classic looks.

It was at a race meet that Lawrence first happened upon a tasty Honda CB550 parked up in the paddock. Conspicuous by it’s lack of gaudy paint and sponsor stickers, it’s retro form stood out amongst the pure functionality of it’s surroundings. That bike was Superbike supremo Johnny Rea’s, freshly finished build, put together by experienced outfit IDP Moto.

The Silverstone based workshop are making quite the name for themselves with the racing fraternity. Having already completed builds for Fogerty, Rea, Mcwilliams and Pata Honda, Lawrence knew he was in safe hands; and of course, it gave the opportunity for a progress check with the added benefit of track time.

The idea of something a little more road focused and with old school charm rightly appealed, no need to chase tenths on the highways any longer. A quick meeting and the brief was locked down; IDP got to work sourcing a 1972 CB500K in decent condition. But decent isn’t good enough, so the bike was stripped down to the bare frame, and the engine taken to pieces for inspection.

With an eye firmly on quality, nothing went back on the bike until it had been completely refurbished or replaced. As with previous IDP bikes it’s the details like fresh zinc plating on all the fasteners that set the build off.

Suspension and brakes were completely overhauled, new seals, pads, lines and fluids ensure the rolling chassis is factory fresh. Of course, the telltale zig-zag of the Firestone rubber may raise an eyebrow among those who have ridden them in the wet, but the iconic style looks perfect around the rebuilt wheels. Plus, the rider knows a thing or two about rubber compounds…

The rebuilt 4-cylinder middleweight ticks over with characteristic clockwork thanks to a thorough going over. A blend of silver paint and polished aluminium means it looks better than new and contrasts the black powder and paint on much of the bike.

The CB retains it’s distinctive headlight up front, but carries a Bates style unit above the mildy kicked up frame loop out back. Meanwhile the speedo has been swapped out for a simpler, smaller item to keep the top yoke free from clutter. Forgoing the ‘hole in the middle’ trend in lieu of a more traditional look, some beautiful spun aluminium velocity stacks now sit in place of the airbox. It all adds up to a bike that retains it’s classic good looks, the nips and tucks enhancing what was there to begin with.

The paint was an obvious choice really. Retina-searing Ginetta Orange ensures the CB stands out in the paddock but the black paneling and detail pin striping give the effect of an original factory colourway. Colour matched detailing on the fluted seat carries along the length of the bike and is stitch-perfect.

Fueling is very crisp, IDP Moto having refurbished and rejetted the carbs to suit it’s new breathing apparatus. Waiting for the winter salt to clear from the Yorkshire roads, Lawrence is happy to zip around the factory floor on the CB, the rasping 4-cylinder lump has a surprisingly throaty burble through the 4-into-2 stainless GP-style system.

The British motorcycle industry has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years, we’ve seen Norton, Matchless, Ariel, Brough, Francis Barnett and of course Triumph come back from obscurity. With Ginetta having prospered under Lawrence’s guidance, could we perhaps see another classic British motorcycle manufacture appear in the not-too-distant future? We can but dream…

Follow IDP Moto on Facebook page for more info on their upcoming builds and keep an eye on the Dales for an orange flash in your rear view mirror.

via The Bike Shed