EWC ; 24 Heures du Mans Motos : la pole pour Kawasaki SRC / Kawasaki SRC takes Le Mans pole

Kawasaki SRC (Leblanc/Lagrive/Foret) s’élancera de la pole position de la 38ème édition des 24 Heures Motos, première épreuve du Championnat du monde FIM d’Endurance (EWC). La Kawasaki n°11 devance le YART, Honda Racing, le SERT, BMW Motorrad France Team Penz13.com et le GMT 94, tous prétendants à la victoire.

La pluie a finalement épargné les 59 équipages qui ont pris part ce matin à la seconde séance qualificative des 24 Heures Moto.

En améliorant son chrono d’hier, Grégory Leblanc (1.37.541) a permis à Kawasaki SRC de conserver la pole pour seulement 0.14 seconde sur le YART. Les améliorations de Max Neukirchner (1.36.969) et d’Ivan Silva (1.38.061) ainsi que le record du tour en endurance de Sheridan Morais (1.36.578) n’ont pas suffi pour déloger la Kawasaki n°11 de la première position. La Yamaha n°7 est créditée du deuxième temps moyen en 1.37.203.

Honda Racing (Da Costa/Gimbert/F.Foray) conserve également sa troisième place en 1.37.856. Seul Sébastien Gimbert a été plus rapide aujourd’hui en 1.38.141. Julien Da Costa n’a pas pris part à la séance.

Les trois pilotes du SERT, Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle et Etienne Masson ont également amélioré leurs chronos d’hier et permettent ainsi à la Suzuki n°30 de s’élancer de la quatrième place (1.37.948).

BMW Motorrad France Team Penz13.com (Reiterberger/Jones/Pesek) occupe la cinquième place sur la grille de départ en 1.38.057.

Le GMT 94 gagne trois places et se classe sixième à l’issue des deux séances qualificatives en 1.38.467.  Une chute de David Checa hier avait lourdement endommagé la moto. Le superbe travail des mécaniciens a permis à Kenny Foray et Mathieu Gines de signer de meilleurs chronos.

Trois équipes engagées en Superstock s’intercalent dans le Top 10. Tati Team Beaujolais Racing devance le vainqueur de l’édition 2014, le Qatar Endurance Racing Team et les vainqueurs de la coupe du monde Superstock 2014.

Bolliger Racing Team complète le Top 10. Trois équipes vont être éliminées, les moins rapides, à l’issue des deux séances qualificatives où 59 équipages participaient pour seulement 56 places sur la grille de départ.

La journée va se poursuivre avec la traditionnelle visite de stands à partir de 18h00. On vous donne rendez-vous demain à 15h00 pour le départ de la 38^ème édition des 24 Heures Motos.

The N°11 Kawasaki of Leblanc/Lagrive/Foret will start the 38th 24 Heures Motos from pole position. Kawasaki SRC qualified for Round 1 of the 2015 FIM Endurance World Championship ahead of YART, Honda Racing, SERT, BMW Motorrad France Team Penz13.com and GMT 94, all potential winners.

The 59 bikes finally had an all-dry run for the 24 Heures Motos’ second qualifying session this morning.

An improvement from Grégory Leblanc (1m37.541s) enabled Kawasaki SRC to defend pole by a mere 0.14s from YART. The latter’s Max Neukirchner (1m36.969s) and Ivan Silva (1m38.061s) both improved, too, and Sheridan Morais (1m36.578s) established a new endurance racing track record, but the Austrian squad failed to topple the N°11 Kawasaki. Its average of 1m37.203s ensured second place, however.

Honda Racing (Da Costa/Gimbert/F.Foray) held on to third (1m37.856s), even though Sébastien Gimbert was its only rider to improve today (1m38.141s). Julien Da Costa didn’t even take part in the session.

SERT’s Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle and Etienne Masson (1m37.948s) were faster today, as well, and the N°30 will start the weekend’s race from fourth on the grid, with BMW Motorrad France Team Penz13.com (Reiterberger/Jones/Pesek) alongside thanks to an average of 1m38.057s.

GMT 94 (1m38.467s) moved up three places to sixth. David Checa’s fall on Thursday caused big damage to the team’s Yamaha but the mechanics’ work allowed Kenny Foray and Mathieu Gines to go out and improve their respective best lap times.

Three superstock teams were next in the order, Tati Team Beaujolais Racing, the 2014 Superstock World Cup winner Junior Suzuki Team and the class’s 2014 winner Qatar Endurance Racing Team

Bolliger Racing Team rounds out the top 10, while three of the 59 entries have been eliminated since there are only 56 slots on the grid.

Today’s programme continues with the ever-popular pit walk at 6pm local time, and the 24-hour classic itself kicks off at 3pm tomorrow (Saturday).

WTCC : Marrakech

Pour la sixième fois de son histoire, l’Eurodatacar WTCC Race of Morocco prend ses quartiers sur le Circuit Moulay El Hassan. Voici ce que pensent de cette piste de 4,545 kilomètres les pilotes du Championnat du Monde FIA des Voitures de Tourisme.

« Marrakech est un lieu très particulier« , confie Tiago Monteiro, membre du Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team. « Le circuit est incroyablement difficile car il est constitué de deux lignes droites et simplement deux « vrais virages » avec des bordures très agressives. Il est également très exigeant pour les freins. Il est donc nécessaire de débuter le week-end prudemment pour gagner en confiance et se familiariser avec la piste durant chaque séance. »

James Thompson, pilote LADA Sport Rosneft, ajoute : « La clé de la réussite, c’est le freinage et la motricité. »

Pour Sébastien Loeb, enfin, qui s’y imposa pour ses débuts en WTCC en 2014, « Marrakech est un circuit particulier où la Citroën C-Elysée est compétitive. La voiture doit profiter d’une bonne vitesse de pointe et être efficace au freinage. Et c’est ce qui la caractérise ! »

Le team LADA Sport Rosneft participe ce week-end, à l’occasion de l’Eurodatacar WTCC Race of Morocco à Marrakech, à son 50e meeting de Championnat du Monde FIA des Voitures de Tourisme.

Le constructeur russe fit sa première apparition dans le championnat en 2008 avec le modèle 110. Depuis lors, il a progressé et s’est affirmé comme un prétendant à la victoire. En témoignent les deux succès signés Rob Huff la saison dernière. C’est cette année sur la nouvelle Vesta TC1 que reposent ses espoirs de LADA.

Au Maroc, Mikhail Kozlovskiy sera de retour aux côtés de Huff et de James Thompsonaprès avoir dû faire l’impasse sur l’Argentine en raison du retard d’assemblage de sa voiture.

« L’an passé j’avais terminé en 5e position de la course 2 et, pour l’heure, cela demeure mon meilleur résultat en WTCC« , confie le Russe. « J’espère aller encore plus haut avec la Vesta. Après mes deux premiers roulage à son volant sur notre base de Magny-Cours, puis au Portugal, j’avoue en être extrêmement content. Son comportement est sain mais je dois encore m’y acclimater car la Vesta est très différente de la Granta. »

Huff, qui remporta la première manche marocaine en 2009, ajoute : « Nous avons beaucoup appris sur la voiture en Argentine et avons déniché quelques petites choses qui peuvent nous aider dans son développement. Avoir réalisé le meilleur temps de la Q1 démontre par ailleurs que la Vesta est déjà performante. Nous devons cependant rester prudents ce week-end, car une petite erreur pour avoir de grosses conséquences. Nous devons donc bien évaluer quand attaquer et quant être plus prudents pour recueillir le maximum de données avec les trois voitures. »

Non content de fêter le 50e départ de LADA en WTCC, ce week-end marque également le 45e anniversaire de la sortie des chaînes de production de la première voiture de série assemblée à l’usine de Togliatti.

It’s Eurodatacar WTCC Race of Morocco time this week as the Circuit Moulay El Hassan hosts the high-speed action for a sixth time. This is what some of the leading FIA World Touring Car Championship drivers think of the 4.545-kilometre track.

“Marrakech is a very special place,” said Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team driver Tiago Monteiro in the build-up to the event. “The circuit is incredibly challenging with very long straights and really only two proper corners, with plenty of high-speed kerbs. It’s very hard on brakes so strategy wise, the best way to approach the weekend is to go slightly conservative, building confidence on familiarisation with the track over the sessions.”

LADA Sport Rosneft’s James Thompson said: “The circuit is all about braking and traction.”

Sébastien Loeb, who won in Morocco on his 2014 WTCC debut added: “Marrakech is an unusual track where the Citroën C-Elysée performs well. The car needs to have a good maximum speed and a good behaviour in terms of braking. That’s exactly the case.”

LADA Sport Rosneft will celebrate its 50th FIA World Touring Car Championship outing when Marrakech hosts Eurodatacar WTCC Race of Morocco this weekend.

The Russian make first appeared in the championship with its 110 model in 2008. Since then it has become established as a WTCC frontrunner with Rob Huff claiming a brace of wins last year and its all-new Vesta TC1 proving competitive in 2015 despite limited pre-season testing.

Rising Russian star Mikhail Kozlovskiy, who partners Huff and James Thompson in the three-car LADA line-up, missed the season-opener in Argentina last month while his car was in build, but will be back in action in Morocco.

“Last year I finished fifth in the second race [in Marrakech] and, for the moment, this is my best result in the WTCC. Hopefully, with the Vesta I will improve my achievements. I got my first taste of the Vesta at our technical base in Magny-Cours before our Portugal tests, and I can say that I am very satisfied with the car. It feels great, though there are some things I need to get used to, because the Vesta is different in terms of driving compared to the Granta.”

Huff, who won the first WTCC Race of Morocco in 2009, said: “We learned a lot about the car in Argentina and found a few things that we can put right and develop further, and the fact that we were P1 in Q1, shows the car has great pace. The car certainly feels fast, but we need to be careful this weekend, as a small error could see you in trouble, so we need to know when to attack and when to ease off in order to collect as much data as possible from all three cars.”

As well as marking LADA’s 50^th WTCC start, this weekend is 45 years since the first road-going LADA rolled off the production line at the company’s Togliatti plant in Russia.

Alex Wakefield’s analogue art sets an eerie scene of speed

From a young age, Chicago-based artist Alex Wakefield was intrigued by the drama of ‘Golden Era’ motor racing. Over the years, he developed this interest into a career, by using traditional methods and materials to depict memorable motorsport scenes from unorthodox perspectives…

A unique viewpoint

“My work differentiates from other artists in the fact that I seek to tell my own visual story. If there is a famous race or racing moment, I try to imagine a unique way to depict it,” Alex told Classic Driver. As such, whereas other motorsport artists might create their own take on a single iconic photograph, Alex strives to capture the action from his own viewpoint – often with dramatic (and sometimes sinister) results. Brian Redman’s Ferrari 312 PB storming round a corner on the old Spa-Francorchamps circuit, for example, or the birds-eye view of Jacky Ickx re-setting the Le Mans lap record in 1977, the headlights of his Martini-Porsche 936 the only light source in the eerie scene. “Historic racing scenes seem more visceral to me. Maybe a bit more pure and wild,” he tells us.

A rollercoaster ride of emotions

Many historic racing scenes are depicted in his work, but more recent MotoGP races have received the Wakefield treatment, too. “The reason I've created more recent imagery of MotoGP racers is for the same reason as the historic cars. Growing up watching riders like Gardner, Doohan, Schwantz, Rainey and Lawson on 500cc two-strokes really set a high bar in my mind. Their personalities; the wicked machines that one minute could be so beautiful to watch, then suddenly turn evil and send the rider off the bike.” Particularly poignant is the monochrome sketch of late MotoGP star Marco Simoncelli leaning low through a right-hand bend, reminiscent of his final corner. Emotion-stirring stuff, indeed.

Photos: Alex Wakefield

Alex Wakefield’s artwork can be purchased via his online store.

You can find numerous historic competition cars for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

What’s not to miss at Techno Classica 2015

Techno Classica is almost upon us and the 120,000 square metres of exhibition space are fully booked. We’ve spoken to the manufacturers and dealers to discover the highlights of the 27th edition of the world-famous classic trade fair…

From 15 to 19 April 2015, the world’s passion for classic cars, motorcycles and collectables again focuses on Essen, in Germany. More than 1,250 exhibitors are booked, while the organisers themselves are presenting an exhibition of historic racing cars from the late 1920s, all of which took part in the legendary Tourist Trophy in Ireland. At the time, this road race (held from 1905 to 1936) counted as part of the World Sportscar Championship. Models ranging from Alfa Romeo and Alvis, Austin, Bentley and Bugatti, to Mercedes-Benz, OM and Riley are expected at the exhibition in Hall 6.

Important birthdays and young classics

Every year, manufacturers celebrate the anniversaries of important milestones in their model histories. This year, Ford will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the GT40’s Le Mans win in Hall 3, while Jaguar’s 80th year is cause for much rejoicing, including a small excerpt from the Jaguar story in the form of an SS1 ‘closed coupé’ from 1935, a 1975 Jaguar XJ-S V12, and an XK8 from the 1995 ‘X100’ series. 

Speaking of younger classics, the 27th Techno Classica places many in the spotlight. Take BMW in Hall 12; here, a whole portfolio of ‘youngtimers’ is helping to mark the 30th anniversary of the BMW M3 – from the 6 Series Coupé to the Z1. And, as it happens, this year is the 90th birthday of the Rolls-Royce Phantom. Meanwhile, in Hall 7, the VW Group will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of his engineering miracle that was the Porsche 959. The all-wheel-drive sports car from Zuffenhausen will be joined by a Carrera GT from the Porsche Museum and a 918 Spyder. But hold the headlines: in Hall 1, Mercedes-Benz will exhibit the 1955 Mille Miglia-winning 300 SLR, not to mention the reborn 1938 540K Streamliner.

A touch of motorsport from Coys

On the afternoon of Saturday 18 April, the annual Techno Classica Coys auction will take place, with the usual selection of athletic motorsport offerings that tends to be heavily Porsche-centric. One example is the 1992 Porsche 911RS in white, shown here, which was unfortunately upgraded to 3.8 RS spec during its career… but apart from that promises a clean history.

There’s also a 959 on sale, a 1988 example of the supercar that was recently running on Italian roads and has 75,000km on its odometer, Coys tells us. From the previous decade comes this redMaserati Ghibli Spyder 4.9SS, built in 1971. The Maserati counterpart to the Ferrari Daytona, this specimen comes to Coys with a relatively affordable price tag of just 250,000 to 300,000 euros.

Highlights from the dealers

As well as the auction, traders and private sellers provide a richly laid table in the market area of the fair. With a large booth in Hall 11, E. Thiesen is not only well represented in Essen but will also be presenting almost 50 classics. These include a beautiful, dark blue 1959 BMW 503 Cabriolet Series I with Italian history and, also with rich blue paintwork, a 1967 Ferrari 330 GT with beige leather interior and well-documented mileage. And you can’t miss the legends of motorsport that Jan B. Lühn is serving up on its stand in Hall 1, including (as we discuss in an interview with the man himself) a 1968 Ford GT40 with Le Mans history, a 1973 Porsche 2.8 RSR factory racer and an original Lancia Delta Integrale with Works history. Early 911s (Hall 3) brings not just theunique retractable roof Porsche, but also an orange Porsche 356 Speedster with a certain ‘special something’.

Also in Hall 3, thanks to Jochen70 , there are two great classics formerly owned by Formula 1 driver Jochen Rindt: a 1967 Porsche 911 S and the Brabham F2 BT23-5 with which Rindt took first place nine times in the 1967 season.

You can find further information about Techno Classica at www.siha.de.