mercredi 13 mai 2015
mardi 12 mai 2015
Meeke au McRae Rally Challenge / Meeke to appear at McRae Rally Challenge
Avant le Rallye du Portugal, le Britannique Kris Meeke va participer au McRae Rally Challenge (Ecosse) au volant d’une Citroën Xsara WRC/Michelin identique à celle pilotée par le champion du monde 1995.
Ce week-end, le McRae Rally Challenge va célébrer les 20 ans du titre mondial remporté par Colin McRae/Derek Ringer sur une Subaru Impreza 555. L’événement se déroulera à Knockhill (Ecosse) autour d’un rallye de 10 spéciales, d’une parade et d’un forum et de nombreuses autres festivités.
Quinze voitures ayant marqué la carrière de Colin McRae seront exposées, comme une BL Mini récemment restaurée, sa première voiture de course à 16 ans, une Talbot-Sundeam, une Vauxhall Nova (Rallye de Suède 1987), des Subaru Impreza 555, Ford Focus WRC…
Kris Meeke, récent vainqueur du Rallye d’Argentine et protégé du pilote écossais, participera à cette épreuve au volant d’une Citroën Xsara WRC identique à celle pilotée par son mentor en 2003. Parmi les invités, Alister (Proton Satria) et Jimmy McRae, Stig Blomqvist et Hannu Mikkola sur Audi Quattro, Ari Vatanen, ainsi que les copilotes Derek Ringer, Nicky Grist et Robert Reid.
La fête promet d’être superbe sur le Knockhill Racing Circuit où de nombreux spectateurs sont attendus pour se remémorer les heures glorieuses de Colin McRae en WRC. Le champion écossais a remporté 25 victoires entre 1993 et 2002. Il a disputé son 146e et dernier rallye mondial en 2006 (Turquie), en remplacement de Sébastien Loeb blessé. Colin McRae nous a quittés en 2007 dans un accident d’hélicoptère.
Before traveling to the Rally de Portugal, Ulsterman Kris Meeke will take part in the McRae Rally Challenge in Scotland in an identical Citroën Xsara WRC/Michelin to the car driven by the 1995 world champion.
Next weekend’s McRae Rally Challenge will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the world title won by Colin McRae/Derek Ringer in a Subaru Impreza 555. The event will take place in Knockhill, Scotland, and festivities will include a 10-stage rally, a parade and a forum.
On display will be 15 cars that marked McRae’s career? From the recently restored BL Mini the Scot first drove at the age of 16, a Talbot Sunbeam, a Vauxhall Nova (1987 Swedish Rally), a variety of Subaru Impreza 555s, Ford Focus WRCs, etc.
The 2015 Rally Argentina winner and McRae protégé Kris Meeke will compete in an identical Citroën Xsara WRC to the one driven by his mentor in 2003. Other star guests include Alister (Proton Satria) and Jimmy McRae, Stig Blomqvist and Hannu Mikkola (Audi Quattro), Ari Vatanen, and co-drivers Derek Ringer, Nicky Grist and Robert Reid.
It promises to be a superb weekend at Knockhill Racing Circuit where plenty of spectators are expected to turn out to honour Colin McRae’s glorious career. The 1995 world champion claimed 25 WRC wins from 1993 to 2002. His 146th and last world class appearance was Turkey in 2006 where he stood in for the injured Sébastien Loeb. Colin McRae lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2007.
Pharaons Rally day1 ; Al Rajhi, Al Balooshi and Abu Issa: Middle East dominion in the first day
TIBNIYA – It was still dark when the first bike has left the Caesar Bay Resort of El Alamein direction start of the first selective section of 2015 Pharaons Rally. A transfer of 215 kilometres has taken to the start of special, the first real commitment for the competitors with its 228 kilometres.
Yazeed Al Rajhi (Toyota Overdrive) among the cars, Mohammed Al Balooshi (KTM) among the bikes and Mohamed Abu Issa (Yamaha) among the quads on the opening day of the rally.
Among the four wheels drive the strong Saudi has wished to immediately assert his intention to win again the Pharaons and like last year he has pointed toward the prince of the desert, Nasser Al Attiyah (Mini), preceeding him by two minutes.
Third position for the Polish Adam Malysz (Mini), some six minutes from the winner, while a fourth has concluded to be the actual World Champion, the Russian Vladimir Vasilyev (Mini), at 6’33’’ from Al Rajhi.
Good day also for the Brazilian Reinaldo Varela (Toyota), fifth at the finish in front of his mark companion Marek Dabrowski.
Among the bikes the forecast for the eve has been widely respected and the three pilots mostly accredited for the final victory have occupied the first three positions. The conductor of the Emirates, Mohammed Al Balooshi (KTM) has been the fastest preceding by 1’47’’ the Polish Jakub Piatek (KTM) and by 2’37’’ the winner of the last edition, the Bolivian Juan Carlos Salvatierra.
Among the quads imposed himself the Qatarian Mohamed Abu Issa (Yamaha), with four minutes above the world champion and winner of the last Dakar, the Polish Rafal Sonik (Yamaha).
Tomorrow the second stage will start directly from the bivouac and will head toward East with 343 kilometres of special with the difficult and beautiful cathedral dunes of Sitra. A very difficult challenge, where navigation will ask for particular attention.
Yazeed Al Rajhi: “We started in the eigth position and we catched five cars, we overtook three of them and followed the other two. It was a good stage for us, the only small problem was that after 30 km, my co-driver seat as broken, so it was moving until the end of the stage.”
Nasser Al Attiyah: We took it easy from the beginning because the plan was to catch Vasilyev and we didi t. It was a fast track with some dangerous places like broken dunes. It’s a good option not to start first tomorrow.”
Adam Malysz: “It was a good day for us, the first day with my new co-driver, Xavier Panseri. I never got a navigation in english buti t was interesting. We were fast but not too much.”
Mohammed Al Balooshi: “I’m very happy to have won my firts stage in a World Championship race. It was not easy because at km 110 I had a problem with the oil radiator. I was all covered with oil and also it affected my rear brake. I was leading the race and then I had to low my rithm. But at the end I won anyway.”
Mohammed Abu Issa: “Today was a nice day a quite short stage but with a very rough liaison. The stage was quite fast and was a good introduction to the rally. My speed was very high and as I love high speed I really enjoyed the stage. I got my first test of navigation in Egypt, a CAP based navigation that was a good test for next Dakar.“
Enduro ; GP Espagne 2015 : que des doublés en Espagne / double-whammies in Spain
Christophe Nambotin (KTM), Antoine Meo (KTM), Mathias Bellino (Husqvarna – Michelin) et Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna – Michelin) ont chacun signé le doublé dans leur catégorie respective, E1, E2, E3 et Juniors lors de la deuxième épreuve du Championnat du monde FIM d’Enduro (EWC) à Jerez en Espagne.
La catégorie E1 a été la moins spectaculaire du week-end où Christophe Nambotin a archi-dominé ses adversaires lors des deux journées. Eero Remes (TM) et le régional de l’étape CristobalGuerrero (Yamaha)doivent se contenter des places d’honneur.
Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco - Michelin) termine la première journée à la quatrième place alors que Marc Bourgeois (Yamaha – Michelin), très incisif au Chili, complète le Top 5. Danny McCanney (Husqvarna - Michelin) se classe à la sixième place. Le second jour, le champion du monde Junior en titre arrache la quatrième place aux dépens de Simone Albergoni de plus en plus à l’aise sur sa Kawasaki. Marc Bourgeois se classe sixième.
La catégorie E2 a été sans doute une des plus disputées avec l’E3. Le premier jour, Antoine Meo et Pierre-Alexandre Renat (Husqvarna – Michelin) se sont livrés une splendide bataille en se rendant coup pour coup. Alex Salvini (Honda) complète le podium de la première journée alors que Johnny Aubert (Beta – Michelin) rallie l’arrivée en quatrième position.
Antoine Meo a récidivé lors de la seconde journée où il a dû affronter Alex Salvini qui s’est montré redoutable. Champion du monde en titre, Pierre-Alexandre Renet a dû se contenter de la troisième place et affichait une mine déçue à l’arrivée.
Auteur de plusieurs temps scratch, Johnny Aubert termine une nouvelle fois à la quatrième place devant les jeunes Loïc Larrieu (Sherco – Michelin) et Deny Philippaerts (Beta).
On a assisté au même scénario en E3 où Mathias Bellino a remporté les deux journées. Leader de la catégorie après le GP du Chili, Matti Seistola (Sherco – Michelin) est parti rapidement à la faute le premier jour. Auteur d’une belle remontée, il a sauvé les points de la quatrième place.
Devant Mathias Bellino et Matthew Philipps (KTM) se sont disputés la première place à coup de seconde sur chaque spéciale qui est revenue au Français. Très constant, Manuel Monni (TM) complète le podium.
Mathias Bellino, très en forme, a imprimé un train d’enfer tout au long de la seconde journée pour enlever le doublé avec une grosse seconde d’avance sur ses adversaires. Deuxième, Matti Seistola reste un sérieux candidat au titre.
Ephémère leader en début de course, l’Espagnol Jonathan Barragan (E - Gas Gas) a chuté à la 8eme place avant de remonter en haut du classement pour coiffer la troisième place aux dépens de l’épatant Manuel Monni.
Jamie McCanney s’impose brillamment lors des deux journées et prend les commandes de la catégorie Juniors. Diogo Ventura (Gas Gas) et Steve Holcombe (Beta) complètent le podium de la première journée. Steve Holcombe a haussé le rythme le second jour pour mettre la pression à McCanney et termine deuxième devant Giacommo Redondi (Beta - Michelin).
Prochaine épreuve : Grand Prix du Portugal, 16 et 17 mai
Christophe Nambotin (KTM), Antoine Meo (KTM), Mathias Bellino (Husqvarna-Michelin) and Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna-Michelin) all won both their races (E1, E2, E3 and Junior classes) at round two of the FIM Enduro World Championship at Jerez, Spain.
The E1 class was the least spectacular of the weekend as Christophe Nambotin dominated his opponents on both days. Eero Remes (TM) and local hero CristobalGuerrero (Yamaha)had to settle for podium honours both times.
Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco -Michelin) ended the first day in fourth spot, while Marc Bourgeois (Yamaha-Michelin) followed up his strong showing in Chile to round off the top five. Danny McCanney (Husqvarna-Michelin) was sixth.
The second day saw the outgoing Junior world champion clinch fourth from Simone Albergoni who is looking increasingly comfortable on his Kawasaki. Marc Bourgeois was sixth.
Along with the E3 class, the E2 battle was perhaps the closest of the meeting. On Day 1, Antoine Meo and Pierre-Alexandre Renat (Husqvarna-Michelin) provided a fierce fight, tailed by Alex Salvini (3rd, Honda) and Johnny Aubert (4th, Beta-Michelin).
Antoine Meo repeated his victory on Sunday when he had to shake off Alex Salvini who was in fine form. Defending champion Pierre-Alexandre Renet was clearly disappointed with third place at the finish.
A number of fastest times helped Johnny Aubert to claim fourth again, ahead of youngsters Loïc Larrieu (Sherco-Michelin) and Deny Philippaerts (Beta).
There was a similar scenario in E3 where Mathias Bellino collected both victories. Despite leading the class standings after the visit to Chile, Matti Seistola (Sherco-Michelin) survived an early mistake on the first day to finish fourth.
Meanwhile, Mathias Bellino and Matthew Philipps (KTM) battled hard for supremacy but the win ended up in the hands of the Frenchman. The consistent Manuel Monni (TM) was third.
Mathias Bellino set the pace again on Day 2 to beat second-placed Matti Seistola who is sure to be a big threat in the title chase.
After briefly leading early on, Spaniard Jonathan Barragan (E-GasGas) fell to eighth before slicing his way back up to third. The impressive Manuel Monni was fourth.
Jamie McCanney was the top Junior on both days. Diogo Ventura (2nd, GasGas) and Steve Holcombe (3rd, Beta) were his main rivals on Saturday, while Steve Holcombe put McCanney under pressure on Sunday to secure second place ahead of Giacommo Redondi (Beta-Michelin).
Next round: Portuguese Grand Prix (May 16-17).
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