24 Heures Nürburgring : Victoire de la nouvelle Audi R8 LMS/Michelin / victory for the new Audi R8 LMS/Michelin

Pour ses grands débuts internationaux, la nouvelle Audi R8 LMS a remporté les 24 Heures du Nürburgring 2015. L’Audi/Michelin N°28 du Team WRT (Mies/Sandström/Muller/Vanthoor) s’est imposée devant la BMW Z4 GT3 N°25 Marc VDS Racing (Martin/Luhr/Palttala/Westbrook) et la Porsche 997 GT3 R N°44 (Dumbreck/Henzler/Ragginger/Imperatori).

Vainqueur l’an passé, Audi a conservé son invincibilité sur la Nordschleife en remportant la 43e édition des 24 Heures du Nürburgring avec la nouvelle Audi R8 LMS qui disputait sa première grande épreuve d’Endurance.

Sur les quatre nouveaux modèles engagés par Audi Sport Team WRT et Audi Sport Team Phoenix, seule la N°28 a pu se battre jusqu’au bout pour la victoire. Les Audi N°1 et N°4 ont été éliminées cette nuit par des sorties de route, et la N°29 a terminé à la 7e place.

Les 151 concurrents admis au départ de la 43e édition ont été lâchés en trois vagues successives samedi à 16h00. Trois BMW Z4 GT3 - N°20, N°26 et N°19 - se sont très vite détachées du peloton, avant l’apparition de la pluie après 1h30 de course.

Peu avant la 3e heure de course, la Mercedes-Benz N°5 a pris les commandes, alors que plusieurs candidats à la victoire étaient en difficulté, comme la Bentley Continental N°85 arrêtée en bord de piste, l’Audi N°29rentrée dans son box ou la Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG N°2 qui a perdu une roue.

Alors que la nuit tombait sur l’Eifel, l’Audi R8 LMS N°1 et la Porsche N°30 pointaient aux avant-postes. Et la pluie est revenue semer le trouble sur certaines parties du circuit.

Peu avant minuit, la Porsche N°30 Frikadelli Racing est sortie violemment de la piste, la BMW N°19 a effectué une touchette et un début d’incendie dans la pit-lane a retardé la BMW N°26. Puis, à 1h30, l’Audi N°1 est sortie de la route à son tour. Au petit matin, c’est l’Audi N°4 et l’Aston Martin N°007 qui se sont fait piéger sur une flaque d’huile avant le Karussel.

Au cours de la seconde moitié de course, la BMW N°25 Marc VDS Racing et l’Audi R8 LMS Team WRT N°28 se sont échangées la première place au gré des ravitaillements. Mais l’Audi avait l’avantage. Car même si la BMW a pu pousser ses relais à 9 tours, l’Audi fut capable de répondre, tout en étant plus rapide en piste. Le team belge a ensuite décidé d’avancer son avant-dernier pit-stop pour caler sa stratégie sur celle de sa concurrente.

Après 156 tours bouclés (3958 km), la victoire est logiquement revenue à l’Audi/Michelin N°28 Team WRT de Christopher Mies, Edward Sandström, Nico Muller et Laurens Vanthoor, avec 40.7 secondes devant la BMW N°25 Marc VDS Racing de Maxime Martin, Lucas Luhr, Markus Palttala et Richard Westbrook. Soit le plus petit écart enregistré sur cette course depuis 1993.

La Porsche N°44 (Dumbreck/Henzler/Ragginger/Imperatori), avec ses pit-stop décalés et ses longs relais, fut menaçante jusqu’au bout. Elle termine sur le podium, devant la seconde BMW Marc VDS Racing (N°26, Farfus/Muller/Castburg/Adorf) qualifiée en pole et auteur du meilleur tour en course (8min18s690). A noter que malgré la limitation de vitesse sur certaines portions du circuit, le meilleur tour en course réalisé ce week-end fut plus rapide que celui de 2014 !

La Mercedes-Benz N°5 Black Falcon (Al Faisal/Haupt/Buurman/Van Lagen) sauve l’honneur de la marque avec la 5e place, devant la BMW N°17 (Laser/Cerrutti/Edwards/Keilwitz) et la seconde Audi du Team WRT (N°29, Thiim/Jons/Kaffer/Vanthoor). 

Pour sa première participation, et malgré les déboires des deux Continental GT3 officielles, Bentley termine 8eavec la N°11 du Team HTP (Primat/Brucke/Schmid/Seefried). La Nissan GT-R N°35 (Buncombe/Hoshino/Krumm/Ordonez) et la Mercedes-Benz N°33 Team Premio (Heyer/Frommenwiller/Huff/Krognes) complètent le top-ten.

The new Michelin-equipped Audi R8 LMS celebrated its international debut by winning the 2015 Nürburgring 24 Hours. Team WRT’s N°28 car (Mies/Sandström/Muller/Vanthoor) finished clear of the N°25 BMW Z4 GT3 (Marc VDS Racing, Martin/Luhr/Palttala/Westbrook) and the N°44 Porsche 997 GT3 R (Dumbreck/Henzler/Ragginger/Imperatori).

Audi made it two wins in a row round the Nordschleife thanks to the new R8 LMS which was taking part in its first major endurance race.

However, it was the only one of the four such cars entered by Audi Sport Team WRT and Audi Sport Team Phoenix to remain in the fight to the chequered flag after the N°1 and N°4 Audis crashed during the night and the N°29 machine had to settle for seventh place.

The 151 starters were released in three waves at 4pm Saturday and the N°20, N°26 and N°19 BMW Z4 GT3s pulled clear of the pack before rain appeared during the second hour.

At the two-hour mark, it was the N°5 Mercedes-Benz in front as several potential winners found themselves in trouble. The N°85 Bentley Continental stopped on the track, the N°29 Audi pitted and the N°2 Mercedes-BenzSLS AMG lost a wheel.

Darkness fell over the Eifel Mountains with the N°1 Audi R8 LMS and N°30 Porsche at the top of the leaderboard, before more rain caused havoc at different places round the track. Shortly before midnight, the N°30 Porsche (Frikadelli Racing) suffered a big crash, the N°19 BMW suffered accident damage and the N°26 BMW lost time with a fire in the pit lane. At 1:30pm, the N°1 Audi went off and, a little later, the N°4 Audi and N°007 Aston Martin were both caught out by oil entering ‘Karussel’.

The race’s second half saw the N°25 BMW (Marc VDS Racing) and N°28 Audi (Team WRT) trade the lead a number of times as a function of their pit stop strategy, but the Audi seemed to have the edge. The BMW had the capacity to complete nine laps per stint, but the Audi was capable of matching that while remaining the fastest car on the track. 

After 156 laps (3,958km), the win eventually went to the N°28 Audi/Michelin of Christopher Mies, Edward Sandström, Nico Muller and Laurens Vanthoor, ahead of the N°25 BMW (Maxime Martin/ Lucas Luhr/Markus Palttala/Richard Westbrook, +40.7s). It was the smallest winning margin since 1993.

Thanks to long stints, the N°44 Porsche (Dumbreck/Henzler/Ragginger/Imperatori) remained a threat throughout on its way to third, ahead of Marc VDS Racing’s other BMW (N°26, Farfus/Muller/Castburg/Adorf) which qualified on pole and posted the fastest race lap with a 8m18.690s, an improvement over 2014 despite new speed limits at certain places!

The N°5 Black Falcon car of Al Faisal/Haupt/Buurman/Van Lagen was the best-placed Mercedes-Benz at the finish, chased by the N°17 BMW (Laser/Cerrutti/Edwards/Keilwitz) and the N°29 Audi (Team WRT, Thiim/Jons/Kaffer/Vanthoor). 

Despite a troubled time for the two factory Continental GT3s, Bentley’s Nürburgring 24 Hours ended in eighth place for the N°11 car (Team HTP, Primat/Brucke/Schmid/Seefried). 

The N°35 Nissan GT-R (Buncombe/Hoshino/Krumm/Ordonez) and the N°33 Mercedes-Benz (Team Premio, Heyer/Frommenwiller/Huff/Krognes) rounded out the top 10.

MotoGP ; Deuxième victoire consécutive pour Lorenzo / Lorenzo vanquishes all MotoGP™

Comme à Jerez deux semaines plus tôt, Jorge Lorenzo a été intouchable en course au Mans et a fini loin devant Rossi et Dovizioso.

De retour au sommet de sa forme à Jerez, où il avait remporté sa première victoire de l’année après un début de saison décevant, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) enchaîne avec un nouveau succès au Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. 

Troisième sur la grille, le Majorquin a fait de son mieux pour s’emparer de la première position dès le premier tour, comme à son habitude, et a réussi à faire le break. 

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) est remonté de la septième position sur la grille jusqu’à la deuxième place et a terminé avec une confortable avance sur Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), de retour sur le podium après un week-end compliqué en Espagne. 

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a rencontré quelques difficultés en début de course et a remporté un magnifique duel avec Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) pour la quatrième place tandis que Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) complétait le Top 6, juste derrière l’Italien.

Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) a obtenu une très encourageante douzième place à domicile, derrière le premier pilote Open, l’Américain Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team).

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) est tombé dès le deuxième tour mais a pu repartir pour rallier l’arrivée, en seizième position. 

Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) a été forcé d’abandonner après une chute.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider carved out a substantial gap to claim a decisive victory.

After starting from 3rd position on the grid, the Mallorcan quickly dropped the pack and enjoyed a solitary race to the finish line.

The Spaniard shares the podium with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) started in pole but dropped back as the race got underway. The Spaniard normally runs a carbon cover on his brake discs to retain temperature, but he didn't  use this part in Le Mans. Whatever the issue, Marquez typically overcame it and went on to fight an epic battle with Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) to claim 4th place, relegating the Italian to fifth.

Marquez’s team mate Dani Pedrosa crashed in the early stages of the race, but remounted. Even though the Spanish rider had no chance of claiming points, it was vital for hit to rejoin the race and test how his injured arm holds up over race distance.

Brit Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished in 6th, having better fortune than his compatriots. Cal Crutchlow (CWM-LCR Honda) crashed out of the race on turn 6, losing the front on the difficult downhill curve. Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) also crashed out of the race after completing just 3 laps of the Le Mans circuit.

Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Yonny Hernández (Pramac Racing), Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP) and Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Racing) complete the top ten.

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Honda CB900 by Nitro Cycles

Words by Martin Hodgson.

From the time the Café Racer scene had its second coming, the Honda CB750 of the 70’s and 80’s has been one of the bikes of choice for high end builders and backyarders alike. But far too often over looked is its thunderous big brother, with race pedigree and freight train pulling power the CB900 makes a fantastic base for a Café Racer with some extra muscle!

Born just a year ago in Madrid Spain, Nitro Cycles, is a new family run workshop with a passion for the motorcycles of a generation ago and breathing life into bikes that have been long since left to rot. With a fairly wrecked CB900 sitting around it made sense to make it the first Nitro Cycles build and team, led by Antonio, got to work on making the most of what was left of the 1982 model. The CB was taken back to the bare frame, however even this super strong piece of steel was damaged. But the bike was being built in honour of Antonio’s Grandfather and nicknamed the “Fighter” there was no way they were giving up. So with hours of hard graft the twin down-tube steel frame was restored back to original condition before being treated to a new coat of silver paint.

With a foundation to work from it was time to turn their attention to the locomotive like engine. By the time 1982 had rolled around the CB750 engine no longer provided anywhere near enough power to compete with the competition, but nearly 30bhp extra from the 901cc engine in the CB900 meant it had no such problem. With the engine built to factory specs the Nitro crew knew how much the big square bore Honda benefits from breathing mods and fabricated a beautiful set of 4-1 headers. Finishing off the exhaust is a GP Series Barracuda muffler and having seen video of the bike, the rumble is truly impressive! K&N Filters allow the engine to breathe on the induction side with ease, while polished covers and carbs give the look to match the mumbo.

Known as the Bol d’Or across the European market in honour of the famous endurance race, the CB900 takes much of its technology from Hondas race bikes of the time. Despite many assuming it to be a heavy motorcycle it only tips the scales a few kilos heavier than the CB750 and the race developed anti-dive front fork system gives extra confidence both when hard on the anchors and provide tremendous feedback as you tip into a turn. While the rear end is propped up with a pair of chrome shocks from the guys at Hagon. The twin disc front remains standard as does the whopping rear single but the Nitro Honda benefits from braided lines at both ends.

The look of the bike will have most assuming it’s a CB750, gone is the big slab tank and in its place a much more retro looking custom tank that reduces much of the bulk. A custom café seat makes sure the big tailed factory item won’t see light of day and with the trimmed down fender the 900 suddenly appears much smaller than it actually is. A chrome filler cap breaks up the stunning white and orange paint that has been lovingly flowed over the tins with “Fighter” replacing Honda on the tank. The orange has also been neatly applied to the inside of all brake rotors and the sprocket giving an amazing effect when the bike is underway. While custom side covers, bullet indicators and a retro brake light ensure that the slimmed down clean look is maintained across every inch of the build.

With the hard work complete Antonio and Nitro Cycles can be very proud of the muscle packed CB900 café racer that has put them on the map. And in one final touch that shows the soul of both bike and build, the rear section sports the date 6^th May, a birthday Antonio shared with his Grandfather. He was the man who inspired the build, who had Gasoline running through his veins and was a true “Fighter” to the very end, Descanse En Paz!

via PIPEBURN

2004 DUCATI MONSTER 1000 CAFE RACER PROJECT

by Imam Sadikin (http://otomotif.org)

Not much, what I know about Switzerland. In 2013, had stopped in this country. A very beautiful country, spoil your eyes with spectacular view. My favorite place when I was in Switzerland, is Thun. The place is absolutely perfect. Thun is adorable, Gentleman (and perhaps ladies), take note.

Thun, it’s located on the Aare River at the lower end of Lake Thun. The historic Old Town and the newer cafes and restaurants on the river are pretty freaking cute. Of course it has a castle because no self-respecting cute Swiss town would be could dead without one.

I’m a lucky man. Of course, in addition to the stunning scenery offered by Thun. What else can be found in Switzerland? At least, I always look for local motorcycle builder. Here we will meet with Andreas Fraefel the owner of Motobene. And this is his best work, a Ducati Monster 1000 Cafe Racer project.

Customer is our inspiration, this is a project for our customer. Make them feel something new, look different, but still functional. To get some more old style customs works done, against what they ride. The important thing is to make she look happy when riding this bike. A satisfaction is: when they smile looking at what we can offer.

If you look at some parts. On the seat and tank. This is the part where people would recognize that this is completely hand made. Leather seats, brown color with knitted choice, is the most beautiful art. Grew more perfect with flashes of chrome on the tank and seat.

Another unique feature that is trying to pinned by Andreas is the addition of motogadget – motoscope tiny – speedster edition at the top of the tank. If you pay attention to other details, you will see the fork covers are also handmade. And for stability, has pinned a steering-damper installed 90 degree angle to the fork-legs.

You might be surprised, this bike is designed for a woman. So don’t be surprised if the owner wants a lot of swarovsky parts. Some parts are interesting to watch on every Ducati, is open clutch cover. As well as other simple accent is on leatherparts for oil cable. The black color is selected, don’t want look to be too flashy. And it seems you’ll also feel in love with underbelly exhaust system. I believe it.

If you ask, some parts are imported. Parts of the tank and seat taken from the tank designer from Italy. It has planned, designed, and some good record until it can be made. An impression that will describe this bike really comes from Italy. At least, You’re prideful will appear on every bike that you ride. Right?

What else is there? This is very common, but it would be very interesting. The use of single sided arm, not a Ducati if not using this arm type. It’s already happening, some Ducati rider is often said that to me. In general, I also think so and you should think the same.

Building a custom motorcycle is a long journey. At least that’s what Andreas could tell me. Starting from the shape of the tank and sit to the conclude bike it took me 2 years to have it as I wanted. In Switzerland, you must follow strict rules to build what you dream.

Any changes that you do on a custom motorcycle that you must comply with the regulations. The most important thing is on the frame, you must pass the frame examination of the Swiss authority (confirmed legal bike and has all papers needed for the swiss regulations).

Those are some things that can Andreas says. And now, we know in some countries sounds hard to see the freedom of changing the structure of a motorcycle. But this is quite reasonable, because safety is very important. And no government wanting to harm its citizens.

From the few pictures that Andreas sent me, that’s my favorite part. Wrapped leather grips, neatly sewn, accompanied with bar end mirrors. And ABM Synto Clutch Lever commonly applied in BMW K1200LT closely matches color (black & brown) with the existing grips.

When most of the builder build their bikes with antique tires from Firestone. Not the case with this client, it seems the ladies are not too fond of that type of tire. Thus, an alternative option is a pair of Phantom Sportscomp Pirelli tires. Fairly new, and this makes it a perfect blend for this Ducati Monster.

In the headlight section, you’ll see a beautiful headlight with H4 globe and park light. Comes with E4 Emark for full ADR SAE DOT compliance. With part no: HC/R E4 12.5 0220582 E4 50R-000436. This light uses a 12 volt H4 60/55w Hi/Lo beam globe. Suit any custom build, car or hot rod, choppers and customs. The lens is 170mm (7″) across. Distance between side mounts is 200mm (7-7/8″). The outer diameter of the light is 200mm (8″) and 130mm (5″) from front to back.

Finally, this is the part where many people pay attention to this section and when you build a custom motorcycle. And seems to be known by Andreas, everyone loved it. This is the part that can be found in Europe Moto Parts. A pair of wheels with proven quality, Kineo Wheels.

Kineo wheels offer your motorcycle that conventional, tradional look but at the same time High End wheel technology. Engineered and manufactured from the best possible materials. Forged and CNC machined rims and hubs and cnc machined spokes guarantee perfectly balanced wheels with excellent comfort and reliabulity.

If you have any questions about this bike. Please like Motobene Gmbh fan page and chat with them