WSBK ; Première victoire de l’année pour Tom Sykes / Sykes takes maiden 2015 win in Donington opening race

Le Britannique s’est imposé devant son coéquipier Jonathan Rea dans la première des deux courses de Donington.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) a enfin renoué avec la victoire dimanche midi à Donington Park, où il avait réalisé le doublé en 2013 et 2014. Le Champion WorldSBK 2013, qui n’avait plus gagné depuis juillet 2014 (Laguna Seca), est parvenu à faire le break devant son coéquipier Jonathan Rea à quelques tours de l’arrivée et confirmait son excellente forme après avoir décroché la Tissot-Superpole.

Derrière les deux pilotes Kawasaki, trois autres duels opposaient Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team) et Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils) pour la troisième place, Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) et Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) pour la cinquième puis Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) et Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils) pour la septième.

Davies a fini par s’emparer de la troisième place devant Haslam, qui était brièvement passé en tête dans le premier tour de la course et qui avait pendant un temps suivi Sykes et Rea en compagnie de Davies. 

Badovini s’est quant à lui imposé sur Lowes pour prendre la cinquième place tandis que Torres est venu à bout de Guintoli en fin d’épreuve pour finir septième devant le Champion en titre. Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) et David Salom (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) complétaient le Top 10.

Après trois abandons consécutifs, Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) marquait les deux points de la quinzième place, devant Niccolò Canepa (Team Grillini) et Christophe Ponsson (Team Pedercini).

Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) a chuté et a fini par être disqualifié suite à un arrêt au stand non-règlementaire tandis que Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) a terminé en dix-septième position après être lui aussi passé par la pit-lane pour changer de pneu arrière.

La seconde course de la journée aura lieu à 15h, heure locale. Suite à sa cinquième victoire consécutive à Donington, Sykes aura l’occasion d’égaler Carl Fogarty, qui compte six victoires sur le circuit des East Midlands. 

Kawasaki rider wins at the UK track for the 5^th consecutive time.

Sykes has won the opening 23 lap WorldSBK race at Donington Park in dry but cold and overcast conditions after a race long fight with his KRT team mate Jonathan Rea. The pair swapped positions for virtually the whole race after getting the better of early leader Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils).

Sykes has now won the last 5 WorldSBK races at the Leicestershire circuit and is one win short of 6 Donington wins, an accolade held by countryman Carl Fogarty.

The final podium place went to Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) who also passed Haslam, who finished 4^th, with 6 laps to go.

Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) showed incredible pace in the closing stages to snatch 5^th at the flag from Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) who was a solid 6^th.

Jordi Torres (Apriilia Racing Team – Red Devils) finished 7^th on his Donington race debut ahead of reigning champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and David Salom (Team Pedercini) who were 8^th, 9^th and 10^th respectively.

The final point scorers were Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing), Nico Terol (Althea Racing), Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven), Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), and Niccolo Canepa (Grillini SBK Team).

Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) crashed out early on while Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) made an unscheduled pit stop to change tyres, the Italian, who started on the front row finished 17^th and out of the points.

WRC, Portugal : Victoire de Latvala (VW/Michelin) / Latvala wins for VW/Michelin

Le Finlandais Jari-Matti Latvala a remporté le Rallye du Portugal, cinquième manche du Championnat du monde des Rallyes FIA 2015, et Volkswagen Motorsport a signé un nouveau triplé avec Sébastien Ogier (2e, + 8s2) et Andreas Mikkelsen (3e, +28s6).

Classé 9^e du championnat Pilotes avec seulement 19 points après quatre rallyes, Jari-Matti Latvala a pratiquement perdu tout espoir d’un premier sacre mondial. Mais il n’a pas perdu l’envie de gagner des courses…

Avantagé par sa position sur la route, le Finlandais a pris les commandes de l’épreuve à l’issue de l’ES4 et résisté au retour fulgurant de son équipier Sébastien Ogier. C’est sans doute grâce à une parfaite gestion de son paquetage de pneumatiques soft que Jari-Matti a signé le meilleur temps dans l’avant-dernière spéciale, ce qui lui assuré une 13^e victoire mondiale.

Meilleur performer du rallye, Sébastien Ogier n’a pu remporter son 5^e Rallye du Portugal et égaler le record de Markku Alén. Mais le Français a été très lourdement handicapé par sa première position sur des pistes du nord du Portugal très soft et recouvertes de gravette.

Il est néanmoins parvenu à remonter de la 6^e à la 2^e place, alors que son équipier Andreas Mikkelsen a pris l’ascendant sur Kris Meeke en fin d’épreuve pour offrir un triplé à l’équipe Volkswagen Motorsport avec trois Polo R WRC/Michelin spec. 2015.

Le Rallye du Portugal était de retour dans le Nord du pays après sept éditions organisées en Algarve. Le parcours, qui reprenait certaines pistes utilisées jadis comme Ponte de Lima et Fafe, était magnifique et les spectateurs sont venus en masse. Le terrain très souple, qui s’est dégradé au fil des passages, a compliqué les stratégies de pneumatiques. Les pilotes ont souvent du mixer les pneus hard et soft.

La nouvelle Ford Fiesta RS WRC a été conduite à la 5^e place finale par l’Estonien Ott Tanak, alors que son équipier Elfyn Evans a dû se retirer à deux reprises. Derrière, la bataille pour la 6^eplace entre Ostberg, Sordo et Paddon a tourné à l’avantage de l’Espagnol.

Nasser Al-Attiyah (Ford) a remporté une nouvelle victoire en catégorie WRC-2 devant les deux nouvelles Skoda Fabia R5/Michelin d’Esapekka Lappi et de Pontus Tidemand. Julien Maurin (4^e, Ford) a finalement remporté son duel face à Stéphane Lefebvre (5^e, Citroën). Avec 29 concurrents au départ, cette catégorie fut très disputée. Parmi les favoris, Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Karl Kruuda et Jari Ketomaa ont abandonné.

Seconde victoire de Quentin Gilbert (Citroën/Michelin) chez les Juniors qui conforte sa première place au championnat. Pierre-Louis Loubet et Henri Haapamaki complètent le podium. Le Finlandais Max Vatanen a remporté la première manche du Fiesta Trophy 2015.

Victory in Portugal, home of round five of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship, went to Jari-Matti Latvala who headed another one-two-three finish for Volkswagen Motorsport. Second and third were Sébastien Ogier (+8.2s) and Andreas Mikkelsen (+28.6s).

The Finn was ninth in the championship points table before Portugal and has precious little chance of winning this year’s crown, but that hasn’t dented his hunger for victory.

Helped by his running order, he took command after SS4 and kept it to the chequered flag, despite pressure from his charging team-mate, Ogier. Jari-Matti was also helped by judicious management of his tyre stock which left him with sufficient ‘soft’ Michelins to win the final stage and seal his 13^th world class win.

Ogier collected the highest number of stage victories but that wasn’t enough for him to equal Markku Alen’s record of five Rally de Portugal successes. In his defence, the Frenchman was badly handicapped by two days’ running first on the soft, gravel-carpeted stages.

Even so, he still managed to fight his way back from sixth to second place, while his team-mate Mikkelsen picked off Kris Meeke towards the end to earn the first one-two-three result for Volkswagen Motorsport’s 2015-specification, Michelin-equipped Polo R WRCs.

The 2015 Rally de Portugal marked the event’s return to the north of the country after seven years in the Algarve. The route featured several big-name stages from the past like ‘Ponte de Lima’ and ‘Fafe’ which drew spectators like magnets. However, the soft ground had a tendency to cut up during the first passes which complicated tyre choice, compelling drivers to run combinations of ‘hard-‘ and ‘soft’-compound rubber.

The new Ford Fiesta RS WRC finished fifth in the hands of Ott Tanak, although the Estonian’s team-mate Elfyn Evans ‘retired’ twice. The scarp for sixth place between Ostberg, Sordo and Paddon ended in the Spaniard’s favour.

Nasser Al-Attiyah (Ford) secured another WRC2 victory, ahead of the new Michelin-shod Skoda Fabia R5s of Esapekka Lappi and Pontus Tidemand. Julien Maurin (4^th, Ford) finally won his big duel with Stéphane Lefebvre (5^th, Citroën). The class boasted a field of 29 starters but expected front-runners Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Karl Kruuda and Jari Ketomaa were all eliminated.

Quentin Gilbert (Citroën/Michelin) notched up his second Junior win of the year to strengthen his lead in the provisional standings. Pierre-Louis Loubet and Henri Haapamaki were first and second.

Finn Max Vatanen came first in the opening round of the 2015 Fiesta Trophy.

Yamaha XS650 by Holiday Customs

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Words by Ian Lee.

If it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would get done. Whether a Pipeburn post, or project bike, there is nothing like the rush of racing that deadline for completion. Just ask Jared Johnson of Holiday Customs. The bike featured here today had the final touches put on it at 10pm on the night before The One Motorcycle Show. Utilising a UJM for his entry into the legendary Portland bike show, Jared gave the 1975 XS650 the Schwinn styled frame that the Holiday workshop is famous for.

Jared decided upon the the build after assessing the various spares taking up real estate in his workshop. A frame, wheels, miscellaneous bike bits were set aside, luckily with a few bikes of this style already behind him Jared knew exactly what was required of the build, but this bike needed highlights that stood out from the previous builds.

At the front end sits a 21″ Honda rim, chosen because it has a “decent size drum brake”. At the rear sits a standard 18″ XS rim, with these two the bike was a roller, and the project could get underway. Mounting the fuel tank, seat, headlight was a breeze, then while out and about, Jared noticed a bicycle with wooden fenders and wondered how he would go with fashioning up a set of wooden fenders for the project.

Being a “metal guy”, it took a bit of time and effort for Jared to come up with the right wood for the job. After a making his own jig, he steamed and curved some birch wood to the right dimensions. Rubbing them back, sanding and staining (hardly a regular part of building a custom bike) the final result, within a week the XS had a set of custom guards unlike any other.

One the new guards had been fitted, the frame was cleaned up of electrical wiring. The starter motor was removed, in it’s place under the engine sits the battery and rectifier. After a dry run ensuring the parts fitted as they should, the frame and wheels were sent off for powder coating. The seat was sent off to Ginger at New Church for a freshen up, the cylinder head and barrel were sent to a machine shop for some “help and cleaning”.

Picking up the engine parts 24 hours later, Jared started building the engine while waiting for the powder coated parts to return. On reassembly of the Yamaha, a set of pod filters have been fitted, and a sweet block-hugging set of exhaust pipes fashioned up and mounted.

There’s nothing like seeing the final result of all your effort. It’s even better when you beat the deadline you are set even though it looked like you wouldn’t. From pile of parts, to awesome low slung cruiser, this XS650 is proof that even if rushed, quality can still be produced.

This unique XS650 is now up for sale, so if you like what you see and want to own a one of a kind Holiday Custom, get in contact with Jared through his website.

[Photos by Pierre Robichaud]

via PIPEBURN

Nick Veasey’s ghostly X-ray cutaway of a Ferrari Daytona

You might have seen Nick Veasey’s work before; it’s not exactly indistinctive, as he uses not a pen, brush or computer mouse, but an X-ray machine. Here we take a look at his behind-the-scenes process – one that you might like your own classic to go through in the name of art…

Veasey has honed his unique procedure for many years now, his subjects ranging from underwear to jumbo jets. Unsurprisingly, our new favourite is the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona you see above, whose journey to artistic immortality through electromagnetic radiation was visually documented, allowing a rare glimpse into the logistical (im)practicalities behind his work.

A glimpse through the metal, from behind the scenes

Veasey’s most recent project involves classic motorcycles such as Indians, Ariels and Matchlesses– but he next intends to focus on classic cars and, if you have one that might be of interest, he’d love to hear from you. Email us with details of your car, and we’ll pass them on to Nick for final selection.

Photos: © Nick Veasey

For further information, visit Nick Veasey's website.

You can find hundreds of modern and classic Ferraris for sale in the Classic Driver Market.