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MotoGP ; Lorenzo sera l’homme à battre en Catalogne / Lorenzo the man to beat in Catalunya

La saison 2015 continue cette semaine au Grand Prix Monster Energy de Catalogne, où Lorenzo visera une quatrième victoire consécutive.

              

Vainqueur des trois dernières courses, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) est revenu à six points de son coéquipier Valentino Rossi au classement général et arrive à Barcelone en pleine confiance après avoir surclassé ses adversaires à Jerez, au Mans et au Mugello.

Le Majorquin a déjà gagné trois fois en catégorie reine au Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya et pourrait aligner pour la première fois de sa carrière une quatrième victoire consécutive.

Rossi est de son côté le pilote au palmarès le plus étoffé à Montmeló depuis l’introduction du circuit catalan au calendrier des Grands Prix et y a remporté un total de neuf victoires : 1 en 125cc, 2 en 250cc, 1 en 500cc et 5 en MotoGP, dont la dernière en 2009. L’Italien avait fini deuxième l’an dernier, une demi-seconde derrière Marc Márquez.

Márquez (Repsol Honda) traverse pour sa part le moment le plus compliqué de sa carrière et est reparti du Mugello sans le moindre point suite à un week-end cauchemardesque marqué par deux chutes, dont une course. Le Champion du Monde en titre et son équipe espèreront tourner la page ce week-end chez lui en Catalogne, où il tentera de rattraper une partie de ses 49 points de retard sur Rossi. Quatrième en Italie, son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa sera lui aussi déterminé à décrocher un bon résultat devant ses supporters, sur un circuit où il n’a plus manqué le podium depuis 2011.

Chez Ducati, Andrea Iannone est en pleine confiance après avoir signé sa première pole position en MotoGP™ ainsi que son meilleur résultat dans la catégorie en finissant deuxième au Mugello. L’Italien devrait être en meilleure condition physique après avoir souffert de son bras en Italie et avait gagné à Montmeló en 2012, en Moto2™.

Contraint à l’abandon en Italie, son coéquipier Andrea Dovizioso voudra se relancer ce week-end et retrouvera un circuit où il s’était imposé en 250cc en 2006 et avait fini troisième avec Tech3 en MotoGP™ en 2012. Avec quatre podiums en six courses depuis le début de l’année, Dovizioso occupe la troisième place du classement général, à 25 points de Rossi.

             

Le Team Suzuki Ecstar devrait disposer d’un nouveau moteur pour la GSX-RR cette semaine à l’occasion de la septième manche de la saison, une bonne nouvelle pour Aleix Espargaró comme Maverick Viñales, qui seront tous les deux à domicile. Espargaró continue de récupérer de son opération du pouce droit et avait fini sixième à Montmeló l’an dernier tandis que Viñales a décroché son meilleur résultat en date, la septième place, lors de la dernière course et voudra poursuivre sa progression ce week-end en Catalogne.

Suite à la chute de Cal Crutchlow (CMW LCR Honda) en Italie, Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) est passé en tête de la lutte pour le titre de premier pilote satellite, avec dix points d’avance sur son compatriote et douze sur son coéquipier Pol Espargaró, tandis que Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) continue de s’adapter à sa RC213V Factory.

Dans la catégorie Open, Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) n’est plus qu’à dix points de Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) après avoir décroché une fantastique douzième place au Mugello et essayera de poursuivre sur sa lancée ce week-end en Catalogne, où Barberá ne sera vraisemblablement pas à 100% après s’être fait opérer d’un syndrome des loges à l’avant-bras droit.

Le coup d’envoi du Grand Prix Monster Energy de Catalogne sera donné vendredi matin à 9h55 avant la première séance d’essais de la catégorie MotoGP™.

                 

The one question on everyone’s lips as we head to the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya is, can anyone stop Jorge Lorenzo?

               

The Movistar Yamaha rider has won the last three races in a row at a canter, and has looked simply untouchable, although he currently occupies second in the MotoGP™ World Championship standings, six points behind his teammate Rossi.

Lorenzo has three premier class victories to his name at the Circuit de Barcelona, which will host the seventh round of the 2015 MotoGP™ Championship, and finished last year’s race in fourth.

Rossi is the most successful rider at the Barcelona track ever since it was introduced to the World Championship calendar in 1992, with nine victories to his name across all classes (1x125cc, 2x250cc, 1x500cc & 5xMotoGP), although the last of these came back in 2009. The Italian finished second in the race last year, just 0.5s behind the winner Marc Marquez.

Rossi has not finished off the podium yet this season, but if he is to stop Lorenzo’s charge, and maintain his lead in the World Championship standings, he will need to improve his Saturday performances. Rossi has effectively been giving Lorenzo a head start in recent races due to his poor qualifying performances, and will need to address this is if he wants to win his 10th World Championship title this year.

              

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez is facing the biggest crisis of his career so far. A nightmare weekend in Mugello saw him take no points for second time this year as he crashed out of the race. The Spaniard has identified a number of issues with his RC213V, as it appears as though his team has been treading water while his rivals have made giant strides. Marquez, the winner in Catalunya last year, will be hoping to turn his season around in front of his passionate home support and reduce the 49 point gap to Rossi in the championship standings. Marquez’ teammate Dani Pedrosa finished a comfortable fourth in Mugello, and will be confident of a good result in a race where he has not finished off the podium since 2011.

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone will be looking to build on his first MotoGP™ pole position, and his best ever race result (second) last time out in Mugello. The Italian has had an extra two weeks to recover from the arm injury that was affecting him in Italy, and has won at the Barcelona circuit before in Moto2™ (2012). 

               

His teammate Andrea Dovizioso will be looking to bounce back after he was forced to retire from the Italian Grand prix with a rear sprocket issue. He has tasted success at the Circuit de Barcelona before, winning the 2006 250cc race, and finishing third on the Tech 3 Yamaha in MotoGP™ in 2012. Dovizioso has stood on the podium in four of the six races so far this season, and is currently third in the title standings, 25 points behind Rossi.

Team Suzuki Ecstar have announced they will be bringing an engine update to the Catalan Grand Prix, which will come as an added bonus to riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales who both felt they made a major breakthrough in their chassis set-ups in Italy. Espargaro will continue his recovery from the ligament surgery he had on his right thumb after his huge Free Practice crash at Le Mans, and finished last years race at the circuit in sixth. His teammate Viñales will be looking to follow up his best ever MotoGP™ result last time out at Mugello (7th) with another good performance, at a circuit he has won at before in Moto3™ (2012).

The battle for the top Satellite rider took a further twist in Italy, as CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow crashed out of the race with just three laps to go, allowing his compatriot Bradley Smith to cross the line in fifth and open up a 10 point lead in the championship standings. Crutchlow dislocated his ankle in the crash, and will have to pass a medical inspection by before he can race.

                

Pol Espargaro closed the gap to Crutchlow to just two points, as he followed his teammate Smith home in sixth in Italy, while Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Scott Redding knows he needs to show his true potential on his Factory Spec RC213V, after another finish outside the top ten last time out.

In the Open class, Athina Forward Racing’s Loris Baz (10pts) closed the gap to the leader, Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera (16pts), to just six points after taking the victory in Mugello. Barbera underwent compartment syndrome surgery after the Italian Grand Prix to alleviate arm pump symptoms and will not be 100% in Barcelona.

               

The Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya officially starts with the Press Conference on Thursday at 17:00 local time, while the MotoGP™ on-track action kicks off on Friday at 9:55am local time in Barcelona.

               

Crewe confidential - Tales of a Bentley chauffeur

Before their unceremonious parting of ways, Bentleys were traditionally regarded as more driver-focused, while Rolls-Royce made cars in which you’d want to be driven. To dispel that age-old belief, we spent a day with David Vernon, one of two resident chauffeurs at Bentley’s Crewe HQ…

Few sights are more appeasing than a Bentley’s rear door being opened for you after a long train or plane journey.

Few sights are more appeasing than a Bentley’s rear door being opened for you after a long train or plane journey – but a warm, hospitable smile to go with it represents a welcome ‘extra mile’, so to speak. Patiently awaiting our arrival in Crewe by train from London (delayed, of course), David wastes no time in demonstrating the pride he takes in his job. 

A warm welcome

His two-tone Flying Spur stands proud in the restricted taxi pick-up area outside Crewe station, and we’re barely nestled into the quilted-leather rear seats before he explains why he isn’t currently being hassled by a traffic warden: “Crewe railway station gives our two chauffeur cars special dispensation to park here”. His proud smile isn’t going anywhere soon.

“You can usually tell within the first few minutes whether a client fancies a chat, or whether they’d prefer to be left alone,” he continues. But David seems to have us figured out ahead of schedule. We want to hear all of his trade tales; in fact, this whole journey was triggered by a tip-off about his enthusiastic anecdotes. 

Local spirit

A local chap, David perfectly embodies the community spirit of Bentley’s long-term presence in Crewe (“You often get let out at junctions, or waved at by the locals,” he says). Coincidentally, one of his next jobs is to take company top brass to the annual long-standing service awards presentation, where many staff members will receive commendations for not years, but decades of service. After 13 years as a company chauffeur – before which he was a transport driver with the company for 17 years – David’s decoration is imminent­. But in the meantime, there are a few things he wants to show us back at HQ.

Misters and the sisters

Upon arrival, he asks us to wait in the car while he makes a phone call. Within moments, a Mulsanneappears driven by his colleague Mike, with whom he shares driving duties. It’s the Flying Spur’s sister car, painted in an identical grey-and-silver colour scheme. “These are being retired next week, so it’s probably the last time they’ll be seen together,” David tells us with a brief twinge of melancholy. “They were specified with the two-tone paintwork to show visitors that we still offer that option. We’ve had many striking paint schemes over the years. The first car I was given in this role was a Verdant Green Arnage R with a magnolia-coloured interior. These two will be replaced by a pair of single-tone cars in the new Jetstream Blue colour, and it’s quite vivid.” The smile is back.

Unrivalled knowledge

David escorts us inside, and directs us into a room – with knurled door handles, of course – where he shows us an image of one of the most memorable moments in his career: driving behind Derek Bell’s Le Mans-winning Speed 8 during its victory parade around the Arc de Triomphe in 2003. “That’s the thing I love about the job – it’s surprisingly varied. One day I’m part of the Le Mans winners parade, another day I’ll be training ‘close protection’ police officers on how to drive when escorting VIPs. Evasive driving comes naturally to them, but a chauffeur’s primary role is to drive smoothly, as if there’s a glass of water on the dashboard. The passengers should never feel any acceleration, cornering or braking forces. Unless they want to, in which case I’m more than happy to oblige.” David’s duties have given him a deep knowledge of the company, which he demonstrates as he gives us a tour around the cars in the museum.

Whistle-stop tour

Next on our whistle-stop tour (oh dear, that’s reminded us about the return train journey…) is the house traditionally provided to the company CEO while in power; Bentley’s 10 Downing Street, if you like. Dürheimer’s pad undoubtedly trumps that of the British Prime Minister in terms of character. It’s a former servant’s quarters building converted into a single household, with the interior outfitted by Bentley’s interior design team – the dining table is made of the same veneer used in the cars, and the company’s past Christmas cards have been adapted into wall-mounted art pieces. It’s a familiar destination for David: “Whenever Mr Dürheimer and other board members are in the country, Mike and I are responsible for taking them wherever they want to go,” he explains. “They keep us quite busy. But when we do early starts or late finishes, we take the cars home. It’s quite funny; when I’ve got the Mulsanne, the car parked in the driveway is worth more than my entire house.” 

Step inside, Sir

David’s most memorable journey? “Not long after I started, we had an elderly gentleman visit the factory – he was perhaps 90 years old, and had worked for W. O. Bentley as an apprentice at Cricklewood,” he recalls. “Coincidentally, he’d worked one of the cars in our museum when it was a new, experimental car; he also remembered waving the Bentley Boys off to Le Mans. When I dropped him off after his tour, his last words to me were ‘Thanks David, W. O. would be proud of what you’re all doing today’. I heard he passed away a year or two later, but I’ll never forget his stories, or his parting verse.” Seals of approval don’t come much more authentic than that, regardless of whether you prefer to drive, or be driven.

Photos: © Tom Shaxson for Classic Driver

You can find a wide range of modern and classic Bentleys for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

Fulfilling the childhood dream of charming a Competition Cobra

If you're looking for a tricky question to throw into your next automotive trivia quiz, try this: What was the first and only American car marque to win the FIA GT World Championship?

The answer is Shelby, whose teams of Cobra roadsters and more aerodynamic Cobra Daytona Coupés knocked Ferrari off its European perch during the 1965 season, with a string of wins at Monza, Oulton Park and the Nürburgring, plus a second at Spa -  and, just for good measure, victory in Austria's Rossfeld hillclimb.

Winning the Championship, said Carroll Shelby, was "the most satisfying thing I ever did."

A boyhood dream come true

And one of the most satisfying things I have ever done - automobile-wise, at any rate - was to finally get myself into the cockpit of a 427 competition Cobra, a car I have been longing to experience since boyhood but which has somehow eluded me.

And the realisation of my dream couldn't have been much better because, not only was it organised by Las Vegas-based Shelby American at the fabulous Spring Mountain Raceway, it also happened in the company of drivers such as Bob Bondurant and Allen Grant, who helped the team to that auspicious World Championship win 50 years ago. Was I dreaming?

Admittedly, I only got as far as the passenger seat of the mighty, race-prepared snake... but what an experience, to be hurled around the circuit by someone who battled it out in these cars in period, and knows just how far you can go with 700 horsepower in a 900 kilogramme car before the rear end swaps places with the front. I now know what all the fuss about competition Cobras is for. And it's justified.

The second coming

The only drawback to such a Cobra baptism, however, is that I've now been affected by the venom and want to own one. Original '60s cars with race history are  beyond the means of most, but Shelby American has marked this year's half century since the creation of the big-block, 427ci Cobra with a limited run of 50 CSX4000 anniversary specials with 23-gallon fuel tanks, leather trim, racing brakes and knock-off alloy wheels in the original, '60s design. And there's a choice of glassfibre bodywork in Guardsman Blue metallic with Wimbledon White racing stripes (from $119,995) or, if you really want to dazzle, highly polished aluminium (from $179,995).

After that, it's down to the buyer to choose his or her own engine/transmission set-up which, in order to be as authentic as possible, should comprise an iron block, 427-cubic inch engine mated to a four-speed manual gearbox - although there are plenty of other (less terrifying) options available.

If, however, you merely want to show your allegiance to the mightiest Cobra without actually having to buy one, luxury watch brand Baume & Mercier will sell you one of its more affordable, just-launched Capeland Cobra limited-edition chronographs, following the announcement of a long-term partnership with Shelby American.

World Champion in watch form

The entry-level model - which costs a reasonable £3,000 -  features a 44mm steel case and is limited to 1,965 pieces (based on the Championship-winning year). Cobra-inspired styling cues include a clever 'snake's head' counter-weight on the chronograph second hand; a dial in Shelby's signature 'Guardsman Blue' with very subtle racing stripes; chronograph counters based on the car's instrument panel and a sapphire crystal case-back engraved with both a facsimile of Carroll Shelby's signature and an edition number. 

For £13,300, meanwhile, you can have a version of the watch with a red gold case and a flyback chronograph movement, which is limited to just 98 pieces in recognition of Carroll Shelby's famous racing number.

And the good news is that they probably won't represent the last collaboration between Baume & Mercier and Shelby American because, according to the word on the street, we Europeans are soon going to be hearing a lot more about the legendary American hot-rod house that now focuses on tuning modern-day Fords - not least because the hugely popular Mustang (which Shelby Performance specialises in souping-up) is this year officially available in Europe.

Mustang chronograph, anyone?

You can find several Shelbys for sale in the Classic Driver Market