WTCC ; Race 1: Muller takes first triumph / Race 2 : Loeb back on top

Yvan Muller has won the opening WTCC Race of Slovakia following a dominant lights-to-flag performance in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC.

The Frenchman, a four-time winner of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, blasted away from pole position and was never headed, claiming his fourth win of the campaign.

His victory means he edges closer to team-mate and reigning world champion José María López in the title chase. López finished second with Sébastien Loeb completing Citroën’s podium monopoly in third.

Rob Huff was fourth for LADA with Hugo Valente bagging Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy honours in fifth in his privateer Chevrolet.

Gabriele Tarquini was the leading Honda finisher in sixth with Tom Chilton seventh and Tiago Monteiro eighth after charging through from P17 on the grid. Tom Coronel took ninth with Néstor Girolami 10^th on his WTCC debut having started in P18 in his Honda. Local hero Mato Homola finished in P13 behind Stefano D’Aste and John Filippi.

Sébastien Loeb scored win number two of the 2015 FIA World Touring Car Championship season by hunting down and passing Gabriele Tarquini for victory in the second WTCC Race of Slovakia.

Loeb, who hasn’t won in the WTCC since the opening weekend of the season in Argentina, was eighth on the grid in his factory Citroën but a strong start meant he was challenging Honda driver Tarquini before the end of the opening lap.

Tarquini held on for the next tour but was unable to prevent Loeb from passing at the second turn on lap three to claim his second win in Slovakia in as many seasons. And it would get worse for Tarquini when championship leader José María López and race one winner Yvan Muller also moved ahead, demoting the former champion to fourth.

While Loeb was able to pull clear out front, López and Muller battled for second with López taking the runner-up spot.

Hugo Valente made it back-to-back Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy wins in fifth behind Tarquini with Jaap van Lagen, who started the reverse grid race from pole, in sixth for LADA.

WSBK ; Sykes remporte la première épreuve ;Rea décroche la seconde à Misano / Tom Sykes wins Misano WorldSBK race 1; Rea wins 11th race of season in race 2

Le Britannique s’est imposé devant Jonathan Rea et Chaz Davies.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) a repris cinq points à son coéquipier Jonathan Rea, le leader du classement WorldSBK 2015, en remportant la première des deux courses au Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli lors de la huitième manche de la saison 2015.

Parti en pole position, le Champion WorldSBK 2013 a dominé les débats du départ jusqu’au drapeau à damier et signait la 25e victoire de sa carrière, sa troisième cette année après son doublé à domicile à Donington Park.

Le Britannique a fini avec une confortable avance devant Rea, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team) et Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team), qui se sont disputés les deuxième et troisième places jusqu’au bout. Après avoir décroché la première, et pour l’instant unique, victoire de la Panigale au MotorLand Aragón, Davies inscrivait encore un peu plus son nom dans l’histoire de Ducati en WorldSBK en signant le 800e podium de la marque.

À six secondes de la lutte pour le podium, Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team-Red Devils) a pris la cinquième place en terminant juste devant Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team), qui court exceptionnellement à Misano et à Sepang cette année et s’offrait une sixième place dès son retour à la compétition.

Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team), Michele Pirro, remplaçant de Luca Scassa chez Ducati suite à la blessure du wildcard, le Champion en titre Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) et son coéquipier Michael van der Mark complétaient le Top 10 à l’arrivée.

Christophe Ponsson (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) a fini dix-huitième tandis que Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) et Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team-Red Devils) ont été contraints à l’abandon.

Le Nord-Irlandais s’est imposé dans la seconde course après la victoire de son coéquipier Tom Sykes dans la première.

Deuxième de la première course de la journée au Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) a redressé la barre pour s’imposer dans la seconde épreuve et s’offrir une onzième victoire cette saison. 

Le Nord-Irlandais a d’abord dû se défaire de son coéquipier Tom Sykes pour ensuite s’attaquer à Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team), en tête en début de course, mais comptait au final une bonne seconde d’avance sur l’Italien, qui finissait en seconde position.

En perte de vitesse sur la seconde moitié de l'épreuve, Sykes a terminé en cinquième position, derrière Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team-Red Devils) et Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike), concédant plus de points à Rea qu’il ne lui en avait repris en s’imposant le matin.

En dehors de Donington Park, où Sykes avait réalisé le doublé, Rea s’est imposé au moins une fois à chaque manche cette année et repart de Rimini avec 133 points d’avance sur Sykes, 149 sur Haslam et 162 sur Davies. Il égale par ailleurs Troy Corser, qui avait avant lui aligné 16 podiums consécutifs en 2005.

L’ancien Champion du Monde Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) a de nouveau pris la sixième place en s’imposant sur Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team-Red Devils) tandis que Michele Pirro, remplaçant du wildcard blessé Luca Scassa chez Ducati, Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) et Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) figuraient eux aussi dans le Top 10.

Les Français Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), dont le coéquipier Alex Lowes a été contraint à l’abandon, et Christophe Ponsson (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) ont pris les 17e et 18e places.

Championship leader Rea maintains 100% podium record in 2015.

The opening race of the day at the Misano World circuit Marco Simoncelli was won by Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) who converted his 27^th Pole Position into his 25^th career win in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

Leading from the start, Sykes led all 21 laps, coming home ahead of team mate and championship leader Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) who delighted the Italian fans around the circuit with an incredible final lap duel for 2^nd position. Davies lunged past Rea into the final corner only to run wide, being passed again on the run to the flag by Rea.

Davide Giugliano put the second official factory Ducati into 4^th, the Italian running 2^nd for the majority of the 21 lap encounter before being overhauled by the British pairing of Rea and Davies in the final two laps. He did however claim a new lap record, which he set on lap 3.

Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) was unable to show the pace he had in qualifying coming home 5^th, 0.1s ahead of the returning Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) who had a steady ride to finish 6^th. The six time World Champion survived a heart stopping moment on the opening lap when he collided with Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team).

Guintoli would eventually finish 9^th after fighting for the full 21 laps with Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia), Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) who finished 7^th and 8^th, and his own Pata Honda team-mate Michael van der Mark who finished just behind the Frenchman in 10^th.

The final point scorers were Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing), Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven) and Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing).

Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) was running in the leading group before crashing at turn 3 on the 3^rd lap. The WorldSBK rookie was physically annoyed with himself as he walked back to the pits.

Giugliano just loses out after race long fight with Rea.

The second race of the PATA Riviera di Rimini round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship was won by championship Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) after a race long fight with Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team).

Giugliano took the lead on lap 7 where he stayed until being passed by Rea with 5 laps to go. The current points leader was kept under constant pressure by the Italian, but held on to record his 11^th win of the year by 1.290s. Rea’s double podium finish equals the record set by Troy Corser in 2005 of 16 consecutive podium finishes in a season.

Behind the first two, Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) got the better of Chaz Davies on the second factory Ducati after their own personal race long duel to claim the final podium place.

Race one winner Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was strong for the first half of the second encounter before dropping back to 5^th at the flag. The former champion finished just ahead of Max Biaggi and Jordi Torres, the Aprilia Racing pairing swapping places throughout the 21 laps.

Michele Pirro rode a lonely race to finish 8^th on the 3^rd Aruba.it Racing Ducati with Pata Honda team mates Sylvain Guintoli and Michael van der Mark completing the top ten.

The final 5 point scoring riders were Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia), Niccolo Canepa (Althea Racing), Markus Reiterberger (VanZon Rehema BMW), Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven) and David Salom (Team Pedercini).

Leandro Mercado’s run of point scoring finishes in every race came to an end, the Argentine rider retiring his Barni Racing Ducati at the end of lap 3.

Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) was another of the riders to retire, on lap 9.

WSS ; Cluzel à 20 points de Sofuoglu suite à sa victoire à Misano / Misano WSS win for Cluzel and MV Agusta

La victoire du Français et la chute du Turc relancent la course au titre Supersport 2015.

En pole position au Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) a transformé l’essai pour remporter la dixième victoire de sa carrière dans le Championnat du Monde Supersport et sa troisième cette année. 

Après un départ compliqué, son rival Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) occupait la cinquième position dans le premier tour et a fini par chuter alors qu’il se battait pour la troisième place. Le leader du classement général a pu repartir et prendre les points de la onzième place mais voyait son avance sur Cluzel passer de 40 à 20 points, à quatre courses de la fin de la saison. 

PJ Jacobsen (CORE Motorsport Thailand) et Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) étaient aux côtés de Cluzel sur le podium. Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) a fini quatrième, devant Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK#25), qui a pris le meilleur sur Fabio Menghi (VFT Racing) dans le dernier tour de la course.

Christian Gamarino (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki), Riccardo Russo (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda), Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing) et Martin Cardenas (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) complétaient le Top 10 à l’arrivée.

Le Championnat du Monde Supersport continue au Circuit International de Sepang, en Malaisie, le 2 août prochain. En réduisant son retard sur Sofuoglu de moitié, Cluzel se relance complètement dans la lutte pour le titre mondial, qu’il serait assuré de remporter s’il parvenait à s’imposer dans les quatre dernières manches de la saison.

10^th career win for Cluzel as he closes points gap to Sofuoglu.

The World Supersport race in Misano was won in style by Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who converted Pole Position into his 3^rd win of 2015, the 10^th of his WSS career. The Frenchman smashed the lap record for the MIsano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli by over half a second on his way to victory by 1.525s at the flag.

At the end of 19 laps, Cluzel was joined on the podium by PJ Jacobsen (CORE Motorsport Thailand) and Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who were 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) finished 4^th ahead of an elated Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK#25) who snatched 5^th from Fabio Menghi (VFT Racing) on the final lap.

Christian Gamarino was 7^th on the Team Go Eleven Kawasaki, just edging Riccardo Russo (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda), Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing) and Martin Cardenas (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda).

Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished 11^th after crashing out of 3^rd on the final lap. The championship leader was lucky to be able to remount to salvage what could be an important 5 points.

Kyle Smith was unable to start the race after a technical problem on the sighting lap sidelined the Pata Honda rider.

The next round of the World Supersport championship takes place at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia in 3 weeks

.

SON OF A GUN: BMW R69S ‘THOMPSON’

Full Size

The Thompson submachine gun is a legend in artillery and gangster circles. In the 1920s, the ‘Chicago Typewriter’ cost half as much as a new Ford car, thanks to the intricate machining of its metal and wooden parts.

It’s also the inspiration behind this new build from Slovenia’s ER Motorcycles. “Criminals endorsed the Thompson because of its compactness, reliability and ergonomics,” says main man Blaž Šuštaršič. “They’re features you’ll also find in this BMW R69S.”

Full Size

The bike is a commission from a German doctor, who wanted his own version of ER’s acclaimed ‘Mobster‘ build. The first four letters of the doctor’s name are ‘Thom,’ and so the train of thought was set in motion.

The first job for Blaž and his crew was to figure out how to go one better than Mobster. “Our challenge was to use it for our inspiration, but we had to surpass it in many ways. We wanted to build something that speaks of history and craftsmanship, but also modern technology.”

Full Size

They decided to use warmer, natural materials as a counterweight to the metal details and the blue of the classic BMW Schorsch Meier fuel tank. There’s more leather this time, and even wood—the seat is cut and shaped from a slab of teak.

Mechanically, the bike is a veritable smörgåsbord of vintage BMW components, although the R69S frame remains. The engine and transmission, thoroughly overhauled, are from an R100. An R80 supplied the swingarm and upper triple tree.

Full Size

The rear wheel is from an R50/5, while the front is a Borrani with Inox spokes (and a Menani drum brake). Both rims are 18 inches.

Virtually everything else is custom, from the fenders to the saddlebags to the exhaust headers, which are finished with Spark MotoGP mufflers.

Full Size

The bars are Renthal, and the new wiring loom is hooked up to a full complement of Motogadget parts—a digital control unit, an RFID ignition system, a Motoscope Classic speedo and miniature push-button switchgear.

Right at the front is a Roland Sands Design Vintage Black Ops headlight. It’s all very classy, in a dramatic way.

Full Size

Further (unscheduled) drama arrived during the photo shoot. “We chose a dark tunnel in Italy, to paint the mood and atmosphere,” Blaž says. “Then the undercover carabinieri[Italian criminal police] arrived and gave us a hard time asking what we were doing there. And worse, we didn’t have the bike’s papers with us.

“But after we explained the situation, they started taking pictures of the bike and forgot about everything. Words can’t describe how relieved we all were!”

ER Motorcycles | Facebook | Instagram | ER Motorcycles’ previous BMW ‘Voltron‘ is now for sale. Enquire via the website.

via BIKEexif