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    mardi 14 juillet 2015

    Bilan positif à la mi-saison pour Loris Baz


    Le rookie français boucle la première moitié de la saison 2015 en tant que deuxième pilote Open, à seulement cinq points d’Héctor Barberá.
                Bilan positif à la mi-saison pour Loris Baz
    Alors que vient de se terminer le neuvième Grand Prix, sur un total de dix-huit, Loris occupe au championnat la deuxième place de la catégorie Open à cinq points du leader. Il devance des pilotes beaucoup plus expérimentés que lui, ce qui est donc satisfaisant à la mi-saison alors qu’il effectue sa première année en MotoGP, la classe au niveau le plus élevé des Championnats du Monde.
    Sur le circuit du Sachsenring, l’Australien Jack Miller dominait initialement les Open, devant Baz et Nicky Hayden. Mais il se faisait remonter, puis dépasser par Héctor Barberá qui allait finalement s’imposer. Loris se blessait à un muscle du dos lors d’un décrochement brutal de l’arrière de sa moto, qui allait le handicaper en le faisant souffrir jusqu’à la fin de la course. Il faisait du mieux qu’il pouvait, mais ne parvenait qu’à terminer cinquième des Open, dix-neuvième du classement général.
    Le Grand Prix d’Allemagne était remporté par Marc Márquez qui réussissait l’exploit de s’imposer pour la sixième fois consécutive sur le circuit du Sachsenring. Il précédait son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa, qui ravissait la deuxième marche du podium à Valentino Rossi. C’était toutefois une bonne opération pour le campionissimo italien car son principal adversaire au championnat Jorge Lorenzo ne pouvait terminer qu’en quatrième position, ce qui permettait à Rossi d’accroître son avance à treize points. Le prochain GP aura lieu à Indianapolis le 9 août.
                   Race Allemagne
    « Après le warm up j’étais plutôt confiant car j’avais un bon rythme de course comme depuis le début du week-end, constatait Loris. Dès les premiers tours du Grand Prix, j’ai eu quelques petits soucis de l’avant, mais comme souvent on avait un peu moins de grip car nous courions après les Moto2. Ensuite j’ai fait une grosse équerre, un gros high side, après avoir passé Alex de Angelis, et ça m’a complètement bloqué le dos. J’ai eu très mal au dos et ça a été la torture pour terminer la course parce que ça me faisait vraiment souffrir. Je n’arrivais plus à me concentrer. Je suis allé au bout mais ça n’a vraiment pas été une course facile. Ce n’est pas grave, ça fera seulement un peu plus de points à rattraper lors des prochaines épreuves. Il en reste neuf. 
    « Le bilan à la mi-saison est positif. Si on m’avait dit l’hiver dernier qu’à cette période de l’année j’aurais gagné deux courses en Open et que je serais à la lutte pour la première place de la catégorie, j’aurais signé tout de suite. Il y a beaucoup de monde dans cette classe Open, de nombreux bons pilotes. Le bilan est positif et j’en suis content. Je progresse à presque toutes les sorties, sauf ce week-end où on a eu du mal, mais sinon on a évolué favorablement en permanence. J’espère qu’on pourra continuer à progresser de la même manière pendant la deuxième partie de la saison. »

    X-RAID SIGNS MIKKO HIRVONEN


     The Finn to race the MINI ALL4 Racing in the Dakar Rally
    - Debut in Spain’s Baja Aragon

    Even after having celebrated four consecutive Dakar wins, X-raid isn’t ready to rest. Instead, it is working on creating the best possible package for the coming years. On the one hand, the X-raid team consistently enhances the MINI ALL4 Racing, currently the most successful off-road vehicle of the world, and on the other, X-raid succeeded in signing another competitive driver for its line-up: Mikko Hirvonen. The experienced rally driver already demonstrated his skills at the wheel of the MINI ALL4 Racing in tests.
    The former WRC ace was thrilled by the MINI ALL4 Racing right from the start. Although the switch to off-road rallying represents a major challenge for the Finn. To provide him the best possible support on the way to coping with the new challenge, X-raid teams him up with the experienced co-driver Michel Périn. Périn is a four-time Dakar winner who celebrated his last Dakar-win to date in 2014: together with Nani Roma in a MINI ALL4 Racing. And although the Frenchman had announced his retirement from motor racing, early this year, he didn’t want to miss out on this opportunity. He already acted as Hirvonen’s co-driver in the tests and was fascinated by the Finn right away.
    In his 13 WRC years, Hirvonen finished second in the World Championship four times (2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012) but at the end of the 2014 season, the 35 year old retired from the WRC sport for good. In June, he tested the MINI ALL4 Racing in Morocco for the first time and in a few days, in Spain’s Baja Aragon held in late July, Hirvonen will drive the MINI ALL4 Racing for the first time in anger.
    “We are really delighted with having succeeded in signing Mikko” said X-raid's Team Manager Sven Quandt. “He certainly will be an asset not only to our team but to the Dakar, too. In the tests in Morocco he delivered in truly impressive style and felt good on the ‘new terrain’ right from the start. Nonetheless, one shouldn’t have too high expectations regarding his Dakar debut. Mikko still has to gather a lot of experience as the Dakar is a unique event. But on the other hand, Michel is a very experienced co-driver who has got what it takes to support him in many areas.”

    Three questions to Mikko Hirvonen
    1. What do you know about Dakar?
    I can say that six months ago I didn't know a lot, just what I have seen on TV. Of course, I knew it was a real long-distance race without pace notes and that it's far more about navigation and not so much about driving flat out. But now I've been executing long tests with the X-raid Team and I've been lucky to have been teamed-up with my very experienced co-driver, Michel Périn. He and the team helped me a lot to get a better picture of what it’s all about and the more they tell me, the more I'm getting excited about the challenge.
    2. How was your feeling in the MINI during the tests and how was it to change your driving style?
    Of course, the car and the terrain where we were driving differed a lot from what you have to cope with in WRC rallying. A WRC car is more precise and more responsive but wouldn’t be able to go to the places we can go to with the MINI. And the MINI’s strength and ruggedness is just incredible. Sometimes we aren’t racing on roads but have to contest full off-road sections and the punishment this car is able to take is extremely impressive. Meanwhile, the speed isn’t a real problem for me – but understanding the limits of the car in the bad section still is. In addition, I would say that contesting the long sections in Raid rallying is more physical than what you have to cope with in the conventional rally sport.
    3. What is your goal for the Dakar and the Baja Aragon?
    It's a lot about the experience. Dakar is such a long race and the dunes there are in a world of their own. So, to finish the event without encountering major problems or without getting stuck anywhere already would represent a really good achievement for my first Dakar. Meanwhile, the Baja Aragon is going to be more of the kind of rallying I'm used to. But driving without pace notes in your road book is not so easy and I still have to keep on familiarizing myself with the MINI as well. But should I feel good in the car and everything works well we hopefully will be able to set some good times in Baja Aragon.

    Triumph Bonneville ‘Moose’ by Mean Machines


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    When it comes to building a custom motorcycle, so many factors can influence the way the bike turns out. But when Wenley Andrews from Mean Machines in Australia started dating a new girlfriend, he didn’t realize at the time how this new romance would affect the outcome of his latest project. You see, Wenley had just picked up a 2008 Triumph Bonneville that he was planning on turning into something special. Around the same time he picked up a girl called Hayley who turned out to be something special as well. “Hayley had been very close to her dad who had tragically passed away just before I’d met her.” says Wenley. “I’m not sure if that’s why she took an interest in my hobby of bike building but I was grateful for the company.” Needless to say, Hayley influenced many of the decisions when it came to this build, including the name – but more on that later.
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    The plan for the bike was to create a true vintage looking bike using a modern Bonnie. Wenley believes that this “requires a subtle yet sophisticated approach. Less is more I believe.” Wenley started this build with the exhaust. He had the brand new cocktail shaker pipes lying around his garage for a few months and was itching to use them on a bike. “I brushed them to tone down the overall chrome on the bike” he says.
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    Wesley chose classic Amal style ribbed rubber grips, blackened forks with custom black fork sleeves and guitars added something old school to the front end. “When I’m building bikes, many of the modified parts don’t necessarily fit the way I see them in my head. So extra hours are always needed in order to achieve my vision. The Speed Merchant sprocket cover for example was blessed with the Mean Machines magic so it sits flush with the engine casing.”
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    Wenley also removed the stock reservoir position to give the bike a leaner look on the frame. When it came to the electrics, he used a standard mini lithium battery and hid everything else under the seat. The rear frame was shortened by 3 inches and a new custom fiberglass seat pan was designed which was then covered with a suede diamond stitch seat.
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    This mean machine is sitting nice and low on short vintage style rear shocks – the frame sits a mere six centimeters from the rear tire. The rear tail light now takes a more aggressive position all the way behind the 180 rear tire. Hayley was responsible for the colour scheme. “She chose a very retro, very sexy, baby blue and cream GT stripes with gold accents. My signature “Mean” adorns both sides of the tank” he says.
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    While the bike was being painted by Smith Concepts, Wenley took a trip with Hayley’s family to North Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef to scatter her fathers ashes on the Great Barrier Reef – a place that he loved so much. It was there that Hayley told him that her dad used to call her Moose as an affectionate nickname. On the way back from the trip, Wenley had an epiphany and straight away knew the name he was going to call his latest build… and Moose was born. 
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    [Photographs by Manny Tamayo] via PIPEBURN

    A NEW FILM ON THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS RACE



    The Isle of Man TT has claimed the lives of 246 competitors since 1911. It’s the most dangerous sporting event in the world—but year after year, the racers return.

    We’ve all seen the GoPro footage on YouTube and the heart-stopping crashes. But no one has examined the fatal attraction of the IOM TT: just why do the riders risk their lives?
    Now Studio Kippenberger has answered that question with a stunning short film, titled simply IOM TT. The Berlin-based production company is legendary in automotive circles, creating otherworldly atmospheres with drones and floating ‘gimbal’ camera rigs.

    Kippenberger has pulled together the world’s best crew for this film, and the result is simply amazing.

    Motorcyclist magazine agrees: “…truly stunning photography and painstakingly arranged slow-mo sequences that perfectly capture the drama and danger of threading hedgerows at 180 mph.” And motojournalist Wes Siler hailed IOM TT as “… probably the most compelling 15 minutes of motorcycling I’ve ever watched.”
    The IOM TT film is now available for download or streaming on Vimeo for just $4.99. Highly recommended.
    via BIKEexif