vendredi 11 septembre 2015
Lorenzo signe un nouveau record du circuit à Misano / Record-breaking Lorenzo heads Friday’s practice
L’Espagnol et son compatriote Marc Márquez ont de nouveau été clairement plus rapides que leurs concurrents vendredi après-midi.
Deuxième à 0.094s de Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) le matin alors que les autres pilotes étaient à plus d’une demi-seconde du Champion en titre, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a réussi à prendre l’avantage vendredi après-midi lors de la seconde séance du Grand Prix TIM de Saint-Marin et de la Riviera di Rimini.
Sur une YZR-M1 équipée d’ailerons latéraux à l’avant du carénage, le Majorquin a établi le nouveau record absolu du circuit en 1’32.871, soit 0.044s de mieux que l’ancien record, signé par Márquez en 2013. Ce dernier a conclu la deuxième séance à tout juste 0.053s de Lorenzo et avait déjà eu l’occasion de rouler sur le nouveau revêtement de Misano lors d’un test privé organisé cet été.
Lui aussi présent pour ces essais privés, son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) a terminé troisième, à 0.387s de Lorenzo, devant les Italiens Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) et Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), qui finissait à 0.598s de son coéquipier, sur qui il compte douze points d’avance au classement général.
Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing), à domicile après s’être offert son premier podium à Silverstone, et Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) figuraient eux aussi dans le Top 8.
Troisième le matin, Michele Pirro, en wildcard pour Ducati, a conclu la journée en neuvième position, devant Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), qui étaient avec Alex de Angelis (E-Motion IodaRacing Team), Andrea Iannone (Ducati) et Karel Abraham (AB Motoracing) l’un des quatre pilotes à chuter au cours de cette séance.
De retour sur un circuit où il avait brillé en WorldSBK, Loris Baz (Forward Racing) s’est classé deuxième pilote Ipen derrière Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) tandis que Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) a fini 22e.
Suite des essais libres samedi à 9h55.
Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.
Jorge Lorenzo utilised winglets on his M1 and set the fastest ever lap by a motorbike around Misano ahead of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa.
For the fourth race in a row it was Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez who filled the top two places on the combined timesheets on Friday. This time it was Lorenzo who finished on top of the pile as the Spaniard took advantage of the new track surface and glorious conditions (Track temperatures reached 38˚C) to set the fastest ever lap by a motorcycle around the 4.2km Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Lorenzo set a 1’32.871 in FP2 whilst utilising a medium front and medium rear tyre on a day that saw nearly all riders improve in the warmer conditions of the afternoon. The Majorcan - who is currently second in the championship standings - broke Marquez’s 2013 Pole record in the process (1’32.915). FP2 also saw Lorenzo debut ‘winglets’ on his Yamaha M1 and they seemed to have a positive affect as he immediately went quicker.
Lorenzo ended the day just 0.053s ahead of Marquez, who had earlier topped FP1. Marquez preferred a hard front and hard rear combination for his flying laps at the end of FP2 in a session that once again saw the Spanish duo a cut above the rest.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa (+0.387s) completed the provisional front row but was over three-tenths off the pace of his teammate Marquez. Andrea Dovizioso (+0.420s) on the Ducati Team GP15 was in fourth ahead of the man who leads the championship standings by 12 points, Valentino Rossi (+0.598s). Rossi did not sport the ‘winglets’ on his M1, but expect to see them make an appearance in FP3, as he preferred a hard front and rear tyre combination like Marquez.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro (+0.681s) was the leading Satellite rider in 6th, just one-thousandth of a second ahead of the Octo Pramac Racing Ducati of Danilo Petrucci.
Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished the day in 7th, with Ducati Team’s test rider Michele Pirro (wildcard) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) completing the top ten, despite the latter crashing at the start of FP2.
EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider Scott Redding was 11th, with Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) in 12th and less than a second behind Lorenzo, while Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) had to settle for 13th after also crashing during the session.
Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) ended the day in 15th as the leading Open class rider, with Jack Miller (LCR Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team) in 19th and 22nd respectively.
Check out the combined MotoGP™ FP1 & FP2 times; FP3 kicks off at 9:55am local time on Saturday in Misano.
WRC Rally Australia 2015 WRC, Australie, étape 1 : Latvala vire en tête / Latvala on top after Leg 1
Dani Sordo, Kris Meeke, et enfin Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin) se sont succédé en tête du Rallye d’Australie. A l’issue de la première journée, le Finlandais compte deux secondes d’avance sur Meeke et 4s6 sur Sébastien Ogier.
La première étape du Rallye d’Australie, qui comptait huit spéciales, a vu trois pilotes et trois marques différentes se succéder en tête.
C’est d’abord Dani Sordo, non nominé par Hyundai pour marquer des points Constructeurs, qui a profité de sa bonne position sur la route pour remporter les trois premières spéciales du jour.
Mais l’Espagnol a cédé les commandes au Britannique Kris Meeke (Citroën) à l’issue de l’ES4. A mi-journée, le pilote Citroën devançait les Hyundai i20 WRC de Sordo et Paddon, et les trois Volkswagen Polo R WRC –Mikkelsen, Latvala, Ogier - contraintes de balayer les pistes. Tout ce petit monde se tenait à moins de 12 secondes.
Les pilotes Volkswagen ont haussé le rythme dans l’après-midi, sur des pistes un peu plus nettoyées. Jari-Matti Latvala a gagné trois spéciales consécutives pour revenir peu à peu sur Meeke. Le Finlandais a fini par prendre les commandes de l’épreuve à l’issue de la dernière spéciale du jour remportée par Ogier. Le double champion du monde est 3e à moins de 5 secondes du leader.
C’est même très serré dans le top-5 puisque Latvala, Meeke, Ogier, Mikkelsen et Sordo se tiennent en moins de 16 secondes. Demain (samedi), Nambucca (50,80 km) sera à parcourir à deux reprises, avant une spéciale nocturne pour conclure l’étape. Sébastien Ogier ne devrait plus ouvrir la route car Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën) pourrait repartir en Rally2 après avoir tapé une pierre dans l’ES8.
Il n’y a pas de Ford Fiesta RS WRC aux avant-postes. Ott Tanak et Elfyn Evans, qui furent les seuls à mixer pneus hard et soft ce matin (tous les autres en Michelin LTX Force S4), pointent aux 8e et 9e places. Si l’Estonien n’est qu’à 40 secondes du leader, le Gallois se trouve plus de deux minutes après une touchette et un décoincement du pneu avant droit dans l’ES4.
En WRC-2, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Skoda/Michelin) compte déjà 50s3 d’avance sur Protasov (Ford) et près d’une minute et demie sur Al-Kuwari (Ford). L’Australien Scott Pedder (Ford) s’est arrêté dans l’ES2 (suspension).
Dani Sordo, Kris Meeke and Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin) all took turns on top in Australia today. The Finn completed the leg in front, ahead of Meeke (+2s) and Sébastien Ogier (4.6s).
The opening day of the 2015 Rally Australia featured eight stages and saw three drivers representing three different makes share first place.
The first driver to emerge on top was Dani Sordo. Although not nominated by Hyundai as eligible to score Manufacturers’ points, he took advantage of a favourable start order to claim the first three stages.
The Spaniard then ceded control to Meeke (Citroën) who led at the lunchbreak, ahead of Sordo and Paddon. The two Hyundai i20 WRC runners were in turn chased by Volkswagen’s Mikkelsen, Latvala and Ogier who had the handicap of running at the front of the field. These seven drivers were split by less than 12 seconds.
Volkswagen’s trio then upped the pace for the cleaner second passes. Jari-Matti Latvala won three stages in a row to close the gap to Meeke. He eventually found a way past on the day's final test which was won by Ogier who has fought his way back to third spot, less than five seconds short of his Finnish team-mate.
Indeed, the top five (Latvala, Meeke, Ogier, Mikkelsen and Sordo) are blanketed by less than 16 seconds ahead of Saturday’s action which includes two attempts at ‘Nambucca’ (50.80km), plus a night-time test to conclude the leg. Ogier will no longer be first on the road since Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën) is expected to re-start under the Rally2 ruling after clouting a rock on SS8.
Ford Fiesta RS WRC runners Ott Tanak and Elfyn Evans were the only drivers to run a combination of hard- and soft-compound tyres this morning (all the others ran the soft Michelin LTX Force S4) and are back in eighth and ninth places. The Estonian is only 40s adrift, but the Welshman is more than two minutes back after suffering an off and an unseated front-right tyre on SS4.
The WRC2 pacesetter Nasser Al-Attiyah (Skoda/Michelin) is already 50.3s clear of Protasov (Ford) and almost a minute-and-a-half ahead of Al-Kuwari (Ford). Australia’s Scott Pedder (Ford) stopped on SS2 (suspension).
London calling for RM Sotheby’s
On the evening of 7 September, Max Girardo will bring the gavel down on 76 lots at the RM Sotheby’s London Sale in Battersea, headed – as with last year’s auction – by a very special Ferrari 250 GT ‘Tour de France’. We’ve browsed the catalogue and selected some highlights…
We’ve already covered two rather yellow stars of the show – the Alfa Romeo RZ (£50,000-70,000) and Bugatti EB110 SS (£600,000-770,000) – in the magazine. But there’s plenty more to whet the appetite at the RM Sotheby’s annual (and ever-popular) London sale next week. Take the headline lot, a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT ‘Tour de France’, for example – an early single-louvred car with matching numbers and period competition history, to boot. Eligible for almost any historic event, be it on or off the track, it’s estimated to fetch a strong £4.5m-5.5m.
Pristine ponies
Ferraris – particularly those with outrageously low mileage – appear to be the flavour of the auction, in fact. Hot on the TdF’s heels is a genuine 1973 Daytona Spider (est. £2m-2.4m), boasting not just a scant 3,800 miles on the clock and Classiche certification, but also a truly elegant colour combination: Marrone Colorado over Beige Scuro. Then there’s the ‘as new’ right-hand-drive 328 GTS, which has covered a scarcely believable 556 miles (sacrilege?) and is estimated at an almost-as-startling £170,000-200,000. A desirable (and rare) manual 612 Scaglietti (£80,000-100,000) and a one-owner F40 (£780,000-900,000) are also of note.
Seldom-seen classics
Two less familiar Italian classics, but both with sought-after Mille Miglia eligibility, caught our eye: the charming Ghia-bodied 1953 Cisitalia 505 DF (£130,000-150,000) and the 1955 Moretti 750 Sport Barchetta (£175,000-225,000).
Judging by the photo, the matching-numbers Lancia Stratos HF Stradale (£270,000-320,000) looks to be a riot to drive, while those after an eligible historic racer with fantastic provenance should look at the rare MGA Twin Cam (£120,000-160,000).
Fame fascination
If celebrity provenance is something you look out for, how about the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I Drophead Coupé offered by the famous James Bond set designer Sir Ken Adam (£175,000-200,000), or the quite exquisite and highly original Maserati Mistral Spyder, formerly owned by the ‘English Marilyn Monroe’, Diana Dors (£475,000-575,000)?
Black and gold
Which car would we most like to drive home (through Central London, naturally)? It simply has to be the black Bizzarrini GT 5300 Strada, estimated at £495,000-700,000. It might not have its original engine, but its history is well documented and, well, just look at it…
Photos courtesy of RM Sotheby's
You can find the full catalogue for the RM Sotheby’s London Sale, to be held on 7 September at Battersea Evolution, listed in the Classic Driver Market.
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