SuperMoto : la finale en Autriche / 2015’s last showdown in Austria

La septième et dernière épreuve du Championnat du monde FIM SuperMoto va se tenir ce week-end en Autriche où nous connaitrons le nom du nouveau champion du monde.

Le Championnat du monde FIM SuperMoto reprend ses droits en Europe pour l’ultime épreuve de la saison à l’issue d’une trêve estivale de plus d’un mois.

Après la Colombie, les pilotes ont rendez-vous en Autriche sur le circuit de Melk à 90 km de la capitale Autrichienne, Vienne.

Avec 13 points d’avance sur son premier adversaire, Thomas Chareyre (TM – Michelin) pourrait coiffer sa quatrième couronne mondiale, la seconde consécutive. Le pilote Français ne prendra aucun risque qui pourrait compromettre son sacre.

Deuxième, Ivan Lazzarini (L30 Racing - Honda) tentera le tout pour le tour et visera une première victoire pour espérer monter sur la plus haute marche du podium final.

Troisième, Pavel Kejmar (Husqvarna) a signé le doublé en Colombie lors de la précédente épreuve. En pleine confiance, le Tchèque visera à nouveau la victoire pour s’assurer une place sur le podium du championnat du monde.

Avec seulement cinq points de retard sur Kejmar,Lukas Hoellbacher (Husqvarna) qui évoluera à domicile devant ses supporters, tentera lui aussi de se faire une place sur le podium.

Auteur de six victoires en huit courses, Mauno Hermunen (SHR – TM) est toujours convalescent suite à une suite à l’entrainement en motocross où il s’est fracturé une vertèbre lombaire. Le Finlandais ne participera pas à ce dernier rendez-vous.

The seventh and last round of the 2015 FIM SuperMoto World Championship in Austria this weekend will decide this year’s world champion.

The FIM SuperMoto World Championship returns to Europe this weekend for the season’s final clash after a summer break of more than one month.

After traveling to Colombia, the riders are gathering in Melk, 90km from the Austrian capital, Vienna.

Thomas Chareyre enjoys a lead of 13 points and could well claim his second straight crown. The Frenchman is consequently unlikely to take any risks which might compromise his chances.

Meanwhile, second-placed Ivan Lazzarini will give everything he can to win outright and perhaps topple Chareyre from the top of the standings.

Pavel Kejmar (3e, Husqvarna) won both clashes in Colombia and should be feeling quite confident. He, too, will be hunting for more success in order to finish amongst 2015’s medallists.

Only five points behind, however, is Lukas Hoellbacher (Husqvarna) who will enjoy the backing of home fans in his bid for podium honours.

Finland’s Mauno Hermunen (SHR-TM), winner of six races from eight starts, is still recovering from the back injury he sustained during motocross practice and will be absent from the Austrian meeting.

Programme :     

Dimanche 20 septembre :

11H00 : warm-up        
13H30 : course 1 
16H30 : Course 2

Sykes signe sa 29e Tissot-Superpole et un nouveau record à Jerez / Sykes will start tomorrow’s two races from Pole Position

Le Britannique partira devant son coéquipier Jonathan Rea et Niccolò Canepa pour les deux courses de dimanche.

Auteur du meilleur temps vendredi à Jerez lors de la première journée de la onzième des treize manches de la saison 2015, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) a tout aussi bien réussi son samedi et s’est emparé de la Tissot-Superpole avec un chrono de 1’40.292, soit six millièmes de seconde de mieux que l’ancien record du circuit, qu’avait établi son ancien coéquipier Loris Baz en 2014. Il s’agit de sa 29e pole position en WorldSBK et de sa cinquième cette année, soit autant que la saison dernière. 

Seulement neuvième du classement combiné à l’issue des trois premières séances d’essais, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), qui sera sacré ce week-end à Jerez s’il parvient à marquer six points, s’est quant à lui relancé pour aller chercher une place en première ligne et a fini à deux dixièmes de seconde de son coéquipier. 

Niccolò Canepa (Althea Racing) a lui aussi su hausser le niveau en qualifications et complètera la première ligne de la grille des deux courses de dimanche en ayant terminé à quelques millièmes de seconde du leader du Championnat. 

Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) a lui aussi réalisé une excellente opération puisque le Champion du Monde Supersport 2014 avait commencé l’après-midi en Superpole 1 et en avait signé le meilleur temps avant de se classer quatrième en Superpole 2. 

Le Néerlandais sera donc en tête de la deuxième ligne, qu’il partagera avec Jordi Torres (Aprilai Racing Team-Red Devils) et Chaz Daviez (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team). 

Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team), Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing) et Álex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) se retrouveront en troisième ligne après avoir fini la Superpole 2 devant Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team-Red Devils) et David Salom (Team Pedercini), qui avait chuté en Superpole 1 juste après s’en être assuré le deuxième temps. 

Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) et Christophe Ponsson (Team Pedercini) partiront quant à eux quinzième et dix-huitième.

Les courses auront lieu dimanche à 10h30 et 13h10.

Record breaking Tissot-Superpole sets the grid for tomorrow.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) has claimed the Pirelli Spanish round Pole Position, his 29^th career Pole after a nail biting Tissot-Superpole at the 4.423km Jerez circuit this afternoon after lapping in an outright circuit best of 1.40.292s. His time was 0.006s better than Loris Baz’s time of 12 months ago.

The top ten riders after FP3 were joined for Superpole 2 by Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda) and David Salom (Team Pedercini) who ensured their place in the final top 12 shoot-out thanks to their lap times of 1.41.432s and 1.41.632s respectively. There was despair for the Team Pedercini crew as seconds after confirming his SP2 place the Spaniard slid out of contention at turn 1. He was unhurt.

Superpole 2 lived up to the post FP3 expectation with the top 7 covered by 0.893s after 15 minutes saw the front row change throughout.

Joining Sykes on row 1 tomorrow are championship leader and team mate Jonathan Rea and Niccolo Canepa (Althea Racing). The trio split by 0.216s.

Row two comprises van der Mark who posted a series of impressive laps to grab 4^th, narrowly missing out on his first ever front row start. He will be joined by Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team).

Replacement rider at the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team Michele Pirro qualified 7^th ahead of Althea Racing rider Matteo Baiocco and Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s Alex Lowes who completes row 3.

Row 4 will see Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) and Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) ahead of David Salom who after falling in SP1 was unable to take to the track for the final 15 minutes.

13^th to 15^th on the grid tomorrow and therefore making up row 5 will be Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing) and Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki).

Tomorrow’s two 20 lap races are scheduled to start at 1030 and 1310 local time respectively.

Triumph Bonneville – Macco Motors

Spain’s Macco Motors are building a large following with their clean and classic builds of everything from Harley V-Twins to little European 2 Stroke smokeys. But it is there Triumph Bonneville builds that are gaining fans from all corners of the globe and it was this that brought to them Jarlath, a customer from Belfast in Northern Ireland who’d seen the Macco Bonneville’s and had to have one of his own. Who could blame him, Macco Motors build many of the parts themselves, they do everything in-house and all of their builds are first class. Road racing is arguably the national sport in Northern Ireland but with its iffy weather Jarlath wanted a machine that was more than capable in all conditions; Macco delivered exactly that and more, a 2010 Triumph Bonneville delivered across the Irish sea sporting the most fitting of names, “Pilgrim”.

While Jarlath was obviously more than keen on the look that Macco Motors create with their Triumph builds he was after a more “Rock n Roll” style for the paint on the gas tank and the boys were more than willing to oblige. Inspired by the Yamaha graphics schemes of old the decision was made to go with a raw metal finish with black paint work. The matte black is used to shadow the revealed Triumph logo with the Macco Motors graphic featured just below and a racing stripe over the top. The rear subframe has been modified allowing for the fitment of the beautiful dark leather seat by Macco with the rear hoop following its profile for a factory like fit.

The last of the tins are courtesy of fenders made by the boys from fibreglass, the factory items are ditched and the front fender is a bobbed style item finished in matte black that utilise the factory mounts. Out back the one-off fender also features the matte black used throughout the build but is mounted to the new subframe and while only just protruding at the rear is carried all the way forward like a standard item for maximum engine protection. Mounted to the rear fender is an old school tail light with plate holder and new indicators are mounted just behind the shock mounts. Out front a Bates style headlight in a smaller diameter replaces the stock unit for a more focused look and keeping the police happy are front indicators that are fork mounted.

Powering Pilgrim around the streets of Belfast is the classic 865cc parallel Triumph twin with its effortless torque across the rev range providing the perfect performance for an all-purpose machine. To extract some extra power and give one hell of an exhaust note the thumping twin is fitted with tuneable SuperTrapp mufflers in stainless steel with the pipes completely heat wrapped. Allowing the inlet side to breathe the crisp Irish air is Macco’s own custom side covers made from fibreglass that feature mesh covered vents. Popular Triumph mods of late that are utilised on all Macco builds are carried over to Jarlath’s bike with the relocation of the regulator rectifier and ignition. Final drive is improved with new sprockets, the front exposed with an LSL cover and a new uprated chain.

The chassis and suspension on the modern Bonneville while based very much on the layout of the classic machine performs exceptionally well from the factory. Twin rear shocks, conventional telescopic forks and a steel frame offer consistent turn in and great road holding but everything can be improved upon and Macco did just that. The front 41mm forks have been upgraded with progressive rate springs from Hagon that increase feel and reduce dive under braking. Out back the classic twin shock system remains in place but with the addition of the industry leading Ohlins fully adjustable shocks with progressive springs that feature height adjustment. For absolute versatility the finally road holding feature comes from the fitment of Metzeler Tourance tyres with a meaty 140 section out back.

Jarlath muscles the Triumph around the streets of Belfast with his hands on a set of Biltwell grips that are fitted to the tracker style Biltwell bars that are a common feature on Macco Motors builds. Allowing for more aggressive riding and two finger braking and clutch operation are a set of Racing Style levers that also have built-in adjustability. Cleaning up the front end even further Macco ditched the standard instruments and fitted a small Motogadget speedo that works in conjunction with the ingenious m-TRI signal adapter that takes control of all information on lights, indicators, speed, water temp and a whole host of idiot lights and sends the signals to the digital speedo.

Macco Motors love to build any bike they can get their hands on and enjoy the challenge of tackling a project from a brand they’ve never worked on before. But so long as they keep churning out picture perfect Bonneville’s they can expect more international calls placing orders no matter the wait and that is one of the highest compliments any builder can receive.

[Photos by Sergio Ibarra from Semimate] via PIPEBURN

KAWASAKI FETE LE RETOUR DU BOL D’OR SUR LE CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD/ KAWASAKI CELEBRATES BOL D’OR’S RETURN TO THE PAUL RICARD CIRCUIT

A l’issue d’essais qualificatifs très serrés le SRC Kawasaki a devancé les Yamaha du YART et du GMT 94. La première Honda a réalisé le quatrième chrono, devant la Suzuki du SERT, leader du championnat du monde FIM EWC.

Sous le soleil provençal, SRC Kawasaki a fêté le retour de l’épreuve mythique d’Endurance moto sur le circuit Paul Ricard au Castellet en réalisant la pole position en 1’58’’278. Son manager varois, Gilles Stafler, s’est montré doublement satisfait de ce résultat et du retour du Bol d’Or dans le sud après quinze ans passés à Magny-Cours : « J’ai à cœur de gagner cette épreuve pour rattraper une saison malchanceuse. Moi qui vis à 70 km d’ici (au Cannet-des-Maures), je suis content de retrouver ce circuit et surtout le soleil ! ». Un de ses pilotes, Grégory Leblanc, résumait parfaitement leur objectif : « On va essayer de gagner, nous n’avons rien à perdre au championnat. Nous avons trouvé un bon réglage ce matin. Il faudra compter sur nous, nous allons essayer de mener la course jusqu’au bout ».

Pour cette dernière manche du FIM EWC, le Team SRC Kawasaki (Fabien Foret – Matthieu Lagrive – Grégory Leblanc) a devancé l’équipe Monster Energy Yamaha – YART (Max Neukirchner – Broc Parkes – Sheridan Morais) en 1’58’’490 (moyenne des trois pilotes) et le GMT 94 Yamaha (Kenny Foray – David Checa – Mathieu Gines) en 1’58’’887.

« C’est une émotion immense de revenir ici, » a déclaré Christophe Guyot, manager du GMT 94. « Je remercie Magny-Cours de nous avoir accueillis toutes ces années, mais je suis très heureux de ce retour dans le Var, qui est une vraie terre de motards ».

Duel SERT – GMT 94 pour le titre mondial

La victoire est espérée chez le GMT 94 Yamaha à l’issue du duel attendu pour le titre mondial avec le leader du championnat, la Suzuki du SERT (Vincent Philippe-Anthony Delhalle-Etienne Masson) qui s’est classée cinquième sur la grille dans un chrono de 1’59’’551.

Juste derrière l’équipe de Dominique Méliand, BMW Motorrad France Team Penz13. com s’est fait remarquer par le meilleur chrono de la journée réalisé par Markus Reiterberger en 1’57’’253 avec une vitesse dans la ligne droite du Mistral proche de 340 km/h.

En catégorie Stocksport, une autre BMW, du team Völpker NRT 48 & Penz 13, se classe première de sa catégorie et septième au scratch, juste devant la Suzuki du Junior Team LMS, en tête de la Coupe du monde d’Endurance.

Le 79^e Bol d’Or s’annonce donc très disputé sous le soleil et devant des milliers de fans, que ce soit pour la victoire finale comme pour les titres de champion du monde et de vainqueur de la coupe du monde d’Endurance.

Le départ sera donné ce samedi à 15 heures.

The SRC Kawasaki bike finished the closely fought qualifying sessions ahead of the YART and GMT 94 Yamahas. The first Honda came in fourth, ahead of current FIM EWC world championship leader SERT’s Suzuki.

Under the sunny skies of Provence, SRC Kawasaki celebrated the return of the legendary motorcycle endurance race to the Paul Ricard circuit at Castellet by taking pole position with a lap time of 1’58’’278. As a native of the Var, team manager Gilles Stafler was satisfied with both the outcome and the Bol d’Or’s return to the south of France after 15 years on the Magny-Cours circuit. “I’m determined to win this race to make up for an unlucky season. And since I live 70 km from here (in Cannet-des-Maures), I’m happy to find myself back on this circuit and, most of all, back in the sunshine!” One of his riders, Grégory Leblanc, summed up the team’s objective perfectly. “We’ll be trying for a win – we’ve got nothing to lose as far as the championship goes. We found a good set-up this morning. Watch out for us: we’re going to try and lead the race right to the end.”

For this final round of the FIM EWC, Team SRC Kawasaki (Fabien Foret, Matthieu Lagrive and Grégory Leblanc) got ahead of the Monster Energy Yamaha–YART squad (Max Neukirchner, Broc Parkes and Sheridan Morais), lapping 1’58’’490 (the average lap time of all three riders) and the GMT 94 Yamaha team (Kenny Foray, David Checa and Mathieu Gines), who clocked 1’58’’887.

“It’s a very emotional feeling, being back here,” said Christophe Guyot, the GMT 94 manager. “I’d like to thank Magny-Cours for hosting the event all these years, but I’m very happy to be back in the Var, which is real motorcycling territory.”

The SERT–GMT 94 duel for the world title

GMT 94 Yamaha is hoping to win its much-awaited duel for the world title with current championship leader SERT, on Suzuki (Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle and Etienne Masson), which will start fifth on the grid after clocking a best time of 1’59’’551.

Right behind Dominique Méliand’s team, BMW Motorrad France Team Penz13. com made an impact with the fastest lap of the day: Markus Reiterberger clocked 1’57’’253, powering down the Mistral straight at a speed of nearly 340 kph.

In the Stocksport class, another BMW – ridden by the Völpker NRT 48 & Penz 13 team – was first in its category and in seventh place on the grid, just ahead of the Junior Team LMS Suzuki currently heading the Endurance world cup.

So the 79th Bol d’Or is set to be a hotly fought battle under sunny skies, with thousands of fans expected to turn out to cheer the race winner as well as the world champion and Endurance world cup winner.

The race starts at 3pm this Saturday.