Citroën Racing winning the second ROSNEFT WTCC Race of China and put the French make’s second WTCC Manufacturers’ title

Course 1 : López remporte un premier round animé en Chine

José María López décroche son huitième succès de la saison dans le Championnat du Monde FIA des Voitures de Tourisme au terme d’une première manche menée de bout en bout lors de la ROSNEFT WTCC Race of China sur le Shanghai International Circuit.

Le héro local Ma Qing Hua était attendu pour se battre contre le champion du monde en titre, mais un mauvais envol le fit rétrograder dans la hiérarchie. Cette première séquence dans l’épreuve fut également marquée par des accrochages qui ont nécessité l’intervention de la voiture de sécurité pour dégager la Chevrolet de Tom Coronel.

Alors que López était ensuite en mesure de prendre le large, ses équipiers chez Citroën, Yvan Muller et Sébastien Loeb, se sont livrés une superbe lutte pour la deuxième place, qui s’est conclue en faveur du premier. Un podium cependant occupé à 100% par la marque française qui s’assure sa deuxième couronne consécutive au championnat Constructeurs.

Nicky Catsburg se classe 4e pour le compte de LADA Sport Rosneft après avoir mis la pression sur Loeb pendant le premier tiers de la course. Mehdi Bennani, 5e, remporte le Trophée Yokohama, tandis que Norbert Michelisz, qui s’était élancé en 15e position, délogea Nicolas Lapierre de la 6e dans le dernier tour.

Ma Qing Hua occupait  la 8e place avant qu’une tentative de dépassement sur Michelisz se solde par l’abandon du Chinois. Son malheur fait ainsi les affaires de Hugo Valente qui hérita de cette place après avoir pris le meilleur sur Tiago Monteiro et Grégoire Demoustier. Le Portugais parvint néanmoins à reprendre les devants alors que Demoustier abandonnait pour le compte, permettant à Stefano D’Aste de compléter le Top-10.

Rob Huff fut éliminé dans la collision du premier tour avec Gabriele Tarquini et  Tom Chilton l’a rejoint sur la liste des abandons à cause de soucis sur la lame avant de sa Chevrolet, endommagée dans un contact avec Monteiro. Déception, enfin, pour John Filippi, 7e et leader du Trophée Yokohama au départ, qui fut envoyé en tête à queue dans le premier tour et contraint de jeter l’éponge.

Course 2 : Muller conclut un week-end de rêve pour Citroën

Yvan Muller met un point final au week-end idyllique de Citroën dans le Championnat du Monde FIA des Voitures de Tourisme en remportant la deuxième manche de la ROSNEFT WTCC Race of China. Sous réserve de confirmation du résutat, le constructeur français remporte ainsi son deuxième sacre consécutif.

Gabriele Tarquini a mené huit tours au volant de sa Honda, mais ne fut pas en mesure de priver Muller de la première marche du podium dans la boucle suivante. L’Italien se console cependant en résistant à José María López qu’il devance sur la ligne de 0 »025. A quatre manches de la fin de saison, López compte désormais 75 points d’avance sur Muller.

Sébastien Loeb termine aux portes du tiercé de tête devant la LADA de Rob Huff, Tiago Monteiro et Mehdi Bennani, victorieux du Trophée Yokohama. Suivent ensuite le héro local Ma Qing Hua, Nicolas Lapierre et John Filippi. Norbert Michelisz et Grégoire Demoustier ferment ensuite le classement des pilotes qui ont rejoint l’arrivée.

Le poleman Hugo Valente a perdu la tête à l’extinction des feux, mais repris les devants face à Tarquini dans le premier virahe. Un contact entre les deux hommes vit le Français partir dans une longue glissade, endommageant la Chevrolet qui finit par partir en tête à queue. Nicky Catsburg dut également jeté l’éponge prématurément, tandis que les Tom du ROAL Motorsport, Chilton et Coronel, n’ont pu se présenter au départ.

Race 1: López wins action-packed WTCC opener in China

José María López has claimed his eighth victory in this year’s FIA World Touring Car Championship with a lights-to-flag win in the opening ROSNEFT WTCC Race of China at Shanghai International Circuit.

Local hero Ma Qing Hua had been expected to take the fight to the reigning world champion but a slow getaway dropped him out of contention as an incident-packed opening lap resulted in the safety car being deployed while Tom Coronel’s damaged Chevrolet was recovered.

While López was able to edge ahead out front, fellow Citroën drivers Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb became embroiled in a close fight for second with Muller prevailing in a podium lockout for the French firm, which has all but secured the WTCC Manufacturers’ title for the second time in a row.

Nicky Catsburg finished fourth for LADA Sport Rosneft having pressured Loeb for third after the restart. Mehdi Bennani took the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy honours in fifth with Norbert Michelisz, who started P15 on the grid in his Honda, grabbing sixth from Nicolas Lapierre on the final lap.

Ma Qing Hua was a dejected eighth until an attempted passing move on Michelisz ended with an off-track moment after which his Citroën faltered, forcing Ma out. The Chinese driver’s misfortune let in Hugo Valente (Chevrolet Cruze) for eighth after the Frenchman overtook Honda driver Tiago Monteiro and Grégoire Demoustier. However, Monteiro fought back to snatch the place with three laps remaining, while Demoustier pitted. Stefano D’Aste rounded out the top 10.

Rob Huff was eliminated in an opening-lap collision with Gabriele Tarquini. Tom Chilton also retired with damage to the front of his Chevrolet after contact with Monteiro. John Filippi’s career-best seventh on the grid ended in disappointment after he was punted into a spin on lap one and retired soon after.

Race 2: Muller completes dream China WTCC weekend for Citroën

Yvan Muller has completed a dream weekend for Citroën in the FIA World Touring Car Championship for Citroën by winning the second ROSNEFT WTCC Race of China and put the French make’s second WTCC Manufacturers’ title success beyond doubt subject to confirmation of the final results.

Honda’s Gabriele Tarquini had led for eight laps but was unable to prevent Muller from snatching top spot on the following tour. But the Italian gained some consolation by fending a determined José María López for second place with the Honda taking the place by 0.025s. It means López heads the standings over Muller by 75 points with four races remaining.

Sébastien Loeb took fourth with Rob Huff the top LADA home in fifth followed by Tiago Monteiro and Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy winner Mehdi Bennani. Local hero Ma Qing Hua was eighth, Nicolas Lapierre ninth and John Filippi P10. Norbert Michelisz and Grégoire Demoustier completed the finishers.

Pole-sitter Hugo Valente lost the lead at the start before squeezing ahead of Tarquini when the Italian ran wide at the first turn. However, contact between the pair put Valente sideways and although he recovered, damage to his Chevrolet in a subsequent collision caused him to spin before he limped back to the pits to retire. Nicky Catsburg also failed to go the distance. Toms Chilton and Coronel were unable to start due to damage picked up in race one.

Loris Baz signe avec Avintia Racing pour 2016

Le Français courra sur Ducati Desmosedici GP14.2 l’an prochain.

          

Le team Avintia Racing a trouvé un accord avec le Français Loris Baz pour que ce dernier pilote une Ducati Desmosedici GP14.2 l’an prochain dans le Championnat du Monde MotoGP™ 2016.

Le Français avait entamé sa carrière en Espagne, en participant à diverses compétitions régionales dont la Coupe Bancaja à Valence et avait ensuite remporté le Championnat d’Europe Superstock 600 en 2008. Il était ensuite passé au Superstock 1000 puis au British Superbike jusqu’à 2011, avant de rejoindre le Championnat du Monde Superbike, dans lequel il a remporté plusieurs victoires et avait fini cinquième du classement général en 2014.

Baz fait ses débuts en MotoGP cette année avec le team Forward Racing et est actuellement en tête du classement Open, devant Héctor Barberá, qui sera son coéquipier l’an prochain chez Avintia Racing.

Honda CB550 – Old Empire Motorcycles

The ever-useful Wikipedia notes that the ‘Ripon’, or ‘Blackburn T.5 Ripon’ to use its correct name, was a ‘British carrier-based torpedo bomber and reconnaissance biplane which first flew in 1926.’ Naming their creations after Britain’s rich aviation history has become quite the thing with Norfolk’s Old Empire Motorcycles, as has creating bloody amazing custom bikes, and drinking cups of tea. And rest assured, this one is no exception to the rule. You may know it as a Honda CB550, but they know it by another name…

Alec Sharp, one half of OEM’s dream team, fills us in on the details. “The Ripon build started when we were approached by a customer who had seen some of our previous work and decided that our take on a 4 cylinder café-brat was the order of the day. A large capacity engine was not needed and the opportunity came up to purchase a ’79 CB550 which was promptly stripped and the surgery began.”

In terms of fabrication, Alec notes that it was a complex build. The engine-mounted parts of the frame stayed pretty much stock, however the entire rear subsection was removed and spliced into a bespoke frame and cowling, inside of which they then integrated the necessary LED lights an wiring.

“We had to break out the set square and protractor set for the suspension, as we ended up removing the rear shocks entirely. It was decided that there was plenty of room under the engine for a pull-type shock, so we duly obtained a second-hand Buell unit, created a jig on the bench and began extending the frame. Various other modifications were made to the front end of the frame and the swingarm to accommodate the new shock and damper unit. After many trials and tweaks, we got it bang on and couldn’t be more chuffed with the overall classic, uncluttered look it now possesses.”

In the tinware department, the tank was shimmied forward and knee scallops were added to stay in keeping with the classic ‘Empire Style’ the boys have become renown for. The front cowling was hand rolled from sheet steel and tidily integrates the headlight with the clocks and ignition barrel.

“As always, we started with the running gear, as this can greatly affect or even define the rest of the build. The front and rear wheels were replaced with 19’’ aluminium rims and fully rebuilt with stainless spokes, vapour blasted hubs and wrapped with some classic Coker rubber.”

At the sharp end you’ll find a stock set of forks that have been fully rebuilt and lowered right down with a rework of the internals to house a custom set of super stiff shocks from Hagon, along with a heavy-weight fork oil. They also decided to upgrade the braking system by opting for a twin disc set up rather than the standard single. “A note of caution to others,” says Alec. “We thought it was a simple case of just bolting on another caliper and disc; it most definitely wasn’t.”

“Our own aluminium clip-ons were fabricated, vapour blasted and rebuilt alongside the control units and levers and then finished with our laser-cut leather grips. We wanted a ‘cockpit’ looking dash, so we opted for twin Koso units and remounted a simple ignition barrel between them. LED indicators were mounted discreetly front and back and tied into our one-off loom that featured all upgraded or renewed components tied into the new Shorai battery which sits in a tidy leather satchel along with the starter relay.”

The engine had previously had the barrels honed and new rings installed, so they went about upgrading the usual weakest links in the chain; namely new seals, gaskets, a rewound generator and electronic ignition. The old lump was then soda blasted, repainted, the cases were vapour blasted and the fins polished to get what seems to be a fantastic-looking little engine.

“The exhausts, although simple, took quite some time to figure out. Initially we wanted high-level pipes, but in reality it would be a choice between high pipes or calf muscles so we installed them low, tucked neatly along the sides. They are just long enough to make it run nicely but short enough to give it some real bark.”

They matched the leather grips at the front with their “universal adjustable leather foot controls” which were made as rear-sets and mounted on two curved struts that have been carefully integrated into the stock frame. Everything was then connected up with stainless linkages and rose joints.

“Eventually we replaced the standard Buell shock for a completely custom-made unit from AST suspension, which has fully adjustable dampening and preload settings – meaning we could fine-tune the ride perfectly.”

“Finishing-wise, we enlisted the help of our specialist painter Greg from Black Shuck Kustoms to work alongside side us in creating the look we wanted. Safe to say the deep, smokey blue with gold highlights isperfect in every way. Everything else was powder coated black, vapour blasted or plated to get things looking suitably distinguished.”

Four pipes, and a bespoke suspension setup. Jolly good

Leather seems to be quite an important finish to all the OEM builds, and clearly that trend continues here. They’ve tied the grips and pegs in nicely with the leather battery satchel and the diamond stitched brown leather seat. All reports from the nether regions of the lads confirm our suspicions – it’s comfy as.

“After assembly, we were a little apprehensive to see if the shock would work as we intended it to, but we are proud to say that it functions flawlessly. It’s such a satisfying thing to see working and it keeps the whole bike super clean at the back and really ‘chunks’ up the main body of the bike giving it a vastly more aggressive stance.”

Rafe takes the Ripon out for a quick afternoon torpedo run

And there we have it. Another great build by the proud boys from Norfolk. We’re scared to think just how many cups of tea were downed in the making of this beast. So if you like what you see, and you like tea, make sure and check out their YouTube channel. It’s not half bad. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put the kettle on.

[Photos by Vaughan Treyvellan]

via PIPEBURN

UNTITLED MOTORCYCLES UMC-032

London town can be a beautiful place. Soggy trips through a smog filled Blackwall tunnel may do their damnedest to numb you to its appeal but on a crisp weekend morning, before its streets are overcome with the cities vast throng of humanity, its cobbled roadways and eclectic architecture are quite the treasure to discover. These evocative images of the latest steed to roll out of the Untitled Motorcycles workshop have me pining for some early morning explorations before the sun surrenders its alarm clock for the winter. That little motorcycle in the middle of the pic doesn’t look like a half bad companion for such a jaunt either…

Untitled Motorcycles (and the Bike Shed) have come an awfully long way since they first featured on these pages in early 2012 with a work in progress, gaffa taped seat mock up. Back here in 2015 they have now moved from their first archway workshop in Camden to a new, larger home in the salubrious Swiss Cottage area. The new venue has the space for four bike ramps, one of which was the birthplace of this latest machine. Not content with their North London post code Untitled are now reaching across the globe and have developed a secondary unit in San Francisco from where the evidence of some exciting projects is trickling onto Facebook.

Back to this sun bathed London machine.

“Bruce Condor came to UMC after meeting one of our customers Jimmy on a black retro BMW scrambler at a café in Maida Vale and something inside him just clicked. Bruce felt he had to do something similar, he set about checking out BMW scramblers on Google images and found hundreds out there and they looked beautiful. Bruce could see himself blatting around town with an open face helmet, goatie beard, looking cool, but more importantly to him would be the pure joy of riding such a lovely retro custom and not being bothered what he looked like.”

“The brief was to make a rugged road bike that could take off road use in its stride. The sub-frame was shortened and a slight kick put in the rear hoop. New front and rear mudguards customized to fit the sub-frame and new fat tyres. The tank paint had to match a favourite T-shirt of Bruce’s and the key was moved to the rear left hand side of the sub-frame for the retro look that Bruce was after.”

That teal T-shirt of Bruce’s just so happens to be the hue of the season (apparently) and when not adorning interior design books and countless pinterest boards the colour is starting to find its way onto some mighty fine motorcycles from the likes of De Bolex and Wrench Monkees. The in vogue brown leather diamond stitched seat is present and correct to set off either muddy lanes or London brick stock depending on which habitat the Beemer finds itself being photographed in. Credit for the seat goes to Glenn Mogor. Black satin powder coat greeted the rest of the freshly  finished parts.

Bruce also wanted a new speedo in a period style, a new old stock BMW gauge was found which just so happened to perfectly compliment the gearbox ratios. Bruce is rightly delighted with his finished ride which turns the heads of passers by (the phone gazing coated lady excluded) wherever he goes.

Last words to Bruce. “I’m very glad I went to UMC as the team all shared my vision, had proven experience and the models on their website are even better in the metal. I couldn’t have met a nicer bunch of guys.”

via The Bike Shed