Zarco face à une nouvelle opportunité au Motegi / Zarco ready to take title in Japan

Après un GP d’Aragón en demi-teinte, Johann Zarco aura de nouveau l’opportunité de décrocher le titre Moto2™ ce week-end au Motegi.

                

Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) aura cette semaine au Grand Prix Motul du Japon sa deuxième balle de match pour le Championnat du Monde Moto2™ 2015, qu’il mène avec 78 points d’avance après avoir fini sixième du GP d’Aragón, qu’avait remporté son principal concurrent, le Champion en titre Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS). Avec une telle avance et seulement trois courses après l’épreuve japonaise, Zarco sera donc automatiquement sacré Champion du Monde au Motegi s’il finit devant Rabat.

Le Français sera en plus de retour sur le circuit où il avait décroché sa toute première victoire en Grand Prix, en 2011, lorsqu’il courait en 125cc, et avait fini quatrième de la course Moto2™ l’an dernier, son meilleur résultat en catégorie intermédiaire sur le tracé japonais.

    

En pleine forme suite à sa victoire au MotorLand, Rabat sait qu’il aura beaucoup de mal à rattraper son retard sur Zarco mais continuera à viser la victoire à chaque course jusqu’à la fin de la saison pour finir en beauté avant de passer en MotoGP™ avec Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS l’an prochain.

À 100 points de Zarco, Àlex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) ne peut plus espérer rattraper le Français mais pourrait par contre s’emparer du titre de vice-Champion. Le rookie barcelonais n’est en effet qu’à 22 points de Rabat et sera en quête d’un bon résultat au Japon, où il n’est cependant jamais monté sur le podium.

Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) visera lui aussi les avant-postes après s’être offert le premier podium de sa saison 2015 à Misano. Seul Japonais de la grille Moto2™, Nakagami n’a jamais fait mieux que septième au Motegi, en 2012, mais s’était qualifié en sixième position l’an dernier. 

Souffrant de plusieurs blessures suite à son accrochage avec Xavier Siméon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) en Aragón, Dominique Aegerter (Technomag Racing Interwetten) a d’ores et déjà dû déclarer forfait pour l’épreuve japonaise, mettant fin à son record du seul pilote à avoir participé à toutes les courses Moto2™ depuis le lancement de la catégorie en 2010. Le Suisse sera remplacé par l’Australien Josh Hook, qui courait au Japon en Superbike cette année.

              

After a disappointing Aragon GP, Johann Zarco heads to the site of his first ever GP win with eyes fixed on the Moto2™ crown.

For the second time in 2015, Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) is presented with a chance to claim the 2015 Moto2™ World Championship as his own. A disappointing weekend in Aragon saw Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS’ Tito Rabat take a hard fought win and claw back vital championship points. For the Frenchman to claim the title he must leave Motegi with at least a 75-point advantage, the current gap standing at 78-points.

Zarco took his first ever GP win at the Japanese track back in 2011 and since moving up to the Moto2™ class has a best result of fourth, achieved in 2014.

Standing between Zarco and the title is Tito Rabat, riding a wave of confidence after a fantastic home win in Aragon and announcing a move up to the MotoGP™ World Championship in 2016 with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS squad. Twice the Spanish rider has stood on the Japanese podium, a third in both 2012 and 2014. The gap might be vast, but the fight for the title isn’t over yet and Rabat will continue to push to end his Moto2™ career with the best results possible.

It was not an easy win for Rabat in Aragon, impressive rookie Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) pushing him down to the wire as he recovered from a disastrous San Marino GP. Now 100 points down on Zarco, Rins’ chances of taking the title in his rookie season are gone, but the fight for second with Rabat is still on as just 22 points split the Spanish pair. Rins was one of just a few riders to test a version of the 2016 Kalex in Aragon, the upgrade appearing as a positive step forward.

               

Takaaki Nakagami is out hunting for his second podium of 2015, having claimed third in Misano. The Idemitsu Honda Team Asia rider has a best finish of seventh at Motegi in 2012 and as the lone Japanese rider in the intermediate class is out for a strong result.

The Moto2™ race in Aragon was red flagged due to a first lap crash involving both Dominique Aegerter (Technomag Racing Interwetten) and Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2). Simeon was able to remount and join the restarted race, but unfortunately Aegerter was taken to hospital for an extensive list of injures. While none of the Swiss rider’s injuries are serious or life threatening, he will be forced to miss the race in Japan which ends his run as the only rider to compete in every Moto2™ race since the class was introduced in 2010. Aegerter will be replaced by Australian Josh Hook who currently races in the Japanese Superbike series.

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THE KREIDSTLER PROJECT: DANNY SCHRAMM’S WILD KREIDLER

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In 1970s Europe, every teenager had a favorite set of wheels. In England, it was ‘sixteener specials,’ highly tuned mopeds like the Yamaha FS1-E. In France, Mobylettes were everywhere. And in Germany, three makers dominated: Zündapp, Hercules and Kreidler.

For young Danny Schramm and friends, the weapon of choice was a two-stroke Kreidler Florett. “You wore a denim vest, fitted large mirrors, and reamed out the exhaust,” he recalls. “With some ‘tuning’ you could be faster than the villain from the neighboring village, if he was causing trouble with your Dorfschönheiten [village beauties].”

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Those days are long past. Danny is now a highly respected custom builder on the German scene, and has his own company, SchrammWerk GmbH. But at a custom show in Abu Dhabi, chatting to some fellow builders during the after party, he found himself reminiscing about the past. He decided to resurrect his old 50cc freedom machine.

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The Kreidstler Project was born. It soon captured the attention of Danny’s friends and German industry heavyweights, who weighed in with advice and parts.

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Danny started chopping, and the next three months felt like “Christmas every day” as the parts arrived. Uwe Ehinger sourced a 1932 BSA girder fork, and TTS Motorcycles sent through a set of 23-inch ‘Big Spoke’ rims.

Not surprisingly, these did not fit the forks or swingarm, so the modifications continued.

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Danny believes in having the ‘go’ to match the show, so he hooked up with Sven Naber of NHPower for an engine overhaul and a new carburetor. One thing led to another and Naber soon got a request for an uprated clutch to handle the resulting tsunami of torque.

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The sinuous exhaust system—with six tiny outlets—was built by Mario at Chopper Kulture, who also supplied a tiny headlight with a beautiful teak wood veneer. The bars and pegs came from a Kuwait specialist, with other parts arriving from equally far-flung shores—including New Zealand.

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All that was left was to install a new tank, and tie the electrics together. Ingo Kruse is a legend in Germany for his show bike paintwork, and handled the spraying duties. Then Müller Motorcycle stepped in with a custom ECU to keep the new wiring loom humming.

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At the recent Hamburg Harley Days, the Kreidstler scored an incredible coup: it won the ‘Best In Show’ award. Yes, despite being surrounded by big-bore, big budget Milwaukee customs, the little moped stole the day.

Who says Germans don’t have a sense of humor?

SchrammWerk | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Best Bike Shots

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via BIKEexif