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On
November 18th 2004, at the Copacabana Fort in Rio
de Janeiro, was the world premiere of the Pirelli
2005 Calendar, the most exclusive world event for
beauty lovers, fashion followers and photography
connoisseurs.
Shot
by world-renowned French photographer Patrick Demarchelier,
the 2005 Pirelli Calendar chose the spectacular
setting of Rio de Janeiro, the metropolis that,
as Naomi Campbell says (appearing for the third
time in the "The Cal") "reflects
the Brazilian people's energetic and positive spirit"
Demarchelier
has grasped and assimilated the spirit of Brazil:
'O espirito do Brazil' is in fact the title chosen
for the backstage film and of Rio de Janeiro, a
city dominated by strong contrasts, required a masterly
use of light to express strong contrasts and obtain
striking portraits, black and white only. |
17 year
old supermodels get loose in Rio de Jenerio for Pirelli. |
The
result is a truly unique version of the Pirelli Calendar,
made up for the first time of 22 pages. The Calendar closes
with a lively collage of shots "stolen" by the
great photographer in a famous Rio discotheque, during
the party that concluded the shooting.
The
black and white photographs investigate the most mysterious
aspects of the models seeking out the invisible source
of their allure: alongside the already mentioned Naomi
Campbell (Victoria's Secret, America's Next Top Model)
are Filippa Hamilton and Isabeli Fontana (already chosen
by Bruce Weber for the 2003 edition), Adriana Lima (the
current featured model for Victoria's Secret and Maybeline
cosmetics), Diana Dondoe, Erin Wasson, Euguenia Volodina,
Julia Stegner, Liliane Ferrarezi, Marija Vujovic, Michelle
Buswell, "Valentina" and Valeria Bohm.
A
truly an international cast with three Brazilians, two
Americans, one Russian, one Montenegrin, one Romanian,
one Swede and one German, ranging in age from a just turned
17 to the legerndary naomi Campbell in her mid 30's. For
the inside story on the very sexy, and very nude calendar
go to Pirelli
2005.
SBK World Superbike Winter Tests –Valencia, Spain
Former
Champ Quickest Despite Fall, Calendar
Supermodels stuck in Rio
Corser on Suzuki Fastest at Pirelli SBK Winter Team Tests
Valencia, ES, 16-18 Nov, 2004: After
three days of glorious winter sunshine at the official
Pirelli tests at Valencia in Spain, Troy Corser (Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra), proved to be the fastest rider overall,
taking his 2003-spec Suzuki to a time of 1’36.0s.
He experienced a fall on his final outing on the big Suzuki,
when an inconsistent throttle response saw him lose the
front on the entrance to the first uphill, infield left-hand
corner. Uninjured, he nonetheless retired from track action,
as most of the field continued to set fast laps for the
final two hours, only being forced to quit by dazzle from
the low sun and rapidly dropping temperatures.
| TROY
CORSER HAPPY about his three days tests on Ianuzzo'
GSX-R 1000 bike 2003. ( the winning bike of the
AMA SBK and British SBK 2004 )
Although Troy tried his best, he was unable to get
into the 1:35 second bracket in the third and final
day of testing at Valencia today. The team had decided
to run until 1530 today, but Troy's second crash
called a halt to their plans fifteen minutes or
so before time. Troy was desperately close to his
target and ended with a lap of 1:36.00 - the fastest
time of the day and the tests. Troy's pair of crashes
were slow speed tip-offs and he was unhurt both
times. In the morning, he slid off in the middle
of the second turn and in the afternoon he fell
in the left-hander going on to the back straight.
Troy:"I
am very happy with this first test, because I feel
that we have all gelled together really well and
already I feel we are a team.
We
spent a lot of time today testing tyres and working
on the engine's mapping to try and cure a bit of
an over-run in the turns. We tries some different
ideas, but I guess we didn't fix it, because I crashed
twice! Both were low speed affairs and I wasn't
injured at all, but it gave the mechanics some work
to do!
Considering
this is my first time on a four cylinder bike since
'97, the tests have gone really well because already
I feel part of the bike. Now I'm looking forward
to the next test and staying ahead of the opposition. |
Troy bested Team Ducati Corse riders at the Valencia
test who were on their new 999F 2005 spec bikes.
While Troy was on the old spec 2004 Suzuki GSXR1000.
All the Suzuki teams including Alstare Suzuki will
be switching to the all new and even fsster 2005
model GSXR1000. It's looking like 2005 will be another
a great season of SBK racing. More
Overall
fastest times (3-day)
1 Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
1:36.00
2 Laconi (F-Ducati) 1:36.10;
3 Toseland (GB-Ducati) 1:36.9
4 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:37.2;
5 Gimbert (F-Yamaha) 1:37.2;
6 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:37.3;
7 Martin (Aus-Petronas) 1:37.3
8 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha) 1:37.5;
9 Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 1:39.00
10 Sanchini (I-Kawasaki) 1:39.30;
11 McCoy (Aus-Petronas) 1:39.60
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Ducati
Corse Team Tests Revised 2005 Bike
Ducati Fila rider and 2004 World Champion James Toseland
suffered the pain of his recently dislocated thumb for
two and a half days, cutting short his participation in
the final session to allow him time to get back for an
important meeting in London with Ducati Motor Holdings
president and CEO Federico Minoli. Regis Laconi, Toseland’s
team-mate in 2004, as he will be again in 2005, shared
the testing duties on the sole 2005 spec 999F05, the rest
of the pairing’s time being spent working on their
existing 2004 machines. The primary difference in the
2005 model is the new electronic components, including
a Marelli EFI engine management system, together with
new Öhlins front forks, and the retention of the
electric starter, as fitted on the original streetbike.
Toseland,
who was lapping in some difficulty due to a dislocated
right thumb following a recent accident on an enduro bike,
was third quickest behind pace-setter Troy Corser (Suzuki)
and Laconi. “It feels good to be back on the bike
again,” declared Toseland, “and Valencia is
a good place to go testing. I cracked a bone in my right
thumb last week so I’ve been in a bit of discomfort
these days, but these things happen and it won’t
be an issue in the future. Even though I only had one
full day on the 2005-spec bike, the changes make it feel
quite different. The front forks are one of the biggest
improvements and the electronics are also a step in the
right direction so now I’m looking forward to a
full test at Jerez.”
After
getting to within one-tenth of a second of Corser’s
best time this afternoon, Laconi also expressed his satisfaction
with the progress that had been made by Ducati during
the tests. “I gave my best these three days and
we really did a lot of work,” commented Regis. “We’re
already faster with this bike than the 2004 version and
everybody is working hard to make it even faster. With
the new Öhlins front forks the feeling is already
very good, and Pirelli brought along a new front tyre
for everyone, which was a big help as it was exactly what
I wanted. I wasn’t surprised to see Corser up at
the front but I wanted to get as close as possible to
him by the end of the tests.”
Ducati
Corse’s next World Superbike testing session will
be at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain on December 16-17.
Injuries
Slow Ten Kate Honda
Ten Kate Honda, down to one man after the withdrawal of
Chris Vermeulen on day one, due to the power-sapping effects
of recent wrist surgery, saw Karl Muggeridge complete
his three-day stint on the CBR1000RR. A new inductee into
World Superbike, after winning the World Supersport crown
in 2004, Muggeridge himself suffered a huge crash on the
second day, but soldiered on despite right wrist ligament
damage, securing his quickest time of 1:37.2 on the final
day.
Yamaha
R1 Meets Andrew Pitt and Its 2005 Peers
The Yamaha Motor Italia world superbike team completed
three days and 865km of testing at the Valencia circuit
with Australian rider Andrew Pitt declaring himself satisfied
with the YZF-R1’s debut outing. Pitt was another
rideer flying solo for the time being, and was testing
a hastily assembled R1 racebike with Nissin brakes for
a period, and getting used to his new for 2005 machine.
The
2001 Supersport champion made improvements every day.
Pitt completed a total of 215 laps on the YZF-R1 in the
team’s shakedown test ahead of next season’s
Superbike World Championship campaign. Despite running
a hybrid machine with many stock parts, the team recorded
competitive lap times and gained a great deal of data
as they prepare to return to Italy for further development
work.
For
Pitt the test was a chance to familiarize himself with
the R1 and the Pirelli tyres used in the championship.
His best lap of the test was a 1’36.9, which compared
favourably to the fastest time of the test – a 1’36.0
recorded by Suzuki’s Troy Corser.
Andrew
Pitt - “This has been a really productive test and
a good first outing. We’ve barely stopped over the
last three days but the team is very motivated and very
professional. I’m feeling good because we’ve
been able to get through so much work. Considering the
bike is only in its early stages of development, it shows
great potential and today we were able to drop from a
best lap of 1’38.5 on Wednesday to a 1’36.9.”
The Yamaha Motor France team, testing race kit parts for
the 2005 Yamaha customers, saw Sebastien Gimbert post
a pleasing 1:37.2.
Kawasaki
Keen To Continue
Chris Walker and Mauro Sanchini (Kawasaki PSG-1) tested
Bitubo suspension on theirall new for 2005 Corona Suzuki
GSXR1000 machines at one stage, with Walker returning
to Öhlins units on the final day. He set a personal
best of 1:39.0 with Sanchini in the 1:39.3 range.
Three
Day Labour for Petronas
New 2005 signings Garry McCoy and Steve Martin worked
hard to get used to their new and unique Petronas FP-1
machines, with McCoy crashing on both day one and day
three. His latest tumble left him with a suspected broken
ankle, but as yet tests have been inconclusive. Martin’s
usual measured approach delivered him a best time of 1:37.3,
McCoy’s lack of laps limiting him to a 1:39.6.
Caracchi
Duo Prove to be Dynamic
Lorenzo Lanzi had a satisfying three days on the Scuderia
Ducati 2004 spec 999RS setting a best of 1:37.3, while
new WSS signing Gianluca Nannelli secured a 1:39.9 on
the 749R.
Supersport
Speed
Other teams in attendance included the new Ten Kate Supersport
pairing of Sebastien Charpentier and Katsuaki Fujiwara,
who went close to the best ever times at Valencia, despite
a track which appeared to get more slippery as the day
went on. Each rider set a fastest lap of 1:38.0.
Notes
from Pirelli, SBK Championship SpecTire Supplier
The Pirelli Winter Test, carried out in Valencia from
the 16th up to the 18th November, has finished this evening.
The developing work made on the basis of the 2004 Championship
experience has leaded to new solutions which have well
performed during these test days and which have met a
positive feed back from the Teams.
Giorgio
Barbier (Pirelli Racing Manager):“In Superbike,
the work on the new solutions has brought to the convergence
of several Teams to specifics recently developed with
innovative structural concepts.
It is interesting to highlight the Suzuki debut: Troy
Corser has registered in each of the three testing days
the best results. It has shown how easily the bike, for
the first time with Pirelli, has adapted itself to the
tyres. Concerning the Ducati 2004 version, the riders
have found important improvements, mostly on the front
tyres.
The
most part of the other bikes, 2005 prototypes, was at
their first laps on the track or, for instance talking
about Petronas, there has been a riders’ exchange.
Therefore the Teams have preferred to concentrate more
in getting the first feedback related to bikes set up”.“We’re
satisfied of the results achieved In Supersport with the
new Ten Kate Honda pilots, Fujiwara and Charpentier. In
general the riders have experienced a good feeling and
got improving result using the new material, thanks to
the innovations in terms of compounds”Given the
evident confluence on some new solutions, the next develop
step is to try this material during the incoming month:
on different racetrack, with different Teams and in different
testing and temperature conditions.
