Movie Review: Experience the "Rush"

Words by June

The legendary rivalry between two great F1 racers is brought to the silver screen; juxtaposing handsome English playboy James Hunt and a brusque and almost eccentric Austrian Nikki Lauda in their race to claim the much coveted World Championship title. 

In terms of casting, we were pretty impressed with the selection. Chris Hemsworth proves his acting chops with a rather impeccable British accent, complete with mega-watt smile and swagger not unlike the real McCoy. On the other hand, it was remarkable to see Daniel Bruhl bring to life Lauda in his younger days, a mostly hard-headed and no-nonsense character that we love to hate and hate to love. 

The movie also deserves credits for the resemblance between the actors and the ones they incarnate. As seen below, while the real James Hunt and Chris Hemsworth catch the eye with their resemblance, Nikki Lauda and Daniel Bruhl could almost be mistaken for brothers.

Photo: www.historyvshollywood.com  

Action was as fast-paced as the races they featured, as the film traces back Hunt and Lauda’s roots back to the 70's, beginning from their first explosive meeting at a Formula Three Race at the Crystal Palace circuit, to the final showdown at the ‘96 Japanese Grand Prix. 

The two cannot be more different as water and oil; Hunt the wild cannon that leaves everything up to chance that at one point left him near bankruptcy due to lack of sponsorship, had it not been for McLaren. Lauda had not had it easy as well, as he turned his back on a wealthy family empire for the track, and had to meticulously plan his break into the F1 car scene and personally plan each race. It was interesting to see parallels drawn between the Lauda and Hunt at various points in their lives, much like their fierce competition that begrudgingly lead to a mutual respect towards each other. 

F1 aficiandos would be delighted to spot some legendary rides such as the blue 6 wheeled Tyrrell P34 driven by Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler, the McLaren M23s, and Ferrari 312T2s, and have a sight at how the pits were run back when F1 was still in its grassroots days.

Director Ron Howard worked his magic, seamlessly fusing shots of technical aspects of the cars in motion with refreshing new camera angles, which not only contributed to the story in an artistic way, but were also greatly enjoyable sights for us motorheads. 

If you have watched the biographic documentary of Senna like we have, you might feel that this film was a little romanticized. But then again, this is Hollywood. Although half of the air-time was emotive, the other half that was autobiographical was done justice such as paying homage to Lauda’s technical ingenuity, and Hunt's love for party and women.

While the most hardcore of us will still prefer a fact-based gathering of historical media movie like Senna, Rush is a beautiful interpretation of what F1 used to be, and of the life, rivalry and friendship of the two legendary drivers. Rush is, in our opinion, a must see for all gearheads.

Photo: http://www.telegraph.co.uk 

Paint it Black!

Words by Ben - Snaps by Ben

There's always a point in a motorhead's life when it's time to get new wheels for your car. Usually this happens soon after (or even before) getting your ride, after a change of taste or wheel fashion, or after the wheel suffer a bad fate after an accident of some sort. In my case, it's an incident which resulted in one of my back rim getting busted that got me to start hunting for kicks again. 

While searching, my mechanic lent me a set of Volk Racing CE28N, and the mismatched style started growing on me. Since I couldn't find another set of K-Speed K391, and I still couldn't afford my dream SSR Professor SP1R, I decided to change the rear wheels to TE37r, for a subtle mismatched look. After all, aside from having 6 spokes instead of 5 spokes, the design was rather similar and would be prefect for the looks I wanted to achieve. 

The only issue - they were black, while my K-Speed were gunmetal grey. I figured that would not be a problem as I would quickly fix it with some sanding paper, a couple of spray cans, and some elbow grease, like I did a few months back when I resprayed my autocross/track rims to blue, as you might have spotted in the Spark Motorsports Gymkhana post. 

So I got the rims, the sandpaper and found some spray cans that, I hoped, would do the job just right. After burning quite a bit of elbow grease preparing the first rim, I couldn't resist to go ahead and spray... And the result was horrifying. So much for gunmetal grey, or even deep grey, I ended up with a flat, dull grey. 

The more I looked at it, the more I hated that grey. 

The sad part was that when I asked for a rims spray shop for help, they told me that the paint I used was too soft for them to spray over, and that sanding everything off would not be possible. Not possible is not in my books, and I went ahead to find another solution, which I found when a friend recommended me to Plasti Dip. 

For those of you who are not yet familiar with the miracle solution, here's a quick intro: it's not paint, it's rubber. In the main lines, you'll be spraying coloured rubber, which sticks to virtually anything, and can be pulled off whenever you want. Key words: sticks to anything. Just what I needed! 

Of course, there are always a few catches to miracles: It only comes in matte finish (but there are additional sprays to add shiny textures, and it can be peeled off. The matte finish wasn't a problem as I made up my mind to spray the wheels black, but the peeling off part was my worry - as I wanted to keep the chrome lip on the rims (I'm not fond of full black rims), I would have to mask the lip, but I was afraid that removing the masking would pull the paint off the whole rim. After a bit of research and some good advice from Singapore's Plasti Dip dealer, the plan was set, and I proceeded as follows - 

I started by thoroughly cleaning the wheel... 

I then masked off the lip, the tyre, the lug nuts and the air valve. Masking off the tyre is not necessary as you can peel off the paint once you're done, but I just like masking off stuff, so I went ahead. As I was spraying with the wheel mounted on the car, I also masked off the brakes behind the rim. 

This done, I sprayed the first, thin layer over the whole rim, all the way to the masked area. The aim of this was to give a rough, sticky base for the other layers to grip on. 

I let the base dry for 10 minutes and added more layers of black, but only on the spokes. I avoided spraying on the masked-off area, and applied three coats, leaving 10 minutes to dry between each layer. 

For the final layer I sprayed a generous, thick layer over the whole rim, especially around the lip. As soon as I was done spraying, I quickly pulled the mask on the lip, lug nuts and air valve. I removed the newspaper on the brakes from behind the wheel to avoid any risk of messing up the job and let it cure for 4 hours. 

The paint was not pulled off along with the masking, and the result was just perfect, to my eyes.

I need to do a proper photoshoot!

Dapper Bikes - Distinguished Gentleman's Ride 2013

Words by Myloh - Snaps by Ben 

Suits, Bikes and Singapore. See the link? Neither did I, at first. That is until one steps foot into this haven of American air cooled twins, British triples, Italian open dry clutches and not forgetting the array of Japanese idiosyncrasies about.

Held on the 29th of September, this madness is the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride. Established in 2012, it is a fast growing global movement that raises money and awareness for charities for prostate cancer research, but most of it is really the celebration of dapperness even sharper looking bikes. 

For 2013, the Singapore leg of the ride started at Motorwerks' new premise in Ubi industrial estate. 

Despite the broiling heat and relatively remote locale of the starting point, this year saw the arrival of more than 200 rides of various shapes and sizes. 

Ranging from grim hogs to the petite Vespas (some of them we spotted in Mama Mia Vespas!), this was a veritable smorgasbord of rides and people. 

The event was made alive with special highlights such as the Slo-mo Drag Race, where contestants competed to be the slowest on two wheels (not an easy task for even seasoned pros). 

Another highlight was, of course, the most dapperly dressed awards. 

Alongside were the many motoring souls who gathered for friendly exchanges in what feels like the largest gathering of the biggest extended family ever, whose common love for two wheels are the bonds that bind.

Once all riders had gathered and the contests were over, the real highlight of the day started - a grouped ride across Singapore. The hundreds of bikers straddled their beloved two-wheeled steeds and swarmed the roads to enjoy a smooth ride under the sun. 

The extended ride saw the motorcycling community represented not only by the variety, but the awesome camaraderie of the riders in this unofficial "brotherhood". 

Each traffic light was an opportunity to laugh and chat among friends, and all riders were rolling about with a smile on their faces, glad to share their passion with like-minded individuals. The fun was also shared with other motorists and passerbys who stopped and watched, amazed, as the mass of bikers rode about. 

That I think sums up the spirit that holds the group, gets it and keeps it growing. 

Till next year then! 

 The event was so massive and fun that we had to give you more sights - enjoy!