It was announced this weekend that Target Chip Ganassi racing will be supplied by Honda next season once engine competition is aloud. There was heavy speculation that perhaps given Ganassi’s efforts in NASCAR, he would switch to Chevrolet power next year. The announcement is huge for Honda and seems as yet another hit to Andretti Autosport who was thought to be Honda’s ‘anchor’ team in 2012. Ganassi has been supplied by Honda dating back to the team’s days in the ChampCar World Series. The manufacturer backed the team to four…
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INDYCAR – ORECA Aero Kit for 2012?
See what happens when you win the 12 Hours of Sebring? Ok, maybe that is not entirely true, but there is very strong speculation that ORECA will join the growing list of companies that will produce an aero kit for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series. The French company has already discussed the plan with INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard and remains very interested in producing the components. The kits if produced will of course be available to all of the teams for use on the new generation car. ORECA has been…
Read MoreIndy Hump Day Report: On the bubble Spec Engine Racing
Proper attire at Penske Racing requires Bow Ties Well my predictions for who would be the first teams on the new Chevy party boat was wrong. (in that Ganassi & Dreyer Reinbold were not part of the Friday announcement, yet many agree Chip is still very likely between his NASCAR success with Chevy, and the monkey see, monkey do mentality of Ganassi/Penske.) When I was a guest the other night on The Inside Line, I addressed the issue of how great this is for American fans. Yes, obviously it is…
Read MoreEXCLUSIVE: Inside the Helmet – Takuma Sato Interview
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWelcome to our first installment of Inside the Helmet! A new audio source at Openpaddock.net that talks to your favorite drivers from any of the series we cover. Our first interview in this series is Takuma Sato. The KV Racing Technology driver was gracious enough to answer some of my questions as well as some of yours! The volume may be a little loud so scale back the volume a bit, and realize that we were outside in the Honda hospitality area during Firestone…
Read MoreIndyCar – Bump Day Highlights
Sato Eyeing IRL Seat
There was rumor floating about within the last couple weeks that perhaps Takumo Sato would come to the U.S. and give the IRL a try. Autosport has run an article confirming Sato’s desire to run in the American open wheel series and could be in a seat come Motegi. Sato’s commercial manager was quoted as saying: “It’s a long way from happening yet,” But if Taku could do Motegi that would be great. If he could do more IndyCar races that would be even better. He still wants to get…
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