Dakar Rally Report – Loeb Does it Again

9 times World Rally Champion has now won Stage 3, exciting many stage rally fans and showing that yesterday wasn’t a fluke.  That’s now two for two for Sebastien “The Master” Loeb and the powerhouse Peugeot Dakar team.  It didn’t take long for the cheers and jeers to start on social media of course.     We heard everything from: So now Loeb is making the Dakar as boring as he made the WRC. Thank goodness for the bikes   To:   Peugeot have done their homework since last year…

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Review: Rally Monte-Carlo 2013

In recent past the Monte-Carlo rally has been a tarmac rally with patches of ice and slick spots. This year however it was completely different as massive snow storms came through and blanketed the stages. It looked more like Rally Sweden than the Monte-Carlo we have all been accustomed to.   At the end of the very first stage Sebastian Ogier gave Volkswagen their first stage win in the debut of the Polo R WRC. It wasn’t by much, but a significant achievement nonetheless. Loeb was just 3.7 seconds behind.…

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Rally – Leo Parente Asks, Is the WRC Better Off Without Loeb?

If you don’t already watch Drive’s Leo Parente and his SHAKEDOWN show on YouTube, then log out of WoW, put the pizza rolls down, and go subscribe! Its some of the best and unvarnished motorsports commentary you’re going to find. This week, Leo asks the question that we had touched on during last week’s show on ETV Live, “Will the 2013 WRC Season be more exciting without Loeb?” Shaun’s response was an emphatic yes, and I couldn’t bring too much argument. Regular listener and contributor, Mike Shaw, argued that the…

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Episode 158 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWhile Mike is off playing with bears in the woods somewhere in the Smokey Mountains, Shaun and Doug talk about the confirmation of Red Bull Media House as the 2013 Promoter for the WRC, the reconfiguration of the WRC classes, Formula 1 silly season with Hamilton to Mercedes and Perez to McLaren, and we spend a lot of time talking about the IZOD IndyCar Series 2013 race schedule. Sit back and enjoy as we stagger, stumble, and stutter our way through this week’s motorsports…

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Episode 136 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Doug as they look back at IndyCar in Brazil and WRC in Argentina. That and lots of great discussions on engines. Could this be the beginning of the end for Lotus? Not if INDYCAR has anything to do with it.

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Episode 135 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike this week as they recap the Bahrain Grand Prix. Did the media over hype the violence? We also break down the event by session. We look ahead to Rally Argentina as the WRC is set for its first enduro rally of the year. IndyCar? Oh yeah, we got plenty of that. We talk all about engines, the 500 entry list up till now and make our predictions for this weekends action in Brazil. As always, thanks for the download and…

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Episode 134 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the Paddock trio as they talk the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach! A fantastic race at a fantastic venue helps keep IndyCar flying high. we also talk about Nico Rosberg and his maiden win and the first for a Mercedes factory team in over half a century. All of this and our podium challenge results update too! As always, thanks for the download and enjoy the show!!!

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Episode 132 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun, Mike, and Doug as they recap an awesome Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Full rundown of all the action and some analysis regarding the teams and strategies. Also, we talk about the Mazda Road to Indy and Rally de Portugal. It was a wild one for the WRC and we have the rundown! Thanks for listening and as always, enjoy the show!

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WRC – Ford Set Fastest Times During Qualifying Stage

The Ford World Rally Team has struck the first blow during Rally Portugal with the Blue Ovals setting the top two times during qualifying. Jari-Matti Latvala led the way with 3m01.884s. That put him clear of second place Petter Solberg by 1.771s. Latvala admitted to taking risks during the 4 kilometer stage in order to take advantage of road conditions. With Portugal being a gravel rally, road position will be tricky to pick. While he could start in the back and allow the other cars to sweep the gravel away,…

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