Rebellion Racing Lola on Pole for LMS Paul Ricard

Neel Jani put the Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60 Toyota on pole for Sunday’s 6-Hours of Le Castellet at Paul Ricard for round one of the Le Mans Series.  The TDS Racing Oreca 03 Nissan took top honors in LMP2 class. GTE-Pro field did not disappoint. AF Corse’s Gimmi Bruni repeated his Sebring pole, this time in AF’s Ferrari 458. Bruni’s pole was more dramatic as the car barely made qualifying following a serious crash earlier.  Four out of the top five GTE positions were claimed by Ferrari 458’s. Tomas Enge split the…

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ALMS – Wiggins to Field an ALMS Prototype Entry for 2011

Racer Magazine released an article today announcing that Kieth Wiggins through his HVM Racing team intends to field a prototype entry in the American LeMans Series in 2011. Already having a relationship with Lola that started back in 1997, the team plans on running a Lola chassis with an engine manufacturer that is yet to be announced. Apparently, they are currently in negotiations with an engine producer and are not yet ready to make an announcement regarding their potential partnerships until all the contracts are signed. Good thinking, if you…

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Mid-Ohio Weekend Review – Openpaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadA day early on this one as we welcome Mike back to the fray. We take a look back at the weekend that was Mid-Ohio. We talk IZOD IndyCar as well as ALMS. We tell the haters to shut up as well. Thankfully there is not much in the realm of F1 to talk about but there is some rally. We talk potential of Saab as well as Sordo splitting with his co-driver. So sit back with your favorite beverage and enjoy the show!

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OpEd – Selling 2012 IndyCar aero kits, can it really be profitable?

Ever since the Indy Racing League’s much anticipated announcement sketching out the strategy for the 2012 IndyCar chassis last Wednesday, the IndyCar community has been split. …again. …still. …whatever. There have been many that claim that the recipe of having a spec rolling chassis from Dallara and open development of the aerodynamic elements of the body work by teams and third-party manufacturers would lead to great innovation and involvement. Then there are those that think this is the worst type of policy that could have been proposed giving Dallara a…

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IndyCar – New Chassis Prognostication

Well, the day has finally arrived. Today at 1100 CDT, we will finally discover the new chassis and strategy for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series. You can watch the event live via IndyCar.com if you were not lucky enough to get an invite and have the ability to act on it. In another gesture that shows that the leadership is beginning to understand the importance of fans, early invitations were given to the Crew Level members of the official fan club Indy Downforce. Good on them for that! Sadly, I…

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IndyCar – OpenPaddock.net @ Future Car

That is correct folks! Be sure to have your Facebook and Twitter ready today as OpenPaddock.net will be at the Future Car Announcement later at the Indianapolis Art Museum. We will be celebrating the historic day with tweets, Facebook photos, and hopefully some video that will be located on YouTube right after the announcement. Rumor has it that CEOs from Lola and Dallara will be present, but as Randy Bernard said at Watkins Glen, you won’t know for sure until it is announced. Be sure to visit Openpaddock.net all day…

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Podcast – Episode 26 Preview

Tonight will see episode 26 recorded and thrown to the masses of motorsport fans looking for their off season weekly serving. On tap for tonight will be discussion on Rally Sweden and the 2011 calendar. We will also discuss the Lola chassis design in our ongoing analysis of the 2012 chassis war. Gil de Ferran has merged with another team and Mike will share his thoughts on de Ferran finally surfacing after months of silence. We will also bring in the latest rumors and news regarding USF1, Campos Meta and…

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IndyCar – The Lola Project Revisited

Today, Lola followed their initial press release which revealed their intent to bid for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series chassis contract with a second, more fulsome press release including sketches of their proposed chassis. It must be said that the outward appearance of the chassis is rather uninspired and stale. There’s nothing genuinely new, innovative or modern about the looks of the chassis. Lola does bring some very interesting concepts with their bid that could lower costs, and bridge the equipment gap between the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Firestone…

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Episode 25 – Open Paddock Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadMaybe a day late but not a dollar short! Join Mike and I this week as we break down all the chassis stuff from the world of IndyCar. We also highlight some key changes in the 2010 WRC championship and venture to everybody’s favorite world of F1. Great chassis discussion to be had, so enjoy!

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