A lot is being made of the FiA’s recent decision to allow Formula One teams choice among three available compounds of Pirelli tires. It’s a huge change, no matter how you slice it, but on that I like. OK, I don’t advocate slicing tires, but I do advocate options that result in differing team strategies and, ideally, better racing on track. I even appreciate the idea of keeping teams’ compound selection secret, at least from other teams. If a team knew another teams strategy, they could counter it, and it…
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Episode 195 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week, we review the triumphant return of the IZOD IndyCar Series to Pocono and look ahead to Toronto, Doug recaps the Indy Lights race at Pocono, and gives us a rundown of where all three of the Mazda Road to Indy series stand as they all head to Toronto, Mike and Shaun look at the tyre failures at Silverstone and point their fingers squarely at the teams, and they review the German Grand Prix, and Mike Shaw runs through the latest news and…
Read MoreFormula 1 – Why is Pirelli the Fall Guy?
The British Grand Prix has come and gone on track, while the fallout from the action is still being discussed. Six Pirelli tires failed during the course of the event and the Italian company has again been brought back under the microscope of the FiA. Fresh off of the tribunal for illegal testing with Mercedes, the teams and FiA were quick to point blame to Pirelli. Drivers said the performance of the tire was unacceptable and a hazard to the competitors. My question is why? Is it because they are…
Read MoreEpisode 191 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadKevin, Mike, Mike, and Doug review IndyCar’s double-header at Detroit and admit surprise that it didn’t suck. We also offer opinion on the technical plan Walker has for IndyCar, and we discuss the news from Formula 1. Mike Shaw recaps the STPR Rally and the Acropolis Rally, and we collectively fire Shaun for being back in the States and not joining us on the show. A reminder from last week’s show that the Kansas City Region SCCA will be hosting it’s Solo School this…
Read MoreRally – Tire War in 2012?
It would appear as though a year away from the WRC is all Pirelli needed. The Italian manufacturer has indicated that they would like to rejoin rally’s top flight as soon as 2012 after a one year break. The intent of the return is to attack Michelin and have a battle amongst top teams in 2012. “I want us to be back in the WRC in 2012, once those regulations are out, we will study them carefully and begin – if the conditions are right – to prepare ourselves. We…
Read MoreRally – Pirelli Pulls the Plug
There was thought to be assurance that Pirelli would remain in the WRC after its announcement regarding Formula 1 was made. We thought that the Italian manufacturer would support both FiA series and that multiple suppliers would also be in the mix (for rally). That has not proven to be the case as Pirelli has pulled out as a supplier to the WRC. This particular decision is not as huge as when Bridgestone pulled out of F1 however, because the regulations already indicated that multiple suppliers would be allowed in…
Read MoreEpisode 46 – Open Paddock Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and I as we rehash the Armco at the Glen, I mean the IZOD IndyCar race at Watkins Glen. We also get into some of the statements made over the weekend by one Randy Bernard. There are close to a million statements. We cover rally and prepare for the WRC round in Bulgaria as well as announce a German manufacturers future in the Dakar Rally. Last but not least we get into some Formula 1. We are slightly nicer to the series…
Read MoreRally – No Gurantees on Pirelli
While reading Autosport’s web page this morning for all of the latest F1 news, I noticed that the dominoes may start to fall in the WRC before long. The site had an article posted which states that Pirelli is not guranteeing anything to the FiA in regards to its WRC contract as sole tire supplier. “We will study the interest in the sport and gauge the effect of our current supply contract to the WRC. I can then present to the board of Pirelli, but it’s not a given that…
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