Month: July 2011

LeMans – Lotus to Contest Full North American and International GTE Schedules

Doug Patterson

Lotus (Group Lotus, the car people, not Team Lotus the Tony Fernandez team) released news today that they will compete in a full North American and International schedule in the GT2 classe with the Lotus Evora GTE. They will race in the American Le Mans Series in a factory-backed effort through the newly formed Lotus Sport USA, and will also look toward fielding an LMP2 car by 2013. Heading up the new program are sports car racing veteran Ian Dawson and financial guru John Pritzlaff. “We are very happy to…

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Rally – MINI Withdraws from Estonia

Shaun

The MINI WRC team has withdrawn their car driven by Kris Meeke for Rally Estonia. While not a World Rally event, the national rally will be used as a test bed for some teams heading into the legendary round in Finland. The entry list has a lot of talent as Markko Martin looks to defend last year’s title. Mads Ostberg will also be participating in a Ford Fiesta WRC. The team was forced to withdraw the entry after a testing crash caused severe damage to the John Cooper works machine.…

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Episode 96 – Openpaddock.net Podcast

Shaun

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the crew for a heated discussion on all things Toronto. Needless to say this cast is rated T for teen given some rather strong language. Shaun and Mike strongly disagree with the Dario/Power situation. Shaun calls out Will Power for being a crybaby but explains he is frustrated that Penske does all he can to lose himself the title (that is the context…save the hate mail). Doug talks Mazda Road to Indy and we also get into the British Grand Prix. Sit back…

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F1 – Mercedes GP Losing in Development

Shaun

The signs at the end of winter testing all seemed positive. Both Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were topping the time sheets as it looked like Mercedes GP had finally found its rhythm. Once the season began in Australia however, it all came apart at the axle. While many could imagine that Red Bull would be the car to beat, you would have to think that Mercedes would at least be able to challenge Ferrari or McLaren at some point. We are now half way through the season and that…

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IndyLights – Andretti Autosport Strikes Back

Doug Patterson

So far the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights Championship has been dominated by Sam Schmidt Motorsports. In past years, Andretti Autosport, when they were in partnership with AFS Racing, had fielded back-to-back championship winners with Raphael Matos (2008) and J.R. Hildebrand (2009). Up until the Toronto race, SSM drivers had won five of the six races, only losing the Barber race to Team Moore’s Victor Garcia (who may have been running with an illegal suspension). While there’s no doubt that the SSM staff is extremely talented, and they have been working…

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INDYCAR – Toronto Street Fight

Shaun

This weekend marked the first of two Canadian rounds on the championship as the IZOD IndyCar Series traveled to the streets of Toronto. The circuit has always been known for passionate fans and chaotic races that usually end with a decent attrition rate. Well this weekend went over the top as all hell broke loose Sunday afternoon. Not only did Dario further his title lead, but a lot of drivers let their feelings hang out more than usual and that has fans buzzing. While I would love to do a…

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Spikeday: INDYCAR back to California, could Pocono be next?

Mike Shaw

The INDYCAR Series is “ going, going,…back, back…to Cali”! Yes, I never thought I would love to see the day I referenced the Notorious B.I.G. . Then again, how many INDYCAR fans never thought the series would return to California Speedway?  However we learned earlier in the week the series came to an agreement to race again at the 2 mile oval. For fans of ovals this is a welcome announcement, not only a oval is added to make up for the loss of the Twin Ring from the schedule.…

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IndyLights – Q & A with Andretti Autosport’s Peter Dempsey

Doug Patterson

Peter Dempsey started out the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights season with O2 Racing Technology, and got off to a great start finding the podium in the first two races and leading for a time at Long Beach. If you’re a regular reader here at OpenPaddock, or a regular listener of our podcast, you already know what happened to Peter and his team during the David Hobbs 100 at the Milwaukee Mile. Peter had already sat out of the entire 2010 racing season here in the US after becoming the winningest…

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