The IRL IndyCar Series moves this weekend to Toronto for their first visit. But while many in the series have not raced the street course before, the CCWS teams such as KV, Coyne & Newman Haas Lanigan have experience that will help them out. The entry list for the race includes the usual suspects plus a few extra faces. Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy will be making appearances in an attempt to attract the interest of the Canadian audience. They will be driving for Conquest and KV Racing respectively. Both…
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F1 – Back to the Brink
It is all very silly now. We thought we had seen the conclusion of the FOTA/FIA war, but it would appear that Max Mosley still thinks he has a point to prove. At a planned meeting today between the FIA and the 13 teams that are entered for the 2010 championship, the 8 FOTA teams walked out of the proceedings. Max Mosley promptly issued a press release deriding the teams. “The eight FOTA teams were invited to attend the meeting to discuss their further proposals for 2010. Unfortunately no discussion…
Read MoreF1 – Peace Deal Brokered
Yesterday, Max Mosley sent out a letter describing in detail why he felt it was in the FIA’s best interest that he stand for re-election when his 4th term as FIA president ends in the fall. This despite his spankgate pledge to stand down from his position when his term expired. However, it looks like Mosley has again reconsidered. According to Autosport’s sources, Mosley, Luca Di Montezemelo and Bernie Ecclestone last night had meetings which have resulted in a deal. At this point, it sounds like the following has been…
Read MoreF1 – FIA Responds with Lawyers
The FIA has now released a statement which threatens the FOTA teams with legal action. This is no surprise since the FIA has already hinted in the past that they would pursue such recourse if necessary. The FIA’s lawyers have now examined the FOTA threat to begin a breakaway series. The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including willful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari’s legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law. The FIA will be…
Read MoreF1 – Is F1 Viable Without FOTA?
First we have to ask if Ferrari, RBR & STR will be part of both F1 and FOTA1 since they will most likely still be listed on the entry list when it comes out today. Look for these three teams to file breach of contract lawsuits against the FIA immediately after the entry list is posted. But let’s assume that all 8 FOTA teams will be exclusive to the new breakaway series. Lola and N Technologies have withdrawn their entries from consideration which may be the start of a disturbing…
Read MoreF1 – Why So Quiet Bernie?
This is the sport that Bernie and Max brought to prominence. It has been Bernie’s life for decades. Mr. Ecclestone has proven to all that he is an unimaginably shrewd and capable businessman. So, why has he stood by the sidelines while Max and FOTA scuttled the ship? We can only make conjecture at this point. Bernie did make a statement this morning, “You’ll have to ask Max about it. For me, this situation is just back to the future.” Maybe referring to how he and Max gained control of…
Read MoreF1 – FOTA’s Gambit
We here at Open Paddock have been pretty shy about jumping on the F1 media train for the last couple months since the politics of F1 have overshadowed the racing. But this situation has finally come to a head, so let’s discuss. Is this a page out of Max’s handbook of extreme bargaining tactics, or is that FOTA’s final word? Max has become a broken record when it comes to negotiations. He comes out with a monstrously extreme position that is only intended to make the other bargaining party enter…
Read MoreIndyCar – Sad Entry List for Iowa
The IndyCar series has taken many hits this year, from the down economy to the poor racing at Kansas, Indy and Texas. But the most telling indicator of the health of the series remains the unstable car counts from race to race. At Texas, we had a season high of 24 cars (apart from Indy) which followed the season low of 21 at Milwaukee. Well, this weekend for Iowa appears to be more of the same. Only 20 cars showed up on the entry list. No part time entries were…
Read MoreF1 – Lola Withdraws Bid
Max Mosely attempted to dazzle the world by announcing that no less than 15 bids for entry into the 2010 F1 Championship were lodged, all as a result of his amazing new plan to reshape F1. Nevermind the fact that the last time the FIA opened up the entry process, 22 teams bid to enter, but not a single one ended up making the grid the following season. Further tarnishing Max’s excitement is the potential departure of the eight FOTA teams, including Ferrari and McLaren. In the midst of heated…
Read MoreF1 – Kimi Buy Out?
According to an article in the American publication National Speed Sport News by Dan Knutson, Ferrari has offered to buy out the remaining year on Kimi Raikkonen’s contract. NSSN’s sources close to the Scuderia tell them that Kimi declined their offer stating that he would like to remain with the team through the remainder of his contract. The source also divulged that Fernando Alonso is under a lucrative first option contract with Ferrari this season and will be paid a full salary for 2010, reportedly in the 30 million dollar…
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