The more things change, the more they stay the same for some people. During Subaru’s dying days in the WRC, Prodrive was the subject of much criticism in how they performed and worked with the Japanese marque. While the prospect of Prodrive leading the BMW backed MINI was almost too good to be true, a major mistake has occurred and MINI are not in the 2012 championship fight at the moment. 19 Dec 2011 was the final day for teams to register. This date was presented by the FiA after…
Read MoreCategory: Featured
All of the latest stories from your favorite series located here!
Episode 117 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike as they welcome back Doug from the fall semester! We talk about Ford signing a new deal and hiring Petter Solberg joining M-Sport. We also talk about the latest driver signings in WRC, F1, and the IZOD IndyCar Series! There is also a lot of discussion involving the upcoming schedule for the 2012 IndyCar season. Doug has your Mazda Road to Indy update and the next trivia question in our AcceleRace promotion! Thanks as always for the download and enjoy…
Read MoreWRC – Ford Extends World Rally Championship Participation
COLOGNE, Dec. 15, 2011 – Ford of Europe announced today it is extending its participation in the FIA World Rally Championship into 2012 and 2013. Long-term partner M-Sport, the British-based preparation company, which has successfully operated Ford’s WRC activities since 1997, will continue to operate the programme from its state-of-the-art facilities at Dovenby Hall in north-west England. The Fiesta RS World Rally Car will continue as Ford’s WRC flagship in 2012 and 2013. The car, based on the successful Fiesta road car, claimed a clean sweep of the podium in…
Read MoreWRC – Ford Standoff Maybe Nearing an End
As soon as the WRC season ended, it was time to prepare for the short turn around that is the 2012 campaign. However, the future of M-Sport and Ford’s involvement in the World Rally Championship was brought into question as the latest deal between the two came to an end. Mikko Hirvonen left the team to pair with eight times champion Sebastien Loeb and dark days loomed for fans of the blue oval. Recent events in the media have shown that perhaps the standoff between Ford and M-Sport have come…
Read MoreEpisode 116 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike as they cover all of this week’s top motorsport news. ALMS fires back at Grand Am, and qualifying is officially added to the WRC. We also talk about the latest driver signings in both IndyCar and F1. As always, thank you for the download and enjoy the show.
Read MoreFormula 1 – Miracle on Congress Avenue
Merry Christmas, US Formula 1 fans! After learning that the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) actually had the money, or so was the claim, and that the breakdown between their group and Formula One Management (FOM) was a result of a disagreement on the details of the contract offered to COTA, we wrote optimistically about the potential of the USGP returning to the 2012 Formula 1 calendar. We knew that it was a long shot renegotiating a contract at the 11th hour with a master of manipulation in Bernie Ecclestone,…
Read MoreEpisode 115 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadShaun and Mike are back this week to cover all of the latest news in motorsport. We talk the Race of Champions and Mike reveals the all-star event has its own theme song. Our favorite Finnish driver is back in the saddle with a new team and FOTA falls apart a bit. We also talk about the IZOD IndyCar series and the management shakeup, Newman Haas closing its IndyCar doors, and the new car is still making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The…
Read More2011 Formula 1 Review – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Andy (@TheSpeedGeek) as they go back over the 2011 Formula 1 season. We talk about KERS and DRS as well as the Pirelli tires. We then go team by team and talk about the season that was Sebastian Vettel’s masterpiece. We talk up the winners and call out the losers and even have a little friendly debate! Thank you for the download and we hope you enjoy our look back at 2011.
Read MoreStar Mazda – 2012 Schedule Annouced
The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear announced their 2012 Race Schedule this morning. Well, most of it anyway. The a June event and the final event in October are still TBA, but we have the rest of the ten-event schedule. One big difference from last season is that many of the weekends will involve double-header races. So although there are only ten race weekends, there will be between 16-18 actual races. This has the potential of making for a far more challenging and interesting championship. As with previous seasons,…
Read MoreUSF2000 – Scouting Combine Notes: Wednesday
Wednesday morning arrives with a cool chill in the air for Florida, and the drivers entered the race shop walking lightly on their feet. The knowledge that all their competition efforts were behind them seemed lost on the young faces, while the gravity of the results yet to be announced distorted both time and space as the 10 hopeful karters mingled about. The herd of cars and vans departed by 9:30AM and headed to a Star Mazda team race shop across town. The fact that race car drivers were unleashed…
Read More