Episode 94 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the Openpaddock crew as they discuss the spectacle flop that was Milwaukee. They praise the racing and blast…well…everything else. We also talk the Acropolis Rally and visit Formula 1 land. As always sit back and enjoy the show!

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Rally – Citroen Drivers to Suffer McLaren Like Fate?

We have seen this episode once before. A hot upstart young gun taking the fight to his championship winning teammate throughout the title race. A deal that was supposed to start as both drivers receiving number one treatment and now a bit of animosity begins to build as the title race heats up. Think back to 2007 when Lewis Hamilton competed his rookie season against double world champion Fernando Alonso and now look to the WRC and Sebastien Loeb/Ogier and the situations have a number of similarities. The only big…

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Indy Lights – Milwaukee Wrap-Up

Discord and dissension plagued this weekend’s Firestone Indy Lights event. The minimal car count on Saturday for qualification got smaller still on Sunday as Peter Dempsey pulled off the track refusing to take the green flag in protest to what he and his team, O2 Racing Technology, feel is favouritism shown to some teams by INDYCAR by ignoring technical violations found in post-race and post-qualifying inspections over the past years. In a release issued by the team later Sunday evening, it was revealed that not only were team officials and…

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INDYCAR – Milwaukee Thoughts

After a year off the calendar, the Milwaukee Mile made its triumphant return to the schedule yesterday. Only thing is it was not that triumphant. While the on track product was excellent, the promotion and attendance was pathetic for a race that HAD to return to the IICS calendar by many critics opinion. If it HAD to be there, then where were all the fans? A lot of fans that actually were in attendance for the weekend said the track was more like a ghost town with some people at…

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Star Mazda – Milwaukee Wrap-Up

Like the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear ran their second oval event of the season at the Milwaukee Mile in front of the Firestone Indy Lights and IZOD IndyCar Series team owners that are the potential future employers of the young drivers in Star Mazda. Unfortunately, and enormous downpour mid-morning on Sunday delayed the start time until after the IZOD IndyCar Series race (about 6pm local). That late start made for an extremely diminished crowd of fans. In…

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USF2000 – Milwaukee Wrap-Up

What a crazy busy weekend as open-wheel racing returned to the Milwaukee Mile. The weekend certainly didn’t go as smoothly, nor as successfully as many had hoped, but there were some fans that showed up and we got to see some racing in spite of the downpour on Sunday morning. It seemed like this weekend was filled with all kinds of off-track drama from the way the race was promoted and managed, to some extremely serious controversy in the Firestone Indy Lights series. Looking on the bright side, though, the…

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Pole Day Report: Back to Beer City, racing at the Old Milwaukee Mile

Well, a week has passed since the Texas races. While many have complained about various aspects: (Dario on how they used random drawings for starting spots in a points race. Fans on Dario’s complaints while sponsored by a diaper brand. Many more on how the two races had rather dull results.) Here is one thing I would like to add, why not do a “Day/Night Doubleheader” like MLB uses? A “Day/Night” means there is a 1PM game and a 7PM game. While in baseball you kick the fans out after…

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Rally – Hirvonen Heads Ford’s Greek Challenge After Day of Attrition

Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen ended today’s gruelling opening leg of the Acropolis Rally in third place for Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. The Greek encounter is famed as the toughest round of the FIA World Rally Championship, but their Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car emerged unscathed from the rock-strewn mountain tracks north of Athens to lie 55.3sec from the lead. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were second throughout the day in their Fiesta RS WRC. However, transmission troubles cost almost 3min 30sec during the final speed…

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Rally – Solberg Dominates Leg 1 at Acropolis

FROM: PETTER SOLBERG WORLD RALLY TEAM Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson take four stage wins in a row in Greece. The Petter Solberg World Rally Team have led Rally Greece from start to finish on day one, getting off to a great start. Petter and Chris were flying all morning, ahead by 20.3s at the remote service point after SS2. On the hottest day of the week so far, they set the fastest time on the first stage and followed that with a fantastic time on SS2, which saw them…

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Rally – MINI Continues 2012 Preperations

This weekend marks the running of the Acropolis Rally in Greece. Typically recognized as one of the hardest rallies on both car and crew around. The MINI works team will not be competing in the event this year, but that has not stopped the team from travelling to Greece. The John Cooper works drivers took part in the typical rally recce today along with their 2012 championship competitors. While the team is not going to run their machines during the event, they did take down pace notes for next season’s…

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