The weather for final day of the AMA Tornado Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka could hardly have been better. Sunny skies and temperatures mid-80s with a breeze from the south made for very comfortable conditions. The endurance class, MotoGT, had finished its business yesterday, but the Supersport class gave the spectators a third race to watch in addition to the second American Superbike and Daytona Sportbike races. Supersport The Supersport class is a development class for riders age 16 to 21 running a variety of 600cc bikes. Usually in a…
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Rally – X-Games Review! AWESOME!
Sunday was the end of X-Games 15 and there were plenty of great events on and off the dirt. However I am not going to lie, I was ready for the rally cars when they came up. Rally America drivers and former Indianapolis 500 winners all shooting for the gold medal. The action got started early in the morning when Ken Block rolled his Subaru STI causing some cosmetic damage. The team first feared the worst when the car sat on its roof for so long. The fear was the…
Read MoreRally – Finland Results and Review
Finland had a number of great story lines heading into the weekends action. Kimi Raikkonen made his WRC debut in an Abarth, Mikko Hirvonen looked to extend his points lead and move closer to a championship, Jari Matti Latvala looked to finish a race, and did we mention Kimi Raikkonen was making a debut? Day 1 seen action go into full swing very quickly. Right out of the gate Mikko and Sebastian went on the attack and would not back down for the entire day. The battle would go to Hirvonen…
Read MoreMoto – AMA Tornado Nationals in Topeka – Race 1
Saturday morning brought rain and a green track. The rain was over by 8am, but the track remained wet for most of morning warmup and qualifications, although the racing line dried fairly quickly. The biggest problem for the riders wasn’t the wet track, it was the greenness of the track, especially off the racing line. Today’s events included the two-hour MotoGT enduro, and Race 1 for the American Superbike and Daytona Sportbike. MotoGT In auto racing, a two-hour event is considered routine, but in motorcycle racing where the rider is…
Read MoreF1 – Sauber F1 Once More?
Following this weeks news that BMW will no longer participate in the Formula 1 World Championship, previous team owner Peter Sauber has been reportedly working a Brawn like deal to rescue the Swiss based team. The purposed deal is also being worked by Dr. Mario Theissen in an attempt to keep the car on the grid for the 2010 season. Sauber made it clear that he would do all that he could to save the employees of the team and keep the project going. Sauber has stated he has no…
Read MoreMoto – AMA Tornado Nationals in Topeka
I know that motorcycle road racing isn’t our main thing here at Open Paddock, but this weekend I’m at Heartland Park Topeka watching the AMA Tornado Nationals. If you’ve not been hooked on motorcycle road racing yet, then watch this video of the Rossi/Stoner battle at Laguna Seca last year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfPM77TsGaA Like what you see? Ok, now go and listen to two of the most entertaining gentlemen in the podcasting business, Bob and Jules, at MotoGPod. Great stuff! Ok, back to Topeka. Its not MotoGP, or even World Superbikes, but…
Read MoreEpisode 02 – Open Paddock Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis weeks podcast is chock full of goodness. F1 – Schumi returns, BMW bails, Renault banned and Hungary wrapup. IndyCar – Edmonton wrapup, Kentucky preview, new aero, push to pass & 2010 schedule. Rally – WRC Finland preview & Xgames. My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-1a4d1281133fe564f0ff5045439be667}
Read MoreIndyCar – Thoughts on Push-to-Pass
Curt Cavin let the cat out of the bag in an article today on IndyStar.com: Push-To-Pass will make its IndyCar Series debut in Kentucky. (As an aside, if you don’t already read Mr. Cavin’s Q&A, you should! Its great stuff.) Personally, I’m skeptical of the move. The push-to-pass button so often becomes a push-not-to-be-passed button, take a look at how KERS is used in F1 for example. On a restart everyone will mash their Go-Fast buttons and there will be no difference. Some drivers will use the button for offense,…
Read MoreIndyCar – Sweet Home Alabama
As Bob Jenkins eluded to during Sunday’s broadcast from Edmonton and verified today at IndyCar.com, the IndyCar Series will be racing at Barber Motorsports Park next season April 9-11, one week before the traditional date for the Long Beach Grand Prix. The IndyCar Series has tested at Barber a few times in recent years, but drivers and league officials have stated that there must be some significant course changes before the venue would be suitable for a race, especially in establishing safe run-off areas. The track has proved to be…
Read MoreF1 – Hungary Parting Shots
Another round of the FIA World Championship is in the books and it has been a weekend that has turned F1 upside down yet again. We thought that we may see a race weekend that was focused on the racing, but unfortunately it was not the case. This time it was a more humbling incident that made us loose focus. As by now all have heard, the Felipe Massa incident during the second qualification session ended any chance of having a normal race weekend. The young Brazilian was nearly taken…
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