Rally Portugal is upon us and the Citroen juniors are about to attack their first gravel rally as a team. The drivers contending for the points this weekend are Evgeny Novikov and Conrad Rautenbach. Sebastien Ogier will also be competing in the rally but will not be eligible for points. Sebastien must be getting a demotion after the terrible performance during Cyprus where he was doing good to keep the car on the beaten path. Both teams will be looking to establish good pace notes as the rally has changed…
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28 Cars for Indy Lights
The Indy Lights series is starting off this weekend at St. Petersburg with a huge field of 28 cars for their two races. The field includes 18 rookies, the brother of CCWS driver Nelson Phillepe, Justin Wilson’s brother, past champions Jay Howard and Wade Cunningham, and several standout drivers such as JR Hildebrand, Logan Gomez, Pippa Mann (who beat up on all the boys in preseason testing), Ana Beatriz and Jonathan Summerton. This monster entry list in for the feeder category is a huge vote of confidence for the value…
Read MoreHamilton Summoned by Stewards
As the week goes on, we are given one reminder after another that the FIA prefers to rule F1 as a bloated parliamentary bureaucracy instead of as race directors. Flashback to the Australian GP during the last safety car period. Hamilton passed Jarno Trulli when his car went off course, despite a very respectable effort of starting from pitlane and bringing his car up to 3rd position. Hamilton passed him since he was off circuit, and then later slowed down so much that Jarno thought he was having problems, so…
Read MorePlato to Run Lacetti in Opener
Jason Plato has decided just days prior to the BTCC opener on 5 April, that he will run a spec 2008 Chevrolet Lacetti at Brands Hatch. Plato has gone jobless since Seat left the series at the end of last year. The deal at this point is not covering the whole year, however if results can be put together and funding made available Plato says he will remain. The 2008 Lacetti will be run under the RML squad. The team had been running the Seat works program since 2004. Plato…
Read MoreTagliani and Manning In for St. Pete
As we reported earlier, Dreyer and Reinbold prepared a second car for St. Petersburg but had not yet officially announced a driver or submitted it to the entry list for this weekend’s festivities. While we here at Open Paddock surmised that Tomas Scheckter would most likely get the nod since he has been toting bags of cash looking for somebody to help him overcome his half-shaft habit, we also suggested that Milka Duno couldn’t be ruled out. In both cases, we were wrong. Darren Manning has been tapped to fill…
Read MoreThe Economy & IndyCar
The entry list for this weekend’s St. Petersburg race has just been released. At least 21 cars will contest the seson opener for the IndyCar series this weekend, which is down from the 26 cars that we routinely saw last year after the merger. In this world of new realities, especially in the automotive industry and in motorsport, any loss has to be viewed with grave concern. But, lets look at the good and bad of the offseason as far as momentum for the series goes. All through last season…
Read MoreSt. Pete Entry List
The entry list for this weekend’s race has been posted on IndyCar.com with 21 participants. Team Driver A.J. Foyt Enterprises Vitor Meira Andretti Green Racing Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing Tony Kanaan Conquest Racing TBA – Most likely Alex Taglianni CURB/Agajanian/Team 3G Stanton Barrett (R) Dale Coyne Racing Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Mike Conway (R) HVM Racing E.J. Viso KV Racing Technology Mario Moraes Luczo Dragon Racing Raphael Matos (R) Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Robert Doornbos…
Read MoreWhat Went Wrong
The first round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship has come and gone. The hype is over and what was thought to be a dream has now settled into reality. Jenson Button and Brawn GP are for real and the top teams are left asking themselves what is next. They however should not be the only ones asking that question. The radical rule changes that were put in place for this year’s championship were seen every time a car flashed past the camera. The idea to radically change the…
Read MoreButton Wins, FIA Annoys
The 2009 Australian GP is in the books and the F1 world stands amazed at the efforts of Brawn GP. With Jenson taking the win and Rubens taking 2nd, the team has pulled out to an unexpected early lead in the constructors championship. And while some may contend that Australia isn’t the best test of their true pace, Jenson’s car was pulling away from the field at all stages of the race. Rubens had a bit more trouble though, “It was really tough for me at the start as the…
Read MoreIndyCar 2009 Car Count
Silly Season is almost over and we are not much closer to determining a final car count than we were a month ago. Even with the renewed optimism in American open-wheel racing brought on by re-unification, the worldwide economic crisis has wreaked wholesale havoc on motorsports, and IndyCar is no exception. With only 19 confirmed car/driver combinations set for St. Petersburg next weekend (as of this minute), the outlook would seem grim to return to the 26+ car fields of last season. However, there are many potential deals that are…
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