Category: Featured

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Rally – WRC’s Manufacturing Winner is M-Sport

Mike Shaw

Wait, does that title infer what I think it does?  Didn’t Volkswagen win the FIA WRC manufacturers title in a dominant fashion last season?  Yes, Volkswagen did win the manufacturer’s title as far as the FIA is concerned, but please note that I said “manufacturing” not “manufacturer” title. First let me be clear, I’m not a Ford fanboy or a Malcolm Wilson fanboy or anything like that.  Regardless I think I can make a good case as to why M-Sport is the current rally manufacturing winner even if they don’t…

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Rally – Kubica, A Rally Legend in the Making?

Mike Shaw

When Robert Kubica came on to the World Rally Championship scene in the WRC2 category last year, it caused quite a stir.  Rally had another former F1 winner coming over to what many of us rally fans deem to be the pinnacle of motorsport.  This would help draw considerable attention to rally which has been recovering from a period of lackluster spectator and TV viewer counts.  Unlike Raikkonen though, Kubica feels he has unfinished business in Formula 1.  Most recall that Kubica’s F1 career was cut short after a nasty…

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Doug Patterson

Merry Christmas from all of us here at OpenPaddock.net! This has been a year with lots of ups and downs, both personally for us and within the racing community. We saw the Tony Kaanan’s triumph at Indianapolis after an absolutely epic 500 miles, and we saw the ending of Dario Franchitti’s legendary racing career at Houston. Dan Andersen’s assumption of the operation of the Indy Lights series brought immediate positives and progress continues toward revitalizing that series and the Pro Mazda Championship. The world of sports cars continues to flow…

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Episode 213 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadMike, Mike, and Doug make one last appearance in 2013 and talk about the few bits of motorsport news that’s around. Formula E seems to have a lot more traction that we expected, Ganassi and Briscoe are reunited, as is Paul Page and IMS radio. Fan Force United returns to Indy Lights, Sutil safe at Sauber, and Kubica confirmed at M-Sport. In each category, we also look back at the best and worst from each segment we cover. It’s been another great year, and…

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Episode 212 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn our penultimate show of 2013, Mike, Doug, and Mike continue to be stunned at the enthusiasm shown for the new Formula E all-electric racing series, Panoz sues Nissan (who didn’t see that coming?), and TUSCAR has aero and tire issues with the prototypes. Whitesell leads us through the news in IndyCar and Formula 1, Patterson brings us up to speed on Indy Light’s new chassis and engine for 2015, and Shaw shakes his head at the T&S errors in the WRC and takes…

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WRC Musical Chairs

Mike Shaw

We all remember the game as kids.  When the music stops everyone grabs a seat except for one odd man out.  Similarly there seems to never be enough manufacturer seats with the current depth of talent available in the WRC.   So here’s a quick look at the drivers that snagged a seat and who was left standing.   As we all know, the Volkswagen World Rally Team has their drivers firmly bolted to their carbon fiber seats for at least one more year.  There is no real need for…

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Thankful for the Time We Had

Doug Patterson

Editor’s Note: John Olsakovsky, frequent contributor to OpenPaddock.net and brother-in-law to Kevin Neely, has offered up this tribute to Kevin. This Thanksgiving Day, we remember our colleague, fellow motorsports fan, and most importantly our friend. We’re thankful for the time that we had to share. It’s taken me a month to be able to compose this. I’ve started a number of times and stopped, either because work got in the way, I became overwhelmed with emotion or simply ran out of words. Open Paddock readers are probably aware that Kevin…

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Good Food, Good Beer, Great Company, And Racing – USGP Watch Party

Mike Shaw

Friends and Competitors Gather To Watch The USGP So a short drive into downtown Leavenworth and you see a big sign that says High Noon Saloon and Brewery go that way (right), a couple blocks over and there you are parking outside an older building, that is hiding a nice little gathering place.   The location has a very large view screen as you can see from the photo above, and plenty of room for a gathering of friends and competitors.  As you enter the door, off to the left was…

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Rally America Adds Mt. Washington Hill Climb as 2014 Round

Mike Shaw

The mythical “To Be Determined” 8th round of the Rally America National Championship has now been confirmed.  The below press release from Rally America announces that the Mt. Washington Hillclimb will be counted as an official round of the 2014 Rally America schedule.  The iconic Mt. Washington “Climb to the Clouds” is located in Pinkham Notch, NH and slated to run June 26-29th.  Although not run as regularly as the famed Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, the Mt. Washington event is technically the oldest racing event in American history…

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IndyCar – Young F1 Talents Seeking Refuge

Shaun

The motorsports world is a vicious place. It is a cut throat business that has only become worse since the economic recession. The fight for top level seats and pay drives is reserved for a handful of seats per series. Drivers are increasingly reliant on board room talent versus driving talent. Formula 1 is a series that has benefited from a great crop of young talent recently. Drivers like Sergio Perez, Paul di Resta are just a couple of names that standout as brilliant talents that may not have a…

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