A mostly uneventful S1 ended with chart-topper Tristan Vautier sliding off in Turn 2, across the gravel trap and into a rather muddy fence area. Vautier ends the session atop the speed charts at 1:09.0120 after 15 laps of running. Honda made a strong showing during the first session with Vautier finishing P1, Scott Dixon in P2, Charlie Kimball in P3 and Will Power as the fastest Chevy in p4. Dario Franchitti rounds out the Top Five with a 1:09.3202. The top 10 times were evenly split between Chevrolet and…
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Op Ed-Not Seeing The Line For The Marbles
Birmingham AL City Council Member Steven Hoyt, what are you thinking? A recent request from Zoom Motorsports, producers of motorsports events at Barber Motorsports Park, for $300,000 in support from the City of Birmingham was recently rejected via a coalition headed up by Councilor Hoyt on the grounds of Birmingham being a majority African-American populated municipality and the people who run Barber Motorsports Park and Zoom Motorsports being primarily Caucasian. The fact of the matter is Councilor Hoyt has no problem with the city directing hundreds of thousands of dollars…
Read MoreEpisode 182 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadOpen Paddock #182 – April 1st, 2013 All is quiet in motorsports we care about… Preview Indycar oval rookie testing & barber preview Loeb helping Kubica with WRC debut and Loeb takes on Pikes Peak Thailand for 2015 F1 date? Miscellaneous other stuff to keep us entertained…. Formula E says “a race in Monaco is going to happen” Michelin to supply Formula E LE MANS: Conway Lands WEC Drive With Delta-ADR GRAND-AM: Series Confirms DTM/ITR Agreement IndyCar Oval Rookies Turn Laps At Texas Daly…
Read MoreIndyCar-Round 2: Honda Grand Prix of Alabama Preview
What: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Where: Grand Prix Circuit, Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, AL Who: Will Power looks to repeat as race winner, taking three of four visits to the circuit by IndyCar. Power’s teammate, Helio Castroneves, is the only other former winner at Barber, and comes off a strong second place finish at St. Pete. Points leader James Hinchcliffe ran well at Barber last year and in preseason testing. Hinch looks to extend his points lead early in the season. When: Race time is 3pm EDT on…
Read MoreAntoine L’Estage Brings WRC Spec Mitsubishi to Rally America
At the end of last year a YouTube clip emerged of Rockstar Energy’s Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard testing a British MML Sports prepared 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer WRC in the Czech Republic. L’Estage later confirmed that they were testing the car, but quickly downplayed any rumors that the car would ever come to North America due to the high cost to operate the machine. At that time L’Estage said that it was hard enough to find funding to compete in both Rally America and the Canadian Rally Championship with his…
Read MoreUSF2000 – Thoughts on St. Pete from Belardi Auto Racing’s Peter Portante
Coming off a disappointing weekend at Sebring I was very eager to get back on the track. St. Pete is one of the most challenging tracks on our calendar, as well as our first street circuit. The Indy Car races here have been fantastic and I knew that it would be a fantastic race in USF2000, especially with 31 cars! First practice was underway early in the morning. We got good laps in, and it was nice to get a feel of the track. We ended Practice One in P11.…
Read MoreIndyCar-Conor Daly enters Indy 500 with Foyt
Today, A.J. Foyt Enterprises and Conor Daly made the worst kept secret in IndyCar official; young Conor will pilot A.J.’s #41 entry at this year’s Indianapolis 500. Conor had a quite successful offseason test with the Foyt team, leading to speculation that he might do the entire IZOD IndyCar Series schedule as his European aspirations hung in the balance. Funding eventually materialized, leading Conor to return to Gp3 with the ART team, and even getting a shot at GP2 in Malaysia. Daly, a 21 year old from Noblesville, IN, is…
Read MoreSebastien Loeb to Contest Pikes Peak
One of the most sought after achievements to add to any racing champion’s resume is to tackle one of its oldest and arguably most dangerous events. The famed “Race to the Clouds” at Pikes Peak begins at an altitude of 9,390 feet and finishes in the thin air at the 14,110 foot summit. First competed in 1916 this is the second oldest motor sport race in America and 2013 marks it’s 91st running. Last week we heard exciting news that 9 times World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb will be driving a…
Read MoreOP-Ed Rallycross: Does it Help or Hurt Stage Rally?
This Sunday is the season opener of the FIA European Rallycross Championship (a.k.a. RallycrossRX), which will be followed in just a couple of weeks with the Global Rallycross Championship opener at X-Games Brazil. I began to ponder what other motorsports, and particularly rally fans, thought of the sport of Rallycross. Do you think it helps or hurts stage rally? A quick overview of Rallycross for those not in the know. Rallycross uses what at first appears to be typical 4wd WRC type hot-hatches like the Ford Fiesta and Citroen DS3.…
Read MoreUSF2000 – Carnage on the Streets of St. Pete
The entire Mazda Road to Indy contingent was present for the IZOD IndyCar Series season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg this past weekend, the Cooper Tires USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, and the Firestone Indy Lights series. The Pro Mazda drivers were the only one to escape the carnage that plagued every other series on the track that weekend. For Pro Mazda and USF2000, this weekend was their second race weekend of the season, and we’re starting to see…
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