Category: Featured

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Rally – New England Forest Rally Preview

Doug Patterson

The 2012 New England Forest Rally is this weekend, and our friends at Last Ditch Racing return to Rally America to compete in their home event. Driver John Cassidy and co-driver Jennifer Daly will be taking his 2003 Subaru WRX-STi to the difficult Maine roads in their one Rally America appearance of the season. “We haven’t missed a Maine Forest Rally / New England Forest Rally for the past thirteen years, but I think we still have more speed to show on our home roads. We really enjoy the rough…

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Indy Lights – Championship Tightens Up After Toronto

Doug Patterson

The Firestone Indy Lights race on Saturday was just as chaotic and messy as the Star Mazda race on Sunday, even though there were only eleven drivers this past weekend. Four of the eleven would end up parked with broken equipment, on Lap 1 and the other two late in the race on Lap 30. A driver that we mentioned at the beginning of the season would be coming into strong form this season, Victor Carbone, put his #3 Sam Schmidt Motorsports machine on pole during a qualifying session where…

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Star Mazda – Two-Fer at Toronto for Hawksworth

Doug Patterson

The Star Mazda Championship Race #2 at Exhibition Place in Toronto Sunday morning had a lot more chaos and mayhem than the previous day. Grip levels were at a premium and many drivers made several unforced errors creating what the Star Mazda PR folk called “an ugly mess.” Jack Hawksworth, started from pole thanks to his setting fast lap on his way to winning Saturday’s Race #1 and executed a great race strategy, managing his tires and his gap to P2 expertly. ““It was a great weekend. It was such…

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IndyCar- Hunter-Reay Survives Toronto Street Fight

John Olsakovsky

Ryan Hunter-Reay survived a rash of late race caution flags to take his third consecutive race win at today’s Honda Indy Toronto at the Exhibition Place circuit in Downtown Toronto. With his win, Hunter-Reay becomes the first American born driver to lead IndyCar points standings since Sam Hornish Jr in 2006. With the addition of Charlie Kimball’s second place finish, the 2012 Honda Indy Toronto marked the first time since the 2006 Indianapolis 500 that two American drivers finished atop the podium in an IZOD Indycar Series event. Hunter-Reay is one…

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Star Mazda – Beginning the Canadian Swing

Doug Patterson

The IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, and Star Mazda Championship began their three-race Canadian stint on the streets of Toronto this weekend. Sage Karam was fastest during Friday practice with a 1:08.793 and nearly eclipsed Dane Cameron’s 1:08.755 track record, falling a mere 0.038 sec short. Sage’s hope for Canada is to close the gap on the championship leaders riding the momentum of his great results on the two ovals races at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis and the Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA. “The track picked up a…

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Episode 145 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Shaun

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike as they preview a very crucial Toronto race. INDYCAR has to get this one right and stop the Toronto side show swing from becoming the norm. We also take a look back at all the weeks news in our motorsport in brief.

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Inside The Helmet – Team Viso at the Iowa Speedway

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe had the amazing opportunity to speak with EJ Viso, driver of the #5 KV Racing Technologies machine in the IZOD IndyCar Series, Ricardo Juncos, Team Principal for Juncos Racing, and Diego Ferreira and Bruno Palli, drivers of the #57 and #15 Juncos Racing machines in the Star Mazda Series, about the Team Viso project. EJ Viso in partnership with Ricardo Juncos have started a recruitment program to bring young, talented drivers form Venezuela into the Mazda Road to Indy program. Diego and Bruno…

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Episode 144 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Shaun

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the Paddock trio as they rehash the events from Iowa. A great weekend of racing from the IZOD IndyCar Series as well as the Mazda Road to Indy. We look at the low downforce setting and debate whether it is car or driver that is making the exciting on track product. We also look at the heat races as well. Should we have them again or drop them? This weeks motorsport minute also covers the European Grand Prix and the WRC from NZ.…

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IndyCar – Iowa Corn 250 in Photos

Doug Patterson

The low-aero formula once again produced magnificent racing! While my pick this week, Mayor Hinchcliffe, ended up with a busted hot rod at the entrance to pit road, the racing action all through the evening was fantastic. It was a little iffy whether we were going to get the race in given the twin deluges that struck the Iowa Speedway Saturday afternoon, but with the Firestone Indy Lights race postponed until after the IZOD IndyCar Series race, the big cars took the green flag right on schedule. …or at least…

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Mazda Road to Indy – Iowa Star Mazda and Indy Lights Photos

Doug Patterson

What a long weekend! Friday was brutal hot, and Saturday was stormy and wet. Unfortunately, we were not able to stay for the Firestone Indy Lights race which was delayed due to the afternoon thunderstorms. It started after the IZOD IndyCar Series race around midnight. Since we had to be back in Kansas City by 8am for another photo gig, the FIL race was a write-off. It’s a shame, since it sounds like it was a great race that few actually got to see. The Star Mazda race ended just…

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