Category: Rally

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Episode 178 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadA little delayed this week, but Episode 178 of the OpenPaddock.net Podcast is now available for your aural pleasure. Dr. Patterson and Mr. Whitesell cover the sobriety spectrum as Doug is stuck recording the show late night at the shop drinking potentially decaffeinated black tea while Mike enjoys a growler full of a fine local IPA. Mr. Neely is recovering from the plague and Mr. Shaw wonders why the hell he ever joined this sorry band of misfit motorsports fans! On this week’s show,…

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Rally – VW Ready for Mexico Altitude

Shaun

The World Rally Championship visits Mexico this weekend with many teams taking part in recce today. Mexico proves a tricky challenge not only for the drivers, but the engineers as well. For those who are new to the WRC, Rally Mexico pushes the teams to altitudes they do not experience anywhere else on the schedule. This has a major impact on the engine and how it performs. The official WRC page put up a great story here that detail how Volkswagen prepared for the tricky altitude conditions. “On the one…

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Flying High at the 100 Acre Wood Rally!

Mike Shaw

In the World Rally Championship their is Colin’s Crest in Sweden, and El Bronco in Mexico.  At the 100 Acre Wood Rally here in America we have the “Cattle Guard Jump!”  OpenPaddock’s professional photographer extraordinaire Doug Patterson trekked two miles (up hill both ways he tells me)  to capture the action at the Cattle Guard on film.  Here’s Doug’s description of the setting: I’ve been going to the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood headquartered in Salem, MO since 2009, and I’ve loved the experience every single year. Over those past…

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SCCA – RallyCross Season Is Here!

Doug Patterson

Ever since the first Kansas City Region SCCA rallycross event last October, I’ve been anxiously awaiting our second. Yesterday, registration was opened for the first of four rallycross events the region has planned for 2013. The event will be at the same location as last year’s event, at a member’s property south of Garnett, Kansas. The field has some elevation change which makes for a challenging course as for half of the circuit you’re trying desperately to find grip as you climb uphill, and then you’re desperately trying to keep…

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Review – 100 Acre Wood Rally 2013

Mike Shaw

Once again the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood had plenty of action. As everyone descended into Salem, Missouri (or at least attempted to), it wasn’t the teams or the drivers that everyone was talking about, instead it was the weather. On Thursday as everyone went out to do their Recce to adjust their pace notes on the stages, a freak winter storm brought a combination of freezing rain, sleet, and snow. In some places, the icy mix was deeper than the snow in the previous Sno*Drift event in Michigan.…

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Episode 177 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadTonight we’re happy to welcome to the show Peter Portante who will be piloting the #41 Intercity Lines/B&S/California Scents racing machine in the Cooper Tires USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda for Belardi Auto Racing. Peter won the Skip Barber Race Series Championship Shootout and the MAZDASPEED Scholarship to compete for a full-season in USF2000, and chose to join Belardi Auto Racing after heavy recruitment from a number of teams. What is truly unique about Peter’s entry into formula car racing in general, and…

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Rally – Photos from the 100 Acre Wood

Doug Patterson

For the first time in a very long while, the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in and around the Mark Twain National Forest in Southeastern Missouri saw snow-packed roads! It made it tough for many of the volunteers and some of the teams to make it to the event, but there were still a healthy number of folk who made it in before the snows hit. The benefit for us fans was that we were treated to a Sno*Drift Part II on Friday, and great strategy and racing as…

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Preview – 100 Acre Wood Rally

Mike Shaw

Last month we saw a back and forth battle between the factory Subaru team of David Higgins and Co-Driver Craig Drew against 5 time Canadian Rally Champion Antoine L’Estage and Co-Driver Natalie Richard. It all came down to the final stage in northern Michigan where their studless tires searched for grip on the snow covered roads. In the end, Antoine L’Estage came out on top with his Rockstar Energy sponsored Mitsubishi EVO X. This week teams forgo the frozen northern latitudes for the Ozark forest roads outside of Salem, Missouri…

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Episode 176 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadOn Episode 176 of the OpenPaddock.net Podcast, the OpenPaddock quartet of Kevin, Mike, Doug, and Mike are joined by a surprise guest, Shaun Effin Pechin! We congratulate Danica on her pole, and banter about the latest F1, Grand-Am, and IndyCar rumors. Mike Shaw previews the upcoming Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, and Doug rants about INDYCAR’s decision to postpone the new Indy Lights chassis and engine. Oh, and with Shaun back on the show, there are firings all around!

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