Inside The Helmet – 2011 Star Mazda Champion Tristan Vautier

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe spoke with Tristan Vautier, driver of the #5 JDC MotorSport Cecibon/Circuit du Laquais/Fontanels/Red Line Oil Mazda and the 2011 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear Drivers’ Champion. Tristan describes his early ventures in motorsports driving in various Formula Renault series in Europe before coming to the Star Mazda Championship in 2010. He also walks us through his amazing and dominating 2011 championship-winning season. We even sneak in a little bit of rally goodness!

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Rally – Rally America Announces 2012 Schedule and New Owner

Doug Patterson

The Rally America Series has a new owner and a new schedule for 2012. While the six events remain the same, the length of the season is extended beyond the X-Games in an effort to provide more continuous support for many of the regional rally events throughout the year. It also gives teams time to recover and rebuild between rallies. During the 2011 season, half of the championship events were crammed into a short couple of months. With the new schedule, and events spaced out a bit more, there should…

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IndyCar – Thoughts on the 2012 Dallara Aerodynamics

Doug Patterson

We’ve now seen the new 2012 car in both its road course trim and its oval trim. The road course package was tested at Mid-Ohio last month the Monday after the race there. This past Tuesday, test driver Dan Wheldon shook the car down in its oval trim at the Iowa Speedway. Perhaps it would be better to call it its short oval trim, as the car was still fitted with a multi-element front and rear wing and looks very much like the road course package used at Mid-Ohio. Regardless,…

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IndyLights – Jensen Motorsports Wins Firestone Image Award

Doug Patterson

Jensen Motorsports has had a tough 2011 in the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Their primary driver, Canadian David Ostella, has had the pace to bring home a quality finish for the team, but it seems that they’ve been caught out all too often by mechanical gremlins or just plain being at the wrong place at the wrong time and being taken out by a competitor as happened at Toronto. Their second driver, Oliver Webb, also promises to have good pace and the team should be in a position to score…

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Star Mazda – Team Pelfrey and Tristan Vautier Win Championships at Laguna Seca

Doug Patterson

It was Championship Weekend for the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. As we has mentioned previously, JDC MotorSport’s Tristan Vautier had only to show up in Monterrey to win the championship. As soon as the green flag fell, Tristan was officially the 2011 Star Mazda Drivers’ Champion and will receive a scholarship to compete in the Firestone Indy Lights series in 2012, and presumably drive for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. As is common amongst any champion, the key to Tristan’s success was not just…

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Episode 105 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Shaun

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike as they discuss Rally Australia and a Ford 1-2. They also review the Formula 1 race from Monza and cover all the hot INDYCAR news from the weekend. As always, thanks for the download and we hope you enjoy the show!

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Inside The Helmet – 2011 USF2000 Champ Petri Suvanto

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe had the opportunity to chat with Petri Suvanto the 2011 Champion of the Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda. Petri, who is already back in his native Finland, drove the Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing’s #3 Viseko Van Diemen-Mazda with remarkable consistency all season long, and secured the championship in the penultimate race of the season, Race #1 on the Streets of Baltimore. Petri tells us about how the Mazda Road to Indy program drew him to…

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Spike Day: IndyCar race in China–Awful idea, Mexico City–Awesome idea

Mike Shaw

So as we have recently learned, there is a 90% likelihood the IZOD IndyCar Series will be racing in China during the 2012 season. The upcoming race at Motegi will be the final time the IZOD IndyCar Series will visit Japan for some time. While I will be the first to admit, Twin Ring Motegi was not a very good oval track layout—Japan is a fan base who deserve more respect. From the early days of the “IRL” to today, Japanese makes have supplied engines for teams in the IZOD…

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IndyCar – Some Perspective On Motegi Risks

Doug Patterson

There’s be a LOT of comments and worry about the radiation levels and the health risks that drivers and team personnel will be facing as they compete at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Motegi, Japan which is located 78 miles from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant which catastrophically failed during the Honshu earthquake and subsequent tsunami. I thought it might be advisable to bring some perspective as to just what the level of risk is compared to activities we take for granted and don’t even think about in…

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