Group Lotus, Team Lotus, Lotus Racing, Lotus Motorsports, Lotus Cars, Lotus Engineering… we have a whole field of Lotus and its downright confusing to us fans! To add to the confusion Group Lotus is suing Lotus Racing over the rights to use the name Team Lotus. …er? what? Yeah, that’s how I felt at first to. It would be simpler if one group was the production car wing of the larger parent company and the other group the motorsports wing. However, that’s not exactly how it is. Group Lotus has…
Read MoreRally – Citroen DS3 Teaser
IndyCar – One Freaky Friday!
So as we were sitting here just waiting for the season to end, we figured that most of the news bombshells would likely be waiting for after the Year-End Banquet. Well, we were wrong! There was a ton of stuff that went down yesterday, some of it not so good unfortunately. Here’s a quick rundown of yesterday’s events. Saavedra is Back After he jilted Bryan Herta Autosport on race day morning of the Firestone Indy Lights race at Chicagoland Speedway, it was assumed by most of us in the fandom…
Read MoreRally – Monster Offers Kimi
Kimi Raikkonen has been all the rage over the last couple of weeks. Is he staying in the WRC or heading back to Formula 1 to race for Renault? The 2007 Formula 1 World Champion has had a rough debut in his rookie WRC season, but many teams see Kimi as a potential regular points scorer and the Monster World Rally team has step forward. Along with the Citroen Junior squad, reports have Kimi getting offers from MINI and potentially Renault F1. However it is the apparent offer from Monster…
Read MoreRally – Loeb set to Retire After Next Year
The age of Seb 2.0 may be upon us after next season. Citroen number one and most successful rally driver of all time Sebastian Loeb is set to walk away from rally after next season. It has not been a secret that Loeb’s time in the WRC was coming to an end soon, and it looks as though 2011 will be it for the French ace. To be honest, what is there left for him to do? He has already smashed every record in the book and done so with…
Read MoreRally – MINI Showing Positive Progress
The Prodrive/MINI project seems to be coming along just fine. The MINI Clubman WRC has undergone its first serious gravel test and is looking to step up to a more intensive program. After last weeks test that saw the likes of Kris Meeke, Marcus Gronholm and Markko Martin driving the car on gravel, the team has indicated their intention to test the car once a month up until Christmas. The team was clear that the level of technical changes and situations would be limited but they would run the car…
Read MoreTV – Weekend Racing Schedule for Sept 24, 25, and 26.
Formula 1 is back on track! …well, such as the track may be. The Singapore GP is this weekend, and it really is a great spectacle, even if the racing action is junk. Being on the opposite side of the planet as the US is mitigated a bit by the fact that the race will be at night. The practice, qualifying, and race will be broadcast by Speed at sensible times of the morning. Cool! Formula 1 cars under the lights, even if the racing isn’t great, is always a…
Read MoreEpisode 57 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin all three of the Openpaddock boys this week as we review Motegi. We also talk a little F1 as we get ready for Singapore. Rally has some interesting news as well as information on a MINI test video that you can view on our main page.
Read MoreRally – MINI Test Video
OpEd – Top Five Most Influential Racing Circuits
Previously, I posted a rebuttal to the Fast Lane Daily Top Five Most Influential Drivers, and we had a good discussion about it. That conversation got me thinking, though. Drivers weren’t the only ones to have a significant influence on the motorsports landscape. Many of the circuits upon which those five drivers battled with their fellow competitors have a life and history of their own that make a single driver’s career seem insignificant by comparison. Here’s my top five, and I post these in no particular order of importance, merely…
Read More