While it is no secret that we here at Openpaddock.net love the WRC and Rally America, we can no longer turn away from the headlines being made in the IRC as well. That is why we will now carry IRC news and opinion for the 2010 series and beyond. There are good drivers and a lot of cars and we would be doing an injustice to the rally community if we contine to shrug it off. So we will begin coverage with Monte Carlo and also keep track of all…
Read MoreRally – Mikko Conducts Clinic
Rally – Subaru to IRC
After a year removed from rally, arguably one of the greatest manufacturers in the sport makes its return to competition. This week it was announced that Subaru would return to competition in the IRC as a Group N participant. It is unclear as to what capacity the Japanese marquee will operate, however they will provide customers with Group N specifications to anyone interested. We will have to wait and see if an actual Subaru works team is stood up because to this point, the press release is very vague and…
Read MoreRally – Hirvonen/Fiesta @ Monte
The World Rally Championship runner up Mikko Hirvonen will compete in the Monte Carlo Rally as he debuts the new Fiesta S2000. Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen will utilize the event as they prepare to take the fight to Sebastian Loeb and Citroen in the 2010 championship. The Finn is a five time veteran of the Monte Carlo event and is familiar with route and conditions. Mikko has been very impressed with the Fiesta to date and looks forward to running it through its first paces in January. Malcom Wilson…
Read MoreRally – New Super 2000 Class for WRC
Acquiescing to concerns from the teams that the Super 2000 and Group N performance gap was becoming too wide, the FIA has proposed separating the two specifications for the 2010 season. The current production class of the WRC, which allows for both S2000 and N4 cars, will be split into two distinct championships. The S2000 cars will compete in the S-WRC class and the N4 cars will compete in the P-WRC class. These two will join the two-wheel drive Junior Championship, J-WRC as support classes for the WRC next season.…
Read MoreEpisode 17 – Open Paddock Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun, Mike, Doug, and Andy (aka Frantic) as we talk the IZOD IndyCar series and Danica Patrick. We also talk about RHR to Andretti Autosport. We offer our thoughts on Kimi to Citroen if the deal goes through and we also try and hammer the Formula 1 news out including a stupid entry list and Andy offers his opinion on Bernie and the British GP.
Read MoreOP-Ed – My Moral Dilemma
Anybody who has ever known me inside the realm of F1 has known two things. First, Ferrari is my life blood hands down. Secondly, Michael Schumacher is not only a hero to me but is an idol who has nearly reached godly status. So here we sit in the middle of the Formula 1 silly season and I have reached an impasse of sorts as things unfold. Speculation is always something that exists inside the paddock for the F1 circus, but when you bring arguably the greatest racing driver of…
Read MoreMedia – NBC-Comcast Deal Nearly Complete
News came out today that a price for the Vivendi-owned portion of NBC has been agreed upon with GE. This was an important hurtle to the much rumored purchase of NBC-Universal by Comcast. Why are we, a motorsports blog, talking about television media industry news? Comcast is the parent company of the Versus network which airs the IZOD IndyCar Series along with ABC. For 2010, ABC will air five races, but the other twelve races will be broadcast on Versus. Here’s an excerpt from the article Vivendi, GE Agree on…
Read MoreIndyCar – IZOD IndyCar Broadcast Schedule
Now that the deal for the Brazil race is finally complete, the broadcast schedule for the IZOD IndyCar Series has been finalized and published. …sorta. The network allocations have been made, and the race dates have been finalized, but the race times are still being debated. Many things remain the same as last year’s schedule including ABC showing the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. Most of the races will be on Versus, with only five races, including the 500, being picked up by ABC. There are some notable changes from 2009,…
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