With the national championship already won by Travis Pastrana, the Rally America series went to Colorado to put on a show for the fans. Colorado is typically home of the world famous Pikes Peak hill climb, but the folks in the Rockies sure appreciate their rally racing whenever they can get it. Ken Block would enter the rally but drive for Dave Mirra who was away for the weekend. Block’s open class car had not recovered from damage suffered in the previous round, so the Monster Energy Drink star would…
Read MoreTag: 2009
WRC – HD Theater TV Plans Announced
We have known for quite a while that WRC was coming back to US television on HD Theater, but we haven’t known much about the details. Now we do. On October 4th, HD Theater will air a 6 hour special on the WRC, which will end with a 1-hour wrap up of the 2009 season’s first event, Rally Ireland. The other 5 hours will be dedicated to introducing US fans to the cars, drivers, stages and events of the 2009 season. Following the premiere weekend, HD Theater will show a…
Read MoreIndyCar – Briscoe’s Incident at Motegi
F1 – FIA OK with Re-Homologation
Engine homologation in F1 has been a bit of a black art. The teams were allowed to make ‘reliability upgrades’ to their cars, but those upgrades have increased engine performance. So much so that Renault was allowed to make special engine upgrades during the offseason to catch up. New concerns over the performance level of the engines have come up, with many in the paddock saying that the Mercedes engine is at a very clear advantage, especially after their performance at Monza. The FIA has responded to requests from FOTA…
Read MoreF1 – 2010 Schedule Released
The FIA took the opportunity of the WMSC meeting with Renault to release the 2010 F1 calendar of events: March 14 – Bahrain March 28 – Australia April 4 – Malaysia April 18 – China May 9 – Spain May 23 – Monaco May 30 – Turkey June 13 – Canada* June 27 – Europe (Valencia) July 11 – Great Britain July 25 – Germany August 1 – Hungary August 29 – Belgium September 12 – Italy September 26 – Singapore October 3 – Japan October 17 – Korea October…
Read MoreF1 – WMSC Puts Down Smack
The FIA has issued their full verdict on the Renault ‘Piquetgate’ scandal and the arbitrary hand of FIA justice has fallen. Leading up to this mornings WMSC hearing, Pat Symonds and Flavio Briatore left the team and Renault made it known that they would not dispute any of the FIA’s findings. On top of that they issued an unreserved apology to the FIA for the actions of members of their team. The FIA found that Nelson Piquet Jr., Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds conspired to have NPJ crash during last…
Read MoreIndyCar – Versus Acknowledges History
We have complained a bit here at Open Paddock about the way the TV broadcast ignores the historic records of past greats like AJ, Mario, and even Paul Tracy when they wax poetic about the winningest driver in IndyCar history being Dixon or Hornish before him. Both Versus and ABC have been equal opportunity offenders on that count. I thought at the beginning of the season when the IRL published their first combined historic record book, that we had seen the end of this. The combined book includes all records…
Read MoreIndyCar – Points Battle TIGHT!
Going into the Motegi race, Ryan Briscoe had a comfortable 25 point lead and with the promise of Penske perfection behind him, looked to be a shoe in to win the Championship with only two races left. But a giant monster pit exit cone attacked him, ending his chance at extending his points lead. You can see our race wrap up for more details on that. Scott Dixon went on to score maximum points for the weekend (53) for pole, most laps lead and the win. Dario Franchitti took home…
Read MoreIndyCar – Daikaiju Cone Attacks Briscoe
The Land of the Rising Sun played host to the IndyCar series last night at Twin Ring Motegi. Non-typical for Motegi, the race ran the full distance without any rain. For the most part, the affair was pretty exciting. Scott Dixon started the race on pole, and the running order was established early on. Dixon and Franchitti led pretty much the entire race, but there was a bit of intrigue behind them. Briscoe, who started the race 25 points ahead in the championship, was clearly saving fuel from the start.…
Read MoreEpisode 08 – Open Paddock Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week Doug and I are joined by Todd aka Negative Camber to talk about a whole bundle of F1 news. Todd was gracious enough to lend us some smarts on the FIA traveling circus. Doug also does a brilliant job with feeder series. Enjoy!
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